I’ve always been a Vex guy, but my uncle gave my 8 year old a Marcum lx3 that has had very little use. I bought a new battery for it and we took it out for the first time today. It didn’t seem to read as well as my vex. We were in 9 ft of water and to get a decent reading on the bottom the gain had to be up aways. I assume the bottom should be solid red like a vex? Does anyone have any suggestions?
I took a pic but its not great.
20210103_110151.jpg
usually a sign the transducer is going bad in my experience
I have the same Marcum and used to have the Vex. It took me a bit of an adjustment to figure out the gain etc. Once you get used to it all will be fine. I actually have my Marcum in getting fixed now and back to the old Vex. I noticed that it IS easier to see the bottom and jigs etc, but the Marcum shows better separation, so with the Marcum I see two separate lines for two fish, the Vex would show one bigger mark – hence easier to see, but not as accurate. Same is true with the bottom, I see more stuff on the bottom with my Marcum, but a better solid line with the Vex – details I guess.
Having owned an older LX-3 my first thought was the transducer, as mentioned above. Another thought was there was an upgrade title “LTC” or something similar. Mine had that upgrade so I’m unsure what the plain non-LTC appeared like. But again, requiring full gain sounds similar to when my transducer took a poop.
The “TC” was the True Color upgrade. Initially when the LX3 first came out it was only 2 colors. The TC upgrade (and all the newer units) have 3 colors green, yellow/orange and red.
I would guess its the transducer if you are using a verified good new battery and its fully charged. If you turn the unit on you should hear it clicking quite loud and be able to actually feel it in your hand if you place it in your hand.
I have the same Marcum and used to have the Vex. It took me a bit of an adjustment to figure out the gain etc. Once you get used to it all will be fine. I actually have my Marcum in getting fixed now and back to the old Vex. I noticed that it IS easier to see the bottom and jigs etc, but the Marcum shows better separation, so with the Marcum I see two separate lines for two fish, the Vex would show one bigger mark – hence easier to see, but not as accurate. Same is true with the bottom, I see more stuff on the bottom with my Marcum, but a better solid line with the Vex – details I guess.
I get what you’re saying, im just wondering what its going to be like fishing in 20-30ft of water if I have to have the gain up this high in 9ft.
The “TC” was the True Color upgrade. Initially when the LX3 first came out it was only 2 colors. The TC upgrade (and all the newer units) have 3 colors green, yellow/orange and red.
I would guess its the transducer if you are using a verified good new battery and its fully charged. If you turn the unit on you should hear it clicking quite loud and be able to actually feel it in your hand if you place it in your hand.
The battery tested at 12.5volts when we got home yesterday. The transducer does click very loud when out of the water.
Personally looking at that pic your gain is way too high. The Marcums have much finer lines on the display than a Vex so if you are expecting to have the big blobs like that then turn the gain up like you have, but that is a complete waste.
Lower your lure into the water and adjust the gain so it is displayed as the weakest signal possible. You should not have thick lines like that. I never have my gain higher than 2.
transducer needs to be even or below the bottom of the ice with the marcums. Ive owned both and the Vex is less finicky when it comes to this. No clue why.
Personally looking at that pic your gain is way too high. The Marcums have much finer lines on the display than a Vex so if you are expecting to have the big blobs like that then turn the gain up like you have, but that is a complete waste.
Lower your lure into the water and adjust the gain so it is displayed as the weakest signal possible. You should not have thick lines like that. I never have my gain higher than 2.
Thanks for the input, ill have to try it again but I don’t think the lure hardly showed up with the gain on 2.
It looks like an older unit and might not have the True Color upgrade which makes the colors look like a Vex. I think they were yellow, orange and red and when upgraded the got rid of orange and put in green. They also had a bad batch of transducers and that really sounds like what you have for problems. Since you already have a Vex you might want to see if anybody would like to trade with you cause the 2 don’t play together very well( Interference)
Check your power connections to the battery. Years of connecting and disconnecting those spades can break wires. I looked at mine recently and there were 2 strands on the + spade.
Last year when i used it, i also thought it was awfully less powerful than in the past, and that was clearly why.
Check your power connections to the battery. Years of connecting and disconnecting those spades can break wires. I looked at mine recently and there were 2 strands on the + spade.
Last year when i used it, i also thought it was awfully less powerful than in the past, and that was clearly why.
Good point! I had this problem in the past too.
your gain will generally be higher on the marcum than the vex because the Vex 0 gain is not true 0. i typically wouldn’t take my vex’s off 0 until i was in 15+ ft of water (owned fl8 and fl18)
Marcums I sit at 2-4 typically depending on depth since 0 on the Marcum clears the screen.
that said, i think thats what it looks like with just the 2 color system of an older LX3 although in 10ft of water, i do’t think you should need the gain to close to 6.
check battery connections like someone mentioned. the lx3 is a fantastic unit and i prefer the Marcum crisp lines to the the Vexilar blend as well as being able to clear the screen in lieu of an s cable or lp mode to go “below 0 gain” if you will.
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