They do upgrades for the LX7, Showdowns and troller still. Why not the LX3? If the parts are assembled here locally I dont see a reason why not to still offer such an upgrade? Dont they have the parts or use parts from the TC version to make the change? Is it only because its not in demand?
What reason did marcum give you when you asked?
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What reason did marcum give you when you asked?
It was from a friend. Just said they no longer do upgrades for LX3. Didn’t bother to ask or provide a reason. So I was curious just to ask on here?
I dont know. Last I heard they still did it.
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I dont know. Last I heard they still did it.
Nope, not anymore.
I brought in an original LX3 for repair about a month ago, and asked if it could be updated to TC. He said the upgrade parts were no longer available.
There were able to get my LX3 working again, though.
Ingy
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They do upgrades for the LX7, Showdowns and troller still. Why not the LX3? If the parts are assembled here locally I dont see a reason why not to still offer such an upgrade? Dont they have the parts or use parts from the TC version to make the change? Is it only because its not in demand?
I believe the original LX3 to LX3tc upgrade was offered back in 2005 / 2006 and was in place for over 2 years. During that time a huge percentage of the LX3s in the field were upgraded. Fast forward 7 – 8 years and the demand now for that upgrade is so small there’s no way to justify continuing to offer that program.
While you might think MarCum has “extra” parts laying around to accomplish an upgrade the truth is there’s never “extra” parts. A build projection is forecast, let’s say for 3,000 LX3tc’s, for the coming year. MarCum / Versa will build or order the parts needed to build those 3,000 units. They won’t build any more or any less than 3,000. That is the way of lean manufacturing. Sitting on idle materials in the hopes that someone might place an order for those materials is not how a successful business is run any more and components are tracked down to the last unit.
I understand the process for production and marketing however you still need to service parts. Or stock enough parts to service your product.
I dont know how different internally wise the components are the LX3 and TC version. However they cant be all that different to where parts are at least easily swappable?
Why continue to stock or service parts for LX3 if there is such low demand? Wouldnt it be more sense to stock only LX3tc parts and still offer the upgrade path then to the TC as the parts are available for service situations?
I dont know what parts are needed to make an old one TC or if they are the same as what is needed to repair a TC unit. I’d have to wonder if the old units need a specific part to make them TC that is not needed on any other unit and is too expensive to stock since there probably isnt many people sending in for the upgrade.
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I understand the process for production and marketing however you still need to service parts. Or stock enough parts to service your product.
As was stated by another poster earlier in this thread MarCum can and will service the LX3, quickly returning an LX3 as built back to good working order. I’m not sure what else can be expected of them.
As for the upgrade, additional parts are needed to make the conversion and those parts are NOT common with the build on an LX3tc. Since demand is low, as stated in my previous response, there’s little reason to stock them.
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As for the upgrade, additional parts are needed to make the conversion and those parts are NOT common with the build on an LX3tc. Since demand is low, as stated in my previous response, there’s little reason to stock them.
Thx for the clarification James! So in conclusion we can assume the answer is that the mechanical parts on the LX3tc cannot be used to build or upgrade the path of a regular LX3. And since there is little demand the upgrade is no longer offered.
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Thx for the clarification James! So in conclusion we can assume the answer is that the mechanical parts on the LX3tc cannot be used to build or upgrade the path of a regular LX3. And since there is little demand the upgrade is no longer offered.
That is correct. Most parts are common but not all. And all it would take is for one unique part NOT used in the LX3tc but required to upgrade an LX3 to make it unrealistic for MarCum to continue to offer the upgrade due to very, very low demand.
A little more about my experience with Marcum.
My LX3 stopped working properly about 5 or 6 years ago, but I ended up picking up an LX5 cheap when Gander was closing metro stores. I always meant to bring the LX3 in to get it checked out and upgraded, but never got around to it.
Finally, I brought it in about a month ago.
I was told if it was fixable, it was going to be a flat $80 fee. If it wasn’t fixable, they would sell me a brand new LX3TC head for $150.
After driving away, I started to think I should have just gone for the $150 upgrade and called it good.
2 days later, I picked up my repaired LX3. For $80, I got the unit fixed, and they also stuck in a new battery and a new soft case.
I’m pretty happy with Marcum and how they treated me. And now I’ve got a spare/loaner unit again.
Ingy
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