My new ice helix has battery issues. When I first turn it on after charging it with the supplied charger, it will show roughly 70% usually. I learned quickly that the power needs to be turned down to the point that is hard to see or it will be at less than 10% in just a few hours. I’m guessing that I will end up needing to buy a bigger battery (possibly lithium). I’m not very impressed so far.
Update on my unit.
First, there are essentially no units out there to replace this unit or do a DIY ice kit. I see Scheels does have the Marcum shuttle back in stock but I have heard some pretty negative reviews on that lately. However control heads, ice ducers, and almost anything else is nearly impossible to find.
Back to my unit. Humminbird agreed that something must have been wrong and sent me a new battery. I put it on the charger when I got it early last week. I checked it later and it showed 100% charge so I set it aside. On Saturday morning I checked it before I went bobcat hunting knowing I was going fishing later. It read 2%. There is no way this unit should discharge I put it on a charger while I was hunting and it charged to 100% while I was gone. I disconnected the power cables and headed out fishing once I gathered the troops.
When I got on the ice I connected the leads and turned it on. 70% charge. Fished for less than four hours and the meter was jumping from 20-40% charge. Went through the same process overnight. 100% when I left the house, 70% by the time I got out fishing (leads disconnected). After four hours it read 9%.
There is no way that these batteries should be losing charge just from going outside and there is no way that even these units should be using that much battery when the screen is turned down so far it’s hard to see. I contacted Humminbird this morning and they wanted me to send it back in. They said turn around was only 5-7 days but based on everything else in the world, I have zero confidence in that. Scheels doesn’t have replacements so exchanging isn’t really an option. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy a lithium battery but they sound like they have their own problems, it’s only masking a defect in this system, and it pisses me off to have to spend good money after bad.
I’m really at a loss as to what to do. I actually don’t like the Helix as much as my old VX-1P or my stepson’s new M3 and am considering returning this and getting a cheaper flasher and forgetting about using a nicer unit on the ice and bow of the boat for open water.
Frustrating.
I’m starting to think that Hummingbird developed their ice units in conjunction with spouses so we can only fish for a few hours instead of all day.
Fished for three hours this morning. 100% when I left the house. 40% after three hours.
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