Marcum problems

I’ve got a problem with my Marcum TC3. A month or so ago I’m on Mille lacs and everything was fine. Crosby Stick shows up,flipped on his LX5 and since then,I have to have the gain on like 9 to see my jig! I can see bottom and fish OK,but I cannot see the jig. I’m stumped! Tried new battery and does the same thing. The other day I was out in 35′ of water and had to have the gain turned up to 9 to see the jig……Along with a bunch of other lines.Is my Transducer shot?

That’s the first thing I would check. Do you have a buddy close by with a MarCum that could loan you a ‘ducer? If not I could bring on to Everts and let you trouble shoot with it. I’ll be down next tuesday night – thursday if that works for you.

I am with James, I would check the ducer first!

Let me check with a guy at work.He has one, Maybe I can borrow it for a couple days.If not, I’ll take you up on the offer James. I’ll let you know. Thanks guy’s.

Shoot me a pm once you know if you have access to one or not.

Sounds exactly like the problem I had.
It was the transducer…..had nothin to do with the LX5 just bad timing.

Thanks for the post Chappy…Ive been having the same problem with my LX-3, Is it spendy replacing the transducer…and where can you pick up a new one?

Just hang the transducer over a hard surface about 24 inches off the ground and turn your gain to 8. You should get a really nice thick red band for bottom with a nice leading edge. If you don’t, hold your transducer in one hand and pull the cord gently with the other. After that try it again. If you still don’t get a nice thick red band for a bottom reading, your transducer is shot. It is not your battery.

That’s the most common problem with marcums to much power blows up transducers. A new transducer runs anywhere between 50-70 dollars. Replace 2 to 3 a year and your looking at a costly unit.

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That’s the most common problem with marcums to much power blows up transducers.

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I will agree MarCum has had some transducer issues over the years but it is not the result of power. Power does not blow a transducer. In side your trasducer is a Crystal or two if you have a dual beam. These Crystals need to be secured to the bottom of the transducer. If you get bad epoxy or don’t seal the crystal properly they will come loose. That is what happens most of the time when a transducer goes bad, the crystal seperates from the bottom of the trasducer housing.

Another way to think of it is lets say you “glass in” a transducer in your boat and then it starts to break loose. Slowly you lose performace as the trasnducer housing breaks away from the boat. Once it completely loses its seal, you get no reading. That is why transducers go bad, not the power.

That reminds me of the guy that accused me of blowing out his refrigerator because I was running “so much power” from my CB radio a mile away.

Sorry if that sounded like an attack…it wasn’t meant to be…just struck me as funny.

Scott is right on!…I talked to Jon Marshall at MarCum and that is exactly what he said. He said that if you have a try style holder for the transducer, Get a glove and put it in there to “cushion” the transducer when not in use.Thought I’d pass on the info.

He also said that stores don’t carry them…You need to contact them directly. Anyone needs the number, Let me know.

And BK…….Your the reason the lights would get dim a few years ago huh? Had to use your CB!

This not just an issue with Marcum. It happens with all transducers… vexilar, humminbird, lowrance, high speed or ice. It is just the nature of the beast. What everyone needs to understand is that it is a crystal. A fragile peice of equipment, if you bang it off the ice, let it bounce around in the sled, or bounce it off the rocks in your boat it is going to eventualy crack (quit working completely) or delaminate (not read properly or weak). Now I am not saying you don’t get a bad one once in awhile, or that you are tough on stuff, but damaging one is easy to do and happens more often then you think. Marcums sold per transducer request is less then vexilar or lowrance, but that is just what I have noticed.
Check your connections, try the air test mentioned above, most likely it is the transducer. Good luck.