A wet face or a wet box which do you prefer....
Submitted by Boydy on Sat, 2018-07-14 15:02
Hey Crew,
Doing a few mods at the moment and have a bit of a dilemma. Have purchased a M260 to go with a Furuno 588. Getting some work done to fit the 588 in by a reputable business and they're doing there best to convince me to change the M260 for B164.
In my opinion the M260 is a superior tranny to the B164, but understandably there will be some performance loses shooting through the hull verses wet facing. At this stage I'm not prepared to stretch to a pair of SS264's though. So looking for opinions on the M260 versus the B164.
Cheers
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Wet
I would prefer to wet face where possible but the B164 and the M260 are not equal transducers to start with
The M260 is much more sensitive and has a higher number of dedicated elements in the unit
Have a look at these
http://www.airmar.com/uploads/Brochures/b164.pdf
http://www.airmar.com/uploads/Brochures/M260.pdf
I used to have a M260 and they work pretty well if you get them in the right spot
Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
Hey Tim, fully aware of the
Hey Tim, fully aware of the specs that's why I'm unsure why this guy is so adamant on wet facing the B164 is the go. In my boat it will sit on the centre line as the hull is flat for about 145mm, so I literally have a flat plank to stick it straight to 500m up from the transom with absolutely nothing in front of it to the bow. The glass is definitely no thicker than half an inch either, so I reckon it would work well in this situation, that's why I went with the M260.
Cheers
Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
What type of fishing do you
What type of fishing do you do?
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Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
Predominantly chasing
Predominantly chasing demersals in the usual depths 30m - 100m. Looking for something that will give a good reading at reasonable speed to find ground. Have had a go at deep drop stuff on others boats and will probably end up having a go myself at some point in time in the future. I've been on boats and see good readings in 300m + with 1kw at low speeds, just not with a B164.
Jackalchub
Posts: 599
Date Joined: 10/03/12
Wet face for sure.. clean
Wet face for sure.. clean water.. no shooting through glass/having losses
gruntre69
Posts: 533
Date Joined: 15/10/16
I mounted a PM265 in the
I mounted a PM265 in the plank of my cruisecraft 575. It is about 200mm forward of the transom. The result is pulses of airation dramatically affecting the image at anything more than 10 kn unless it is dead flat water. I don't think these flat faced trannies work well on a plank unless it is a heavier hull than mine and they are installed with a fairing of some kind to brush away air bubbles and keep the tranny in the water.
I was out in a 12 kn easterly chop last week and the sounder was hopeless at anything but really slow speed...
I would go with the M260 if I were you, depending on how hard it is to install and test. Maybe a temperary test install it least that way if it doesn't work, you have only cost yourself a housing rather than a 100mm hole in your hull..
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Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
I would go the more sensitive
I would go the more sensitive M260 out of those two options too. Flush mounts are not guaranteed results either. A correctly installed transducer fairing is pretty much a sure bet, but if you want 1kw they're getting big. Not sure what you can install in your boat.
I had a 600w B744 before I went 1kw chirp and it read bottom at 30+ knots depending on conditions. Ive found that much ground while travelling between spots at cruising speeds. I would probably go for a less sensitive 600w tranny in a fairing that read at speed rather than a better 1kw tranny that i had to be travelling at 10kn to get a good bottom picture, especially if mostly demersal fishing at <100m.
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gruntre69
Posts: 533
Date Joined: 15/10/16
I 100% agree with this.
I 100% agree with this.
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Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
Tending to agree
With the comments above regarding sensitivity of the transducer to be installed. Don't think my rig is big enough to go a B260, I have considered it, but at this point ruled it out. I am keen to utilize the 1kw that is available from the 588 but the new features that come with it ( Rez boost, BD and accu fish) don't do much for me. I've seen good results at low speeds from the TM260, but average at reasonable speed in anything less than perfect conditions. This is why I had come up with the M260.
Cheers
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
TM
I wouldnt rule out the TM260. I have had the M260 in the boat and you can get a lot of bubbles flow down the hull and cause disturbance in choppy water.
I had a 2kw transducer mounted in a cast of the TM 260 and as I could set it deeper I could get faster speeds before I got interference.
Really depends what you want to achieve
Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
At this point I have ruled
At this point I have ruled out the TM. In addition to what I have mentioned above, but also because I have a 600w tranny and speed/temp sensor on the transom already that works well and I intend to keep as redundancy on my original HDS display for shallow stuff. So I don't want to relocate that.
Thinking I will stick with the M260 at this point. If it has issues it will be easier to move around or change out all together rather than fixing holes from wet facing if that doesn't work well.
Cheers
gruntre69
Posts: 533
Date Joined: 15/10/16
Good decision.There are some
Good decision.
There are some guys in South East Queensland that have been building custom fairing blocks in planing planks. It would be worth a chat to them. They are Furuno guys too... www.qualitymarineelectronics.com.au/transducer-installation.html
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bsir
Posts: 574
Date Joined: 24/04/11
Test
befofe I mounted my m260 I stuck in a bag in the proposed location. Filled the bag with water. Propped the tranny into position and went fishing.
this gave me a lot of confidence in the installation.
I also looked at the b164, but went with the m260
Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
Thanks for the replies.Will
Thanks for the replies.
Will get the head unit installation sorted first and have the M260 loose so I can trial it before fixing in permanently.