Marcum LX-3 quit working

[Iowabucks]

Hey everyone, i have a Marcum LX-3 that has worked for me for about 4 years. I just put in a new Interstate Battery 12v 7Mah battery. The voltage was above 12v when i bought it but i charged it with a brand new Vexilar charger just to top it off. It worked today for about 3 hours then had problems. I only had a red bar at the 12 oclock position, nothing more. I can barely hear any sound coming from the transducer. I was hoping it was just a bad battery but it still had over 12v when i got it home. The battery meter was showing as low as 50% but i don't trust that meter anyway. It can read 0% and just be below 12v.

I have it back on the charger now but it started at 12.35v, so i don't expect topping the battery off will really help. All cables are tight to the back of the unit. Wires are tight to the battery too.

Could this be a bad transducer? Has anyone ever had anything similar happen to their Marcum?

[CatFan]

12.35V is a pretty deeply discharged battery, and the battery probably recovered some voltage between the time you had the problem and when you started charging it. What do you mean by "7Mah"? Is the M a typo and you mean 7AH? Your unit draws 300mA, so a 7AH battery should run it for 3 hours pretty easily if the battery was fully charged.

What kind of charger are you using?

[Iowabucks]

Sorry, it was a 7ah battery. I was using a brand new vexilar charger. Has red/green light to show charging status. Trickle charge once it is fully charged.
Both battery and charger are 1 day old.

I'm hoping it's more of a battery issue than the transducer. How does the unit normally act if the transducer goes bad?

[Hoosier Hog Daddy]

Iowa... I have an lx5 I bought last yr and used last season ok. I have been using it a few times this yr on the ice and had a somewhat similar experience to yours. The unit worked fine while first on the ice, but then started losing bottom signal...first showing a bunch of split lines then losing bottom signal all together. I too thought I needed a new battery, and bought one and charged it up... but in testing , found the same thing happening. Works fine initially, then starts acting up later. I too am wondering about the transducer. I don't have any answers for you , but in the same boat. You might get a better response if posting this on iceshanty.com.

HHD

[Iowabucks]

Thanks Hoosier Daddy, i will have to do that.

Mine didn't gradually do this, just like the snap of a finger. One second it was working fine, the next, nothing but a red bar at 12 o clock position.

I guess there is something i forgot to mention which makes me think it's not a battery issue. The last 12v i had in it would charge to 12v then go down to 11v the next day on it's own. But the unit would still work fine starting off with 11v. I guess if it could run off of 11v, there's no reason it shouldn't work off a new 12v battery that drains down to the low 12's.

Assuming it's not battery related, i would rather see it be an easily corrected transducer issue (replacement ducer)than with the unit itself.

[Barnacle Bill]

A battery at 13.35VDC is almost 30% discharged.

[Iowabucks]

Must be something inside the head unit. I swapped transducers with a friend and my transducer worked with his LX-3. His transducer wouldn't work on mine.

It will show a thin yellow line for a 4 foot deep bottom. But no extra junk thats usually there past the bottom reading. Transducer sounds pretty quiet compared to usual. Wonder if the power was compromised somehow? Battery is new and fully charged. (reading 100%).

[wannabe fisherman]

A battery at 13.35VDC is almost 30% discharged.

sorry but could you explain this? you said that at 13.35vdc that a battery is 30% discharged and the chart shows at 12.6vdc there's a full charge.
I'm not big on electricity, I get shocked a lot, please tell me what I'm missing here.

[Wannabe...]

He made a typo and meant your stated voltage at 12.35 is 30% discharged.

Don't know dip about your Marcum, but I agree, you've got battery issues or possibly charger issues. If you have a spare either one, I'd repeat the process before I went to any additional expense.

Wannabe...