Just a little back ground. I used vexilar for 20 years fl8, fl18, and flx28. I really like them and never had a complaint about them. Then because I’m a guy that likes to try different things I sold them and bought a LX-7. I liked all aspects of it. I liked that I could use change up the display for different type of fishing. I like the big screen. What I absolutely hated about it the lx-7 is that it didn’t fit in a bucket, it was very front heavy when hole hopping, and the battery life was horrible. I would have to turn the backlight down so much that I had a hard time seeing it when outside in the direct sunlight. I had to be in my portable. even when the weather was nice and it drove me nuts. I actually tried selling it, but didn’t have any takers at the price I was asking I wasn’t going to give it away. I was trying to decide on what I was going to do with it so I tried the lithium shuttle. I looked at it in the store for at least a half a hour. and pulled the trigger. I do think it is a little expensive, but hey when I was chasing women in my younger years I waste way more then that on a lot dumber things. I got it home and installed my lx-7 on to it. I noticed that it was balanced better and did fit in a bucket “it comes in a 5 gallon bucket as packageing”. The added light and usb chargers are a great add on. I charged the unit to 100 percent and turned it on and set the backlight to 80 percent. I usually would run about 35 to 40 percent to make sure that the battery would last all day “which why it was hard to see in the sunlight.” Once I turned it on I set my timer on my phone and left it run in the kitchen. I let it run a full 10 hours and according the battery on the unit it was down to 60 percent. WAY better battery life. Over all only time will tell, but for now I give at a B+ not an A, Because I feel it is a little expensive.
IDO » Forums » Fishing Forums » Ice Fishing Forum » Lithium shuttle review
Lithium shuttle review
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travis mccolleyPosts: 78October 22, 2017 at 10:04 am #1722329
This looks promising and if I didn’t have other rstuff to buy this year I would grab one.
I have looked at just adding a lithum battery to the vex and even those are about 100 buck.
Will be intersted to see now this does in the cold
AaronMoorePosts: 229October 22, 2017 at 11:13 am #1722334Look in to the group buy going on for a lithium battery on this site
Old ice fishermanPosts: 5October 22, 2017 at 1:04 pm #1722342It looks like if you attach anything to any of the three 1/4 20 thread locations it will no longer fit in a bucket, right?
Old ice fishermanPosts: 5October 22, 2017 at 1:38 pm #1722348On my lx7 I use my red carrying bag shield to keep snow and rain off the screen. Any ideas on what to use with the new lithium shuttle?
Old ice fishermanPosts: 5October 22, 2017 at 6:24 pm #1722382Looks good for carrying and storing, but I need a shield while I am using it on the ice when it’s snowing so that I can see the screen. Also it will help when the sun is shining on the screen.
October 24, 2017 at 12:40 pm #1722839Just put my Marcum Shuttle together and noticed after charging it up that it runs 12.7 volts while the Dakota Lithium we got in the buyers group runs 13.4. But I’m gonna like this shuttle ! I put my LX9 on it and while I’d like to figure out how to be able to use my LX9 camera some Ram mounts should make the Recon 5 work good.
October 24, 2017 at 1:35 pm #1722864Just put my Marcum Shuttle together and noticed after charging it up that it runs 12.7 volts while the Dakota Lithium we got in the buyers group runs 13.4. But I’m gonna like this shuttle ! I put my LX9 on it and while I’d like to figure out how to be able to use my LX9 camera some Ram mounts should make the Recon 5 work good.
Just buy 2 female plastic clips, drill 2 small holes in the handle sides and secure them with loop fasterns, clip the camera bag on the back like the Marcum case…
d21arrenPosts: 24October 30, 2017 at 12:57 pm #1724127Does everything you need to transfer over your LX7 come with the shuttle? Do you have to have a different power cord to run from the shuttle to the head unit?
October 30, 2017 at 1:07 pm #1724129Does everything you need to transfer over your LX7 come with the shuttle? Do you have to have a different power cord to run from the shuttle to the head unit?
All you need is the head unit and the transducer. Everything else comes with the shuttle.
Chad NPosts: 4October 31, 2017 at 7:42 am #1724283Do you think someone could mount 2 screens on the unit like a LX7 as the main screen and find a way to mount a Humminbird some how? Have the nice ice features of the LX7 along with a mapping unit of a Humminbird vs. using a cell phone app. mapping. Be interesting to see how others mount accessories and units to the shuttle. Have one on order, just thinking of what to mount.
d21arrenPosts: 24November 2, 2017 at 7:48 am #1724878I got mine delivered yesterday and mounted my LX7 to the unit. Very impressed so far in the weight reduction of the unit. I ordered it direct from rapala website and arrived 2 days later. One issue was that one of the three transducer tie down tabs was snapped off and laying inside the bucket. Not a huge deal, as it still holds the cable. I think I will be looking to add a cell phone holder for gps/ navionics to the unit.
November 2, 2017 at 9:05 am #1724908Do you think someone could mount 2 screens on the unit like a LX7 as the main screen and find a way to mount a Humminbird some how? Have the nice ice features of the LX7 along with a mapping unit of a Humminbird vs. using a cell phone app. mapping. Be interesting to see how others mount accessories and units to the shuttle. Have one on order, just thinking of what to mount.
Put the GPS Helix on a long arm RAM mount
Craig KilberPosts: 40November 2, 2017 at 12:27 pm #1724992I got my shuttle in and mounted the Helix 7 G2 to in and mounted the Marcum Recon. Can’t wait for the hard water! Looking like I will be able to walk on in the next few weeks!
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Jeff SchomakerPosts: 408November 2, 2017 at 2:11 pm #1725041Can you show how you mounted the recon?! I have an LX-7 and a Recon that I’m wanting to mount exactly like you did! Thanks!
Craig KilberPosts: 40November 2, 2017 at 2:56 pm #1725056Sure! I used this mount, it screws into the back of the recon camera.
https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/catch-cover-pro-snake-rod-holder-c-clamp?a=1548583
Here are a few pictures. I mounted it to the handle of the lithium shuttle.
Hope this helps!
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Jeff SchomakerPosts: 408November 2, 2017 at 3:52 pm #1725068I actually have that same mount already! Perfect! Glad to see it will work!
Sean MurphyPosts: 2November 19, 2017 at 1:43 pm #1729094Craig how did you attach your helix 7 gimball mount to the marcum shuttle? I’m trying to avoid adding any holes to my shuttle.
Craig KilberPosts: 40November 19, 2017 at 5:44 pm #1729140I used the big spacers that came with the helix, that was the only way I was able to get it to work
Craig KilberPosts: 40November 23, 2017 at 10:13 am #1730047Has anyone had their shuttle on the ice yet? I charged mine until it showed 100%. I have a helix 7 mounted on it and had nothing else plugged into it or didn’t use the led light. After 4 hours of use, the battery life was down to 36%. Really disappointed in the battery life, that was the main reason I purchased it. Marcum will be getting a call tomorrow.
November 23, 2017 at 11:28 am #1730069Has anyone had their shuttle on the ice yet? I charged mine until it showed 100%. I have a helix 7 mounted on it and had nothing else plugged into it or didn’t use the led light. After 4 hours of use, the battery life was down to 36%. Really disappointed in the battery life, that was the main reason I purchased it. Marcum will be getting a call tomorrow.
Hi Craig,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
A couple recommendations if I may to help you diagnose this issue before you call customer service.
First, what is the amp draw of your Helix 7 as you have it set up on the shuttle right now? Make sure you test the amp draw using the same screen brightness settings you used when you were ice fishing.
Second, I would recommend doing a test run to see how much actual run time you get with your Helix 7 on the lithium shuttle. Having a battery gauge is better than no gauge at all but I would be hesitant to put absolute faith in determining runtime of a battery based on a gauge showing a percentage of power remaining.
My suggestion would be to do a test run with your Helix 7 on a fully charge lithium shuttle and just let it run. You shouldn’t have to check in on it for the first 6 hours plus but after that just give it a look every half hour to see how long it will actually run on the shuttle versus making a determination based on that gauge.
Settings on your Helix 7 will also have a huge impact on the amount of run time you can expect. I run somewhere between 35 and 50% screen brightness on my lx7. If I Max the screen brightness to 100% I see an almost four tenths of an amp draw increase which of course will greatly reduce run time.
Running my lx7 at 50% screen brightness on the lithium shuttle I had 3/4 of power remaining on the battery gauge when I fished sunrise to sunset last week.
I looked around online to see if I could find some information on what the amp draw is for your Helix 7 and couldn’t find anything. That said, the best course of action is going to be to test the amp draw of your unit as you run it using a multimeter. Once you have the amp draw information you’ll be able to have a very informed conversation with MarCum customer service.
For reference the battery inside the lithium shuttle is a 12-volt 12 amp battery.
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November 23, 2017 at 11:53 am #1730073I run my Halix 7 on a 4.5 amp lithium battery. I has never gone dead on me. I usually only fish up to 3 hours so that may be why I have no issues. Sure is light though in my kitty litter mount.
Craig KilberPosts: 40November 23, 2017 at 8:53 pm #1730167<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Craig Kilber wrote:</div>
Has anyone had their shuttle on the ice yet? I charged mine until it showed 100%. I have a helix 7 mounted on it and had nothing else plugged into it or didn’t use the led light. After 4 hours of use, the battery life was down to 36%. Really disappointed in the battery life, that was the main reason I purchased it. Marcum will be getting a call tomorrow.Hi Craig,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
A couple recommendations if I may to help you diagnose this issue before you call customer service.
First, what is the amp draw of your Helix 7 as you have it set up on the shuttle right now? Make sure you test the amp draw using the same screen brightness settings you used when you were ice fishing.
Second, I would recommend doing a test run to see how much actual run time you get with your Helix 7 on the lithium shuttle. Having a battery gauge is better than no gauge at all but I would be hesitant to put absolute faith in determining runtime of a battery based on a gauge showing a percentage of power remaining.
My suggestion would be to do a test run with your Helix 7 on a fully charge lithium shuttle and just let it run. You shouldn’t have to check in on it for the first 6 hours plus but after that just give it a look every half hour to see how long it will actually run on the shuttle versus making a determination based on that gauge.
Settings on your Helix 7 will also have a huge impact on the amount of run time you can expect. I run somewhere between 35 and 50% screen brightness on my lx7. If I Max the screen brightness to 100% I see an almost four tenths of an amp draw increase which of course will greatly reduce run time.
Running my lx7 at 50% screen brightness on the lithium shuttle I had 3/4 of power remaining on the battery gauge when I fished sunrise to sunset last week.
I looked around online to see if I could find some information on what the amp draw is for your Helix 7 and couldn’t find anything. That said, the best course of action is going to be to test the amp draw of your unit as you run it using a multimeter. Once you have the amp draw information you’ll be able to have a very informed conversation with MarCum customer service.
For reference the battery inside the lithium shuttle is a 12-volt 12 amp battery.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family also!
Thank you for the response, I will mess with the screen brightness, that should help. When I power up the shuttle, the battery drops 10% right off the bat, just seems odd to me. I’ll let it run and see how long it will go. Thanks!
Joe FoldiPosts: 1December 3, 2017 at 5:55 am #1732317Hey just wondering how you wired the Helix to the shuttle.
You’ll want the lithium shuttle power adapter. Part# MUPC
December 3, 2017 at 8:25 am #1732355<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Craig Kilber wrote:</div>
Has anyone had their shuttle on the ice yet? I charged mine until it showed 100%. I have a helix 7 mounted on it and had nothing else plugged into it or didn’t use the led light. After 4 hours of use, the battery life was down to 36%. Really disappointed in the battery life, that was the main reason I purchased it. Marcum will be getting a call tomorrow.Hi Craig,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
A couple recommendations if I may to help you diagnose this issue before you call customer service.
First, what is the amp draw of your Helix 7 as you have it set up on the shuttle right now? Make sure you test the amp draw using the same screen brightness settings you used when you were ice fishing.
Second, I would recommend doing a test run to see how much actual run time you get with your Helix 7 on the lithium shuttle. Having a battery gauge is better than no gauge at all but I would be hesitant to put absolute faith in determining runtime of a battery based on a gauge showing a percentage of power remaining.
My suggestion would be to do a test run with your Helix 7 on a fully charge lithium shuttle and just let it run. You shouldn’t have to check in on it for the first 6 hours plus but after that just give it a look every half hour to see how long it will actually run on the shuttle versus making a determination based on that gauge.
Settings on your Helix 7 will also have a huge impact on the amount of run time you can expect. I run somewhere between 35 and 50% screen brightness on my lx7. If I Max the screen brightness to 100% I see an almost four tenths of an amp draw increase which of course will greatly reduce run time.
Running my lx7 at 50% screen brightness on the lithium shuttle I had 3/4 of power remaining on the battery gauge when I fished sunrise to sunset last week.
I looked around online to see if I could find some information on what the amp draw is for your Helix 7 and couldn’t find anything. That said, the best course of action is going to be to test the amp draw of your unit as you run it using a multimeter. Once you have the amp draw information you’ll be able to have a very informed conversation with MarCum customer service.
For reference the battery inside the lithium shuttle is a 12-volt 12 amp battery.
The amp draw question is a good one that I can answer.
The helix 7 is rated by the manufacturer at 850mA draw.
In simulation mode ( I have not live field tested so don’t know if there is a difference in numbers but…), the Helix 7 is tested at 750mA on screen brightness 10, draws about 300mA on brightness 3 and about 250mA on brightness 2.
To give some perspective, the Hummingbird Ice 55 unit draws ~250mA with the screen back light off.
So from here its simple division. 12,000mAh capacity of the new lithium battery divided by the current draw. This comes out to 16 hrs on brightness 10 and 48 hours on brightness 2. If we calculate an average of 500mA draw, that comes to 24 hours of run time.
In summary if you turn the brightness down, you should have no issue at all getting a full day or more out of the 12Ah battery I the lithium shuttle. Now keep in mind there are situations where you need a brighter screen and certainly many variables that can affect battery performance but overall the hard math numbers don’t lie.
Ryan JohnsonPosts: 3January 2, 2019 at 3:43 pm #1822517Does anybody know if you can mount an lx9 to a lithium shuttle without drilling any holes,, I pretty sure you can but just double checking
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