My 7 year old FL-8 has worked like a champ but the screen “clutter” is becoming more of a problem every year. It is still very operational and useable but it gets annoying having to adjust the gain multiple times per outing. Alot of times on a missed hookset I have to reboot.
Is there anything I can do, short of sending it in? I did finally replace the battery last year so the battery is strong.
Or maybe the head honcho’s here will let me win the lx-9 and Ill donate the Vex to someone deserving, LOL
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My 7 year old FL-8 has worked like a champ but the screen “clutter” is becoming more of a problem every year. It is still very operational and useable but it gets annoying having to adjust the gain multiple times per outing. Alot of times on a missed hookset I have to reboot.
Is there anything I can do, short of sending it in? I did finally replace the battery last year so the battery is strong.
I have been using my FL-8 for going on 17 years, and it still works like a champs about 8 years ago I had the same problem and I just had to replace the transducer and it has worked great ever since. One thing I found though is that I get more clutter when there are a lot of fish houses around and I assume that is because Everyone is using electronics and the IR isn’t as good as the newer ones.
Either a bad battery or bad transducer.
Check battery with volt meter, should have 12-13 VDC.
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Either a bad battery or bad transducer.
Check battery with volt meter, should have 12-13 VDC.
X2
#1 weak battery
#2 transducer
#3 brush’s
#4 Call Vexilar
Anyone know how often the brushes need replaced?
No authority but I sent my old one in for tune up when it got noisy and cluttered. I think it got brushes and a transducer. Is there mud or gunk on bottom of the ducer? I want to switch to blue leds …..
Hey Stricker! Do you have anyone nearby that you could borrow and do some testing with your unit?
If so, I’d try doing some troubleshooting to see if you can narrow down the issue. Borrow a good working transducer from someone and test it hooked up to yours. If you still have issues its probably not the transducer (duh). If that’s not it, hook up your vexilar to a good/new battery to see if that clears it up. If not, likely you’ll need to send it in for repair.
P.S.-You really should have met me for fishing this weekend. The perch fishing was unreal! 
-M.Insko
Nobody has a vexilar that I fish with in Albert Lea so I cant swap out transducers and Ive ruled out the battery already.
vexilar shop in bloomington mn. i just got my old, old, fl8 back from there, new motor, brushes and something else….$100, way cheaper than a new one.
7 years old is not very long for a ducer to go bad, make sure you check the connection to the back of the unit and make sure the plug is not loose or something stupid like that.
If it is a bad unit, you can call vexilar and have them test it for you. They will have you take off the head, and just send the head, transducer, and power cord. They will test it and see what is up, if your transducer is bad and if the brushes need replaced.
I would suggest if you are going to restore it that you go ahead and do a brush replacement now. Brush kits are $30 from vexilar. If you feel you can do it yourself, you can get a brush kit from vexilar and replace them on your own. Here is the instructions for the brush kit, so you can see if it is something you can do on your own. http://vexilar.com/parts/pdf/vexilar_brush_replacement_kit.pdf
I think you can manage to plug in a new transducer, but yes it sounds like your transducer is going bad. A new transducer is about $90.
Jerad, you know, I just thought of something. I sold my vexilar a couple months ago, but I had a boat transducer for it and the guy didn’t want that. So I’ve still got the boat transducer. I could send it to you. It wouldn’t be the same as the ice transducer, but you should be able to hook it up and be able to tell if it is a problem with transducer or head unit that way. Let me know. -Mike
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