How'd I do with my first Livescope instal?

[86 inches]

Yeah, I know... I'm way late to the party. Anyway, I picked up a used LVS32, bought a new GLS10, and got it installed yesterday. What do you think? See anything I missed?

Isolated power to the bow. This has been there for a while. I just connected the power for the GLS10 to the dual bus bar under my footwell at the bow. Originally, I ran 6 g wire from my X2 to the bus bar but that battery is getting a bit long in the tooth and I wanted to play with a LiFePO4, so I picked up A Varter 12V 100Ah to cover the electrical load at the bow. Also, connected to the dual buss bar in addition to the GLS10 are 126, and 106 Echomap Ultra units. At the battery is a Blue Sea terminal fuse block just to cover the run to the Blue Sea series 187 circuit breaker/switch. There are two of these at the top of the first pic; one for the bow circuit and the other for the console coming from the X2 starting battery. Electronics at the console are on the second circuit along with the rest of the house electrical.

[86 inches]

I mounted the GLS10 on 1/4" Kydex using 1/2" aluminum standoffs to allow for better air circulation for heat dissipation and mounted that in my port rod locker as far forward as I could. I chose to mount the GLS10 with the cables up not only to be able to easily see the indicator light but so that I could position the unit as close to the bottom of the rod locker thinking this might be a little cooler than if mounted higher and closer to the lid of the compartment.

[86 inches]

The LVS32 transducer is on a FishObsessed Dominator mount and the cable/transducer junction is protected with their cable saver. I guessed the height and put it so the bottom of the transducer is about 5 inches above the top of the collar and about 11 inches above the prop shaft. When the shaft is raised for shallow water, the fishObsessed mount can swing down positioning the transducer deeper and about two inches above the shaft collar. The LVS cable is attached to the shaft of the Force trolling motor with FlexRoute cable clamps from DD26. I stole my buddy's transducer protector from Summit. Thanks, Jimbo.

I had to reposition the travel strap further down the shaft and closer to the barrel so it could be used with the transducer in place.

[86 inches]

I had an interesting time figuring out a solution to route the transducer cable from the shaft, over the head of the trolling motor, and from there through a new access hole on the way to the GLS10. I didn't like how the cable rubbed on the stabilizer bar mount so I came up with an idea to use 3/8" fuel line as a protecting sheath. I think it worked well. The ID of the fuel line was a perfect match for the transducer cable. Yes, I used zip ties in a couple of spots but they are not tight and the fuel line is very dense preventing any kinking or pinching of the transducer cable.

[86 inches]

I clipped off the collar of the transducer cable connector and it easily fit through the access channel of the Force TM.





From the exit of the access channel, I ran the transducer cable under the motor mount to the deck access hole. My motor mount is raised off the deck about half an inch on two sheets of Kydex to provide clearance on my sloping Champion bow. This space was perfect for the transducer cable to slide under without any compression on the cable by the motor mount.

[Les Young]

Looks like an outstanding job to me.

[86 inches]

From there the transducer cable goes through the deck using a Wire Puck from Cornfield Crappie.

https://cornfieldfishinggear.com/product/wire-puck/

[JohnnyK]

Looks great and looks like you used good plier as there aren't any sharp ends left over from cutting the zipties.

[ifishinxs]

Looks very good.

[86 inches]

Now, I got learn to use it. LOL

[RangerTim619]

Very nice installation.

[DennyD]

Looks like transducer is backwords to to me. Sorry looked again thought it was the 34.

[fishin couillon]

Everything looks professionally installed....neat and clean......for the box, i'v done the same thing with the spacers and starboard.....

[Warrenroadie]

Nice!

[toonedin]

Nice work ....BUT.....
I read somewhere that using zip ties around the transducer cables voids the warranty....
Sorry I can't remember where I read that. You tube Maybe???
Maybe someone else can chime in....

I also went with the obsessed mount. Looking at the Garmin packaged mount I felt
going into the first big lily pad area that sucker may just bend and now would need to be messed with.
Expensive but less headaches.

[86 inches]

Pretty sure my zip ties are OK. They are loose enough that they don't squeeze anything.

[majatk]

Your install looks great

Double loop zip ties work well , tighten first loop to what your fastening to tight , second one loose

double loop zip.jpg

[Mcjenson]

Pretty sure my zip ties are OK. They are loose enough that they don't squeeze anything.

They still have a hard edge though. Long term I'd recommend either tape or velcro straps.

[86 inches]

They still have a hard edge though. Long term I'd recommend either tape or velcro straps.

The zip ties go around a 3/8" fuel line sheath which is entirely noncompressible. I get what you are saying and appreciate the constructive criticism but there is no hard-edge effect on the cable. I considered that very carefully. You could pull those zip ties as tight as you want and they would not exert any pressure whatsoever on the transducer cable inside the fuel line.

Jones Trolling Motor does their Livescope installation using zip ties in two places. He carefully describes it in this video:



I like the extra protection of the fuel line. This particular one is from Continental and is a bit thicker-walled than some fuel lines. I would recommend cutting the fuel line in half longitudinally. Otherwise, if just split like in my pics above, it is a bit difficult to get the transducer cable inside. By cutting it completely in half, there is no chance of damaging the transducer cable when placing it inside the fuel line. Just place both halves over the cable and wrap the fuel line with electrical tape or even better, heat shrink. Boatwireusa.com has a shrink wrap for 2/0 AWG that will slide over the transducer connector and down the cable to the sheathed portion of the run.

I came up with this way to neatly cut the fuel line using a 6-inch piece of 3/4" copper pipe. I cut the end with a hacksaw deep enough to slide a razor blade down the middle and locked the blade in place with a hose clamp. Works great.





Overkill? Yeah... that's my middle name.