Hobie pro angler Lowrance Elite 5 Fish finder install

So i have been doing alot of research on fish finders lately. Plain and simple, i did not want 2 separate units. I wanted to get an all in one combo. This year i will be hitting wrecks, reefs, channel ledges for grouper, goliath grouper, finding bait for kings and poons. etc... That covers the fish finder side. My other thoughts were about exploring new areas with mazes. Perfect example, the land of OZ. I wanted gps tracking with course tracking and of course way points. With all that being said, I called Richard Booze over at tackle shack in st pete who pointed me in the right direction. After weighing out the pros and cons of different models we decided on a unit and it was in stock, the Lowrance Elite 5. After work Friday i went home, picked up the PA, and made a drive to tackle shack where Richard was ready to start the installation. The battery was charged, all the hardware laid out and organized and the fun was about to begin. 

I will try and go through detail the best i can of the steps involved

Step 1
Remove coffin liner and sand down the areas of the hull where the battery foam holder and transducer foam will be glued with marine goop.
Step 2
Apply a small amount of acetone to a rag and clean the hull.
Step 3
apply marine goop to the transducer foam and lay behind the sail mount in the hull. Adding weight to the top of the foam will help or duct tape. Allow goop to cure
Step 4
Same with the battery box foam, apply the marine goop to the sides and place foam in desired location. In front of the sail mount works well. Allow goop to cure

Step 5
Since we decided to go with a Scotty flush mount as the base you would start by marking off your holes after placed in desired location. Drill the holes out, rivet or screw in 3 of the 4 sides. Reason being is that one of the sides will have an additional eyelet to aid in cord keeping on the underside. Place eyelet over rivet and do not snug all the way down because this will limit the movement of the eyelet.

Step 6
Drilling the hole for the cords. Determine the location where you want the cords to come through. Highly advise drilling the hole as high as possible to limit water seeping into the hull from waves, washing, etc... When you drill the small holes for the tiny screws make sure you do not lose your positioning. These holes are tiny and you don't want any more holes than required. After the small holes are drilled, carefully install the screws ensuring each is aligned properly and not overtightened. When you run your cords, you may have to move/remove the gray foam support block to feed the cord through.

Step 7
Install ram mount and Scotty combo into flush mount and attach head unit

 

Step 8
Run your cables before Installing transducer. Running them after can potentially fudge up the goop job on the transducer. Installing the transducer takes a little patience. Slightly rough up the transducer with fine grit sandpaper. This will aid in bonding with the marine goop. SLOWLY apply marine goop to the inside of the transducer foam ensuring you do not get any air bubbles in it. Don't fill it all the way up.
Step 9
Fastening the cables as high as possible to the sail mount to avoid water contact if there was ever water to enter the hull.

Step 10
Connect battery pigtail to battery cable. Fasten pigtail same as step 9 as high up as possible. Install battery, make sure all fittings are secure. As you see in the pic, jimmy steps in and gives Richard a hand

Step 11
Connect cable to back of the the head unit and power on. Adjust your settings and enjoy

Hope this helps anyone who ever decides to have an install on their PA. If i have gotten anything backwards please let me know. The guys at Tackle shack are awesome, I have to give props to them. Every employee helped out where they could and they did a fantastic job. I love that store. The sweet part of the deal was that Lowrance is offering a $100 mail in rebate. Now i just have to tinker with the thing and get it dialed in and learn all the cool features.