Marcum LX-5 question

I was fishing on Saturday and just want some confirmation that my LX-5 is working correctly. I was fishing in about 10 feet of water and I started out fishing with a Bro’s Bloodworm jig. In order to see my jig on the flasher screen I had to turn the gain up to 7. This just didn’t seem right to me. Later on in the day I put on a small spoon with a minnow head and i only needed the gain to be at 2. I am just wondering if this is normal operation for a LX-5?

There is a little background information that I would like to share also about My LX-5. I ordered it this March from Reeds. When I received it the battery was dead. I had it plugged in for 24 hours and the digitial display still was blank. I used a different charger to charge the battery then ran the unit to discharge the battery. When i went to charge the unit again with the Marcum DCS it wouldn’t do anything. I called Customer service and they said that the digital display charger unit was bad and sent me a new one, and that fixed that problem.

Last month I pulled the unit off the shelf and charged the battery and then turned it on. The flasher display had lights on it for about a second then it went blank. I could here the motor still running in the display but no lights were on. I called Marcum and they had me send the unit to them for warranty work. They sent me the unit back and in an email they explained that they replaced the entire display unit that has the SN# on it.

I have only used the flasher a total of 10 hours. Did I get a lemon? I have never heard of anyone else having this many issues with any Marcum product. I do have to say that Marcum’s customer service is top notch!! Just wish that I didn’t have to deal with them so much.

Yes Marcum customer service is top notch no doubt about it. As for reading the smaller jig a few things to consider and check:

1) Was the transducer hanging straight and clear of the ice? Sometimes I will have my transducer resting against the ice and crooked making for some real funky readings. Nine times out of ten this is what fouls me up.

2) Check your IR button, sounds goofy but interference can create flash or take it away, just give it a couple clicks.

3) Was your battery charged up?

If nothing else call customer service up with any questions you may have as they have seen it all will have answer for you.

Woody,

I see we are from the same home town, would you like to make a quick stop over to Neshonoc with me and let me have a look see out on the water to see if it is something simple, if so….let me know

Jonny P

I had the puck a few inches below the bottom of the ice and the puck was hanging level. The battery was at 100% when I went out and when I got done at the end of the day it was at 60%.

I didnt do anything with the IR. I will give that a try this weekend.

Brett,

If I get some time this week I will try to get ahold of you.

A guy that I work with also has a LX-5. Would it be worth a shot if we swap transducers to see if their is a difference?

The transducer is a start but, with the info you provided I’m wondering about your battery.

This is what makes IDO a site unlike any other. Everyone on this site is willing to help out with a problem/issue if they can.

I was picking up my 3mm Fiskas easily in 10′ today set at a little over 2, with a 1/8oz Go Devil on I turned it down to under 1. Marmoskas are a little hard to pick up though but I dont recall ever turning mine up past 3 for any jig.

Sounds like a dead/dying battery to me with the information you provided. Did it ever happen to do anything funky like the lights just spun around in a circle every now and again?

Some small jigs are harder to read then others depending if they sit verticle or horizontal in the water, but if I were you I’d use your buddies battery first that will be pretty simple to see if that’s the problem or not.

I swear there is a warmup of some kind to these units. All these years with my colorpoint and now my LX-5 it seems like it is hard to pick up my teardrop when I first start fishing but then becomes far easier after the unit has been on a while. Hole hopping makes no difference. Once it starts reading well it stays that way. I’ve never heard of this or even mentioned it before but I have seen it so many times its seems like just about every time?? Not a problem. Just an observation. Easily negotiated with gain.

Since I am a flasher newb I will tell you I had the same results. My problem ( yes I am an idiot ) was that I didn’t have enough cord out to hang below the ice. It was layed up next to it shooting off into the abyss… Once I noticed I was being an idiot I have never had a problem since.

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Last month I pulled the unit off the shelf and charged the battery and then turned it on. The flasher display had lights on it for about a second then it went blank. I could here the motor still running in the display but no lights were on.

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That was the same problem I had with my unit. I don’t know what the problem was, it did it twice and that’s when I said forget it- I went back to Vexilar.

Thanks for all the advice so far……

I had plenty of cord out and the transducer was sitting level. I Checked alot of things when I was on the ice because it was frustrating not being able to see my jig without a ton of gain.

I’m kicking myself right now for not buying a new battery up at the ice show. Everyone had them for $10. Now if I need a battery I will have to pay $30 for one at Fleet farm.

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I swear there is a warmup of some kind to these units. All these years with my colorpoint and now my LX-5 it seems like it is hard to pick up my teardrop when I first start fishing but then becomes far easier after the unit has been on a while. Hole hopping makes no difference. Once it starts reading well it stays that way. I’ve never heard of this or even mentioned it before but I have seen it so many times its seems like just about every time?? Not a problem. Just an observation. Easily negotiated with gain.

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First… the average cat doesn’t even notice this. You’re a sharpie.

It isn’t a warm up period as much as it is a “relax and stretch” period. And it works the same on every unit.

The sheath around the transducer cable is rubber / plastic and that coating doesn’t take all that well to being wound up in a spiral and stored at cold temps then asked to do its job at a moment’s notice. Between uses the transducer cable is wrapped up and shoved inside a soft pack or wrapped around the head unit of our flashers. For the lack of a better word… it has a bit of memory.

When we first pull our flasher out of the tub of the shack in the morning and initially throw it down the hole the transducer will need some time to “relax” and overcome some of the memory in the trans cable. And this happens to ALL units. We’re only talking about a minor deflection of off “straight down” and it is particularly noticeable in deep water or particularly cold days but it is really only an issue for the first couple holes. Once the coating around the ‘ducer cables relaxes and allows the ‘ducer head to point straight down as intended… game on.

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I was fishing on Saturday and just want some confirmation that my LX-5 is working correctly. I was fishing in about 10 feet of water and I started out fishing with a Bro’s Bloodworm jig. In order to see my jig on the flasher screen I had to turn the gain up to 7. This just didn’t seem right to me. Later on in the day I put on a small spoon with a minnow head and i only needed the gain to be at 2. I am just wondering if this is normal operation for a LX-5?

There is a little background information that I would like to share also about My LX-5. I ordered it this March from Reeds. When I received it the battery was dead. I had it plugged in for 24 hours and the digitial display still was blank. I used a different charger to charge the battery then ran the unit to discharge the battery. When i went to charge the unit again with the Marcum DCS it wouldn’t do anything. I called Customer service and they said that the digital display charger unit was bad and sent me a new one, and that fixed that problem.

Last month I pulled the unit off the shelf and charged the battery and then turned it on. The flasher display had lights on it for about a second then it went blank. I could here the motor still running in the display but no lights were on. I called Marcum and they had me send the unit to them for warranty work. They sent me the unit back and in an email they explained that they replaced the entire display unit that has the SN# on it.

I have only used the flasher a total of 10 hours. Did I get a lemon? I have never heard of anyone else having this many issues with any Marcum product. I do have to say that Marcum’s customer service is top notch!! Just wish that I didn’t have to deal with them so much.

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Take this as Ice Fishing Rule #1. When it comes to flashers… battery’s are almost always to blame for performance issues. 99.9999999999% of the time, regardless of brand, if your flasher is acting funky… buy a new battery. I’ll just about guarantee your issues will be solved. IF you don’t want to buy a new $10 – $20 battery, borrow one. Diagnosing the issue will be very straightforward.

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I swear there is a warmup of some kind to these units. All these years with my colorpoint and now my LX-5 it seems like it is hard to pick up my teardrop when I first start fishing but then becomes far easier after the unit has been on a while. Hole hopping makes no difference. Once it starts reading well it stays that way. I’ve never heard of this or even mentioned it before but I have seen it so many times its seems like just about every time?? Not a problem. Just an observation. Easily negotiated with gain.

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First… the average cat doesn’t even notice this. You’re a sharpie.

It isn’t a warm up period as much as it is a “relax and stretch” period. And it works the same on every unit.

The sheath around the transducer cable is rubber / plastic and that coating doesn’t take all that well to being wound up in a spiral and stored at cold temps then asked to do its job at a moment’s notice. Between uses the transducer cable is wrapped up and shoved inside a soft pack or wrapped around the head unit of our flashers. For the lack of a better word… it has a bit of memory.

When we first pull our flasher out of the tub of the shack in the morning and initially throw it down the hole the transducer will need some time to “relax” and overcome some of the memory in the trans cable. And this happens to ALL units. We’re only talking about a minor deflection of off “straight down” and it is particularly noticeable in deep water or particularly cold days but it is really only an issue for the first couple holes. Once the coating around the ‘ducer cables relaxes and allows the ‘ducer head to point straight down as intended… game on.

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Sweet! Thanks James for that logical explanation!
Still probably doesnt mean I’m not crazy but every little bit helps.

Since we are on a LX-5 thread, I just got an LX-5 as an early x-mas present from the better half. She had to bring it out early or I was going to get one on my own.

I’m not having as much luck with customer service as others have been so I’ll ask some of the questions here.

I have fully charged the battery and it show 100% while the charger is on, but once I take it off and turn the unit on it immediately drops to 60% while it is on. Is this normal? And I used it for less than a hour and the charge after shut off was at 60%. Again does this sound correct? I’m a newbie with the unit so I’m just getting used to it. Also I found a couple of rubber washers missing and have been waiting for over a week for a call back. I wasn’t able to get thru to a human after 3 tries so I left a voice mail. Any thoughts?

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Since we are on a LX-5 thread, I just got an LX-5 as an early x-mas present from the better half. She had to bring it out early or I was going to get one on my own.

I’m not having as much luck with customer service as others have been so I’ll ask some of the questions here.

I have fully charged the battery and it show 100% while the charger is on, but once I take it off and turn the unit on it immediately drops to 60% while it is on. Is this normal? And I used it for less than a hour and the charge after shut off was at 60%. Again does this sound correct? I’m a newbie with the unit so I’m just getting used to it. Also I found a couple of rubber washers missing and have been waiting for over a week for a call back. I wasn’t able to get thru to a human after 3 tries so I left a voice mail. Any thoughts?

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Everyone in MarCum’s CS dept. has been on the road since last thursday at the Syracuse, NY sports show. If you left a message you’ll be hearing back from them in a day or two as everyone gets caught back up once they get in the office tomorrow.

As for the DCS reading with the unit on, yes, a drop in displayed voltage is normal with the unit on. Mine usually drops to 70% or so when I first turn it on coming off a full charge.

Thanks James for replying to both my posts.

Yes, thanks to everyone for giving me some tips to get everything working correctly.