Vex Tri-Beam housing cracking, from storage. Really?? Now what?

Finally going to get my season started this weekend and getting the gear ready. Much to my surprise I notice that my Tri-Beam ducer’s housing is cracking. Now what?

I’m guessing that if I fish with it then water will get in, ice will form, and toast right there and then. Can I epoxy or something else to get me through the season or at least this weekend? Do I just have to buy a new one?

I did file with Vex customer service this morning and will wait to hear back. Warranty is out so we’ll see what happens.

Is this an issue anyone has heard of before? Do these Tri-Beams have a reputation for issues?

This is my second ducer and is three years old. The first had a bad crystal and was replaced under warranty and quickly by Vex CS three years ago. This one is stored in the factory box and inside my house. Never riding in a portable behind a wheeler/snowmobile. I take good care of it. Didn’t see anything when I put it away last March so I can’t figure out how it happened.

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I think it’s a known issue and I do believe that vex will replace it for you.

The bad crystals and cracking are both known issue with the original tri-beam. I’d hope Vexilar would just give you a new one in exchange for the replacement bad one. They have a new generation of the tri-beam that they say works. They allowed me to send in two tri-beams out of warranty for new single beam ducers, but this was two years ago. Good luck.

^what they said. I exchanged mine for a proview ducer and have been very happy.

I’m crossing my fingers even though it’s three years old. Most any other company I wouldn’t even hope for help but they’ve been good to me before.

Absolutely love the feature of choosing between the 8, 12, and 20 degree cone angles. However unreliable gear doesn’t cut it in my world so we’ll see

patk wrote:

I’m crossing my fingers even though it’s three years old. Most any other company I wouldn’t even hope for help but they’ve been good to me before.

Absolutely love the feature of choosing between the 8, 12, and 20 degree cone angles. However unreliable gear doesn’t cut it in my world so we’ll see

Let us know how it turns out!

TOP NOTCH Customer Service once again from Vex

Elapsed time: 4 hours 20 minutes

Main response: Will replace at no charge, please send it to us at your convenience. If it’s still working feel free to use it for your trip.

Additional info: The rep took the extra time to give not only the root cause but that it’s been corrected with a new generation from a new mfr. Now I have confidence to go with the Tri-Beam again.

Mine did the same thing last year. All I did was send a picture of the damaged one and they sent me a new one and I returned the broken one. They gave me the choice of a new tri-beam or the new pro view.

Had the same issue on my tri beam, took it in on monday and exchanged it with the new corrected one. I could have gotten the pro view but he convinced me that the new tri beam was better for the type of fishing that I do.

Glad to hear you’re up are running! My dad had the same issue with his. I couldn’t believe their turn around time. He mailed it on a Tuesday and the new one came on Thursday of that week!