Marcum Vx-1i

[Barb Magario]

Ihave a problem with my Marcum. We were fishing at the Fishapalooza in Forest Lake this morning, my husband left the Marcum on for 30 minutes and forgot to turn it off.He shut it off until noon. When it was time to fish, he turn it on and NOTHING. There was a red line on top and a blank screen. What's the problem? It didn't read the bottem at all. If I turn the gain up, there would be a lot of skinny lines like it was busy but there was still no bottem. Anybody had this problem? We were at TB and asked the electronics guy there what could be the problem. The TB guy said it could be the transducer, so to check if it still had the clicking noise. The transducer was still clicking, so the TB guy took it to their 3ft minnow tank and it showed the bottem. He than waved the metal scooper beneath the transducer to see if it would read it. NOTHING. It didn't even read the minnows in the tank. He thought it was the battery, he swtiched it with one of his new ones. NOTHING.

There is no number to call Marcum, only by email. I just bought it in Nov. 2010. But I didn't send in my warranty slip. Is that going to be a problem?I can't find my receipt either. I guess if it doesn't have a warranty I will have to pay for the service

Was it out of the water during the time it was on or in the hole. If it was out of the water and dry it most likely overheated and burnt the transducer. If you have a friend with another marcum swap the transducers out and try it. if it works with the different transducer then its fried.

Transducers don't burn out being out of the water. It's possible that the cold might've gotten to the unit. I've had a similar problem with my LX5 unit. I wiggle the range/on button sometimes and it works, but usually it takes a while to warm up in the shelter most times. 3 feet of water is sometimes just not enough to check the unit's sonar. Just check it over a hard surface.

Hmm. I don't know about the burning up. I've accidentally left my marcum on several times the whole time we're packing up and driving home, only to notice later that night or the next day when I go to put it on the charger that I'm at 0% battery (or close to it). Hasn't seemed to fry my transducer at all.

I don't want to sound like an arrogant prik, but was the depth set correctly? I have a Marcum, and if the bottom is deeper than in the depth range I am in, I'll only see a red mark at 12 o clock. i.e. 25' of water but set on the 20' setting will only show a red mark at the top. If it was right, I've got nothing for you.

I don't want to sound like a prik either but that was my first thought as well. Except what I do is have it set to 20ft and I am in 20ft or 19ft of water and can't figure out why I can't see the bottom. Well it is because the bottom is at the top.

The unit was in the hole in contact with water the whole time. We were fishing in 16 ft of water. It was working when we got there and checking the holes for fish. Everything was set correctly. I turned up the gain and would see no bottem, but a lot of green lines. I hit the IR and zoom buttons and that didn't do anything either. We have fished in 30 ft of water before and didn't have a problem.We gave it a full charge last night, so were going to take it out today and see if it works.I'll give you guys and update later.

We just got back an hour ago. The flasher was working normal again after a full charge. That's weird. Don't know what it is, but I did contact marcum just waiting for them to get back to me. We'll see what they say about it.

I have a troller & 2 weeks ago all the sudden it starting showing random lines periodically, i thought maybe low batteries so i changed them but same issue. Then gave up came home & let it thaw out. i did not have "ice" feature on, it just froze up outside, any chance this was the issue?

If your conections too the battery are not tight, the slip on ones, you will not get good contact for the D.C. current to go to the unit. to correct this problem squeeze the sides, held flat, a little till they slide on tight. Do this too both connections.

call the marcum number in minneapolis, i had the same issue with my lx1 a few years ago so i bought a h-bird. i gave the LX1 to my bro-inlaw last week and he called them and said send it to the them and for $69 they would fix what ever was wrong. probably 2 day turn around time. A new transducer is 80 so it sounds like a good deal. have not heard if he got it back yet.

I just had this happen to my LX-5. Was fishing a contest yesterday and caught a crappie wich got caught up in the ducer. I got the crappie in and unhooked it and when I looked back down at the LX-5 the screen was blank. No clicking out of the ducer at all. Unhooked the ducer and put a buddies on later and it worked fine. Pretty sensitive ducer if ya ask me.

Jon Marshall is the guy you will talk to if you call Marcum. Jon has treated me real well when I needed repair in the past. The receptionist will ask if you want to ship it, but if you are within reasonable driving distance set up an appointment. I was in and out in under a half hour...and not to mention free of charge!!!! I brought with my receipt of purchase but he didn't question it, just fixed it.

Had exactly the same symptoms and same problem. Battery showed 100% and after about 3 hours the dial wouldn't adjust. Battery said 0% and it was the truth. For some reason the battery went bad. New battery solved the problem.

The boys at Marcum came through with flying colors and are getting me a new ducer sent out asap. I love dealing with a company that takes care of its customers! Good job Chris and the others at Marcum!

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