Hello,
Yesterday I ripped the transducer off the back of my boat somehow and now I'm stuck deciding what to do. This is the transom mount SI ducer for a Helix 5. I purchased a helix 5 when they first came out and to replace the transducer I'm looking at roughly $150.

Would it make most sense to just replace the transducer or should upgrade the unit at the same time to take advantage of some of the newer larger units that are connectable and things? I only have one unit now that I have at the drivers seat for graphing. Don't have anything up front yet at the casting deck but I'd like to get something up there as well.

 

Also, if anyone has an extra "XNT 9 SI 180 T" transducer please let me know.

 

Thanks!

What boat do you have?

19.5 ft ranger 397v fish n ski 

Several suggestions:

Use a shoot-thru dual beam transducer for 2D/Depth---XP 9 20

Place the SI transducer above the hull bottom so it cannot be snagged, bumped, ect.

I suspect your biggest issue with that mount is you overtightened the base to the hull and cracked it causing it to fail under water pressure. That is a typical thing with that mount type.

If you want to use that transducer model again, do the above and/or get the Transducer Shield and Saver SBB-4 and a non tripping mount for it.

The best solution is to get the better SI transducer XHS 9 HDSI 180 T so you get a stronger mount and sharper images. Still use the shoot-thru and connect it and the SI transducer (above the hull bottom) to the display with the AS SIDB Y cable

 

Thanks Wayne. 

As always, you're very helpful. I'm going to purchase the thru hull for sure. I'd like to purchase the better transducer as well. I'll start looking around online. 

 

I was flying across the lake and hit a set of waves that ripped it off. It was pretty rough and I'm not exactly suprised with the plastic mount the thing came with. It could have cracked as you mention. I was pretty careful installing it, but you never know.