Fitting a Garmin 140 to a Mini-x.
May 26, 2008 12:32:42 GMT -1
Post by droid on May 26, 2008 12:32:42 GMT -1
I always felt that a FishFinder would come under the classification of A Mighty Good Thing and give an extra dimension to the kayak fishing experience and so I scored myself a Garmin 140 from eBay. I chose the 140 because it performs well in shallower water as you can widen the beam and because its whiteline facility that gives clues as to the material makeup of the sea bed, as well as the shape. Cost £80.00 new and in-box including carriage. There are always auctions from the USA that go for about that, but this was UK and therefore would *definately* not have Duty slapped on top.
I followed gerryw’s lead of using the “wasted” space of the tunnel as a site for the battery, a whopping 7.2aH from Maplin (code MM26). I chose this monster as it was the right shape for the ideas I had and only £1.00 more than the 4.2aH alternative. Not much heavier either and a penny short of £25.00
I have a father who is part Squirrel, so it was to him that I went for materials. When suitable candidates were selected, so was the design. The bottom tray was from a toolbox made by the Old Man’s brother in his yoof and the rest from a “Wear Safety Spectacles” sign. It was all aluminium and fastened using normal ally rivets.
It was a tight fit to get into position – it would only fit on its side from the middle hatch. It was held in place while one rivet was tightened to hold it in position for the other three to be drilled accurately then riveted. All this involved being inverted with head and arms in the hatch. It also involved bruises. *Lots* of bruises!
View from middle hatch;
View from front hatch:
As you have no doubt guessed, the battery is accessed from the front hatch.
I have now fitted foam padding, so the box is a very snug fit. So snug it doesn’t really need the elastic. The white bit around the cable is a bit of twin&earth shielding cut into a spiral around the power cable to beef-out the diameter for the gland to seal on.
I couldn’t work out how transducer and power lines could be brought into the kayak’s inners without cutting the cables, given that they have to go through the gland but since there where only 4 inner cables for the transducer and (naturally) 2 for the power, I planned to cut then and use a UTP junction box to rejoin them. I figure that if I keep the paired transducer cables on separate blocks they shouldn’t interfere with each other without the inner shielding. The fifth un-insulated wire I suspect is redundant since there are only six “live” connectors in the plug, but I joined it anyway.
Waterproofing was done with the ubiquitous silicon sealant. The junction box was then siliconed to the side of the battery cage.
When the fishfinder is off the ‘yak, this cover protects its mount:
I’ll have to think of a clever way of sealing the plug for occasions when not using the Garmin, any ideas gratefully received if anyone has done this?
The transducer is mounted directly under the seat. It wasn’t until I took this picture that I noticed it’s not exactly horizontal. I suspect it will make little difference, the angle off horizontal being tiny. Maybe a couple of % error on depth. I shall keep an eye on that, maybe test with a measured line. It’s not as if it will be bang-on accurate anyway as the transducer is a good few centimetres below the water level!
Other things I have found to be useful are:
Black Hammerite on the rivet heads on the rod rests, eyes, hooks etc.. I don’t always get to wash down the kayak and this stops them getting furry with salt corrosion.
H20 Kayaks. This nice fella has all the specialist fittings and fasteners I have needed, supplied on an overnight basis. You all, no doubt, know this, but I wanted to praise the service. I did buy a six inch hatch of the same type that kickingk shows in the thread “Fitting hatch to a Mini-x”, but I haven’t fitted it yet. I hadn’t realise it is, in effect, an interference fit using an o-ring as a seal. Whilst it takes a reasonable shove from inside to break the seal, I’m worried that a bit of flex, a wave or a clumsy “mount” might increase air pressure inside enough to pop it, leaving a 6” ‘ole in the ‘yak. Paranoid? What do you think, kickingk?
Thank you for allowing me to showcase my bodgery. I’m in the Dorset area of North Wales and would like to meet any local members - not just to tap them up for information and shamelessly plagiarise their rigging ideas, which is exactly what I am going to do with kickingk’s very, *very* neat anchor trolley…
Andy.
I followed gerryw’s lead of using the “wasted” space of the tunnel as a site for the battery, a whopping 7.2aH from Maplin (code MM26). I chose this monster as it was the right shape for the ideas I had and only £1.00 more than the 4.2aH alternative. Not much heavier either and a penny short of £25.00
I have a father who is part Squirrel, so it was to him that I went for materials. When suitable candidates were selected, so was the design. The bottom tray was from a toolbox made by the Old Man’s brother in his yoof and the rest from a “Wear Safety Spectacles” sign. It was all aluminium and fastened using normal ally rivets.
It was a tight fit to get into position – it would only fit on its side from the middle hatch. It was held in place while one rivet was tightened to hold it in position for the other three to be drilled accurately then riveted. All this involved being inverted with head and arms in the hatch. It also involved bruises. *Lots* of bruises!
View from middle hatch;
View from front hatch:
As you have no doubt guessed, the battery is accessed from the front hatch.
I have now fitted foam padding, so the box is a very snug fit. So snug it doesn’t really need the elastic. The white bit around the cable is a bit of twin&earth shielding cut into a spiral around the power cable to beef-out the diameter for the gland to seal on.
I couldn’t work out how transducer and power lines could be brought into the kayak’s inners without cutting the cables, given that they have to go through the gland but since there where only 4 inner cables for the transducer and (naturally) 2 for the power, I planned to cut then and use a UTP junction box to rejoin them. I figure that if I keep the paired transducer cables on separate blocks they shouldn’t interfere with each other without the inner shielding. The fifth un-insulated wire I suspect is redundant since there are only six “live” connectors in the plug, but I joined it anyway.
Waterproofing was done with the ubiquitous silicon sealant. The junction box was then siliconed to the side of the battery cage.
When the fishfinder is off the ‘yak, this cover protects its mount:
I’ll have to think of a clever way of sealing the plug for occasions when not using the Garmin, any ideas gratefully received if anyone has done this?
The transducer is mounted directly under the seat. It wasn’t until I took this picture that I noticed it’s not exactly horizontal. I suspect it will make little difference, the angle off horizontal being tiny. Maybe a couple of % error on depth. I shall keep an eye on that, maybe test with a measured line. It’s not as if it will be bang-on accurate anyway as the transducer is a good few centimetres below the water level!
Other things I have found to be useful are:
Black Hammerite on the rivet heads on the rod rests, eyes, hooks etc.. I don’t always get to wash down the kayak and this stops them getting furry with salt corrosion.
H20 Kayaks. This nice fella has all the specialist fittings and fasteners I have needed, supplied on an overnight basis. You all, no doubt, know this, but I wanted to praise the service. I did buy a six inch hatch of the same type that kickingk shows in the thread “Fitting hatch to a Mini-x”, but I haven’t fitted it yet. I hadn’t realise it is, in effect, an interference fit using an o-ring as a seal. Whilst it takes a reasonable shove from inside to break the seal, I’m worried that a bit of flex, a wave or a clumsy “mount” might increase air pressure inside enough to pop it, leaving a 6” ‘ole in the ‘yak. Paranoid? What do you think, kickingk?
Thank you for allowing me to showcase my bodgery. I’m in the Dorset area of North Wales and would like to meet any local members - not just to tap them up for information and shamelessly plagiarise their rigging ideas, which is exactly what I am going to do with kickingk’s very, *very* neat anchor trolley…
Andy.
, worst case being I can make sure the crate applies pressure to the lid to stop it popping.
