[TG] [TG11] Transducer Mount Cracked again....

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello 5outta6,

Here in Australia, what we've seen is that some boats seem to repeatedly break brackets and others have the same one for life. The significant majority of boats don't break brackets, but of course it's the ones that do that you hear about online. When we came across our first cases we did a bit of investigation of our own, since the brackets are designed and tested to cope with a pretty high speed. We found a few common causes for broken brackets amongst the ones we've seen:

1. Chemical damage (weakening) from solvent-based sealants being used in installation. We've seen this often when people have used the sealant that they normally use in their work, but which is not suitable on this kind of plastic. Chemical damage can also come from cleaning chemicals and acid washes.
2. Unusually large water force on the bracket due to the shape of the hull, the boat speed, the mounting location or position.
3. Mounting onto a surface that isn't flat, which warps and stresses the bracket.
4. Over-tightening of the bracket tension adjustment bolt. This is the number 1 cause. The transducer is designed to have some play in the bracket, but sometimes people tighten them up in order to try to get rid of this play and this bends the wings of the bracket inwards and causes cracks at the outer/aft-most point where the tension adjustment bolt goes through.
   

It's not easy to tell for sure from the photo, but I have to say that it looks to me as if your bracket might have gone in the spot that usually indicates over-tightening.

Regards,
Tom