clearwater classic--help

[Roop-Dogg]

used my c/c last nite(first time this year) and noticed that my backlighting was not working properly. had lite on the bottom half of the scale but not on the top half. figured there must be two bulbs in there and one burnt out. was trying to take it apart this morning and couldn't get it to come apart. i took out the 4 screws in the back and also took the knobs off the front. wouldn't come apart---obviously i didn't try to force anything. also tried to unscrew the jack where the transducer plugs in but that looked like it didn't unscrew.

anybody else ever need to replace a bulb or get inside their c/c for any reason. am looking for help. (it can still be used but extremely difficult to see after dark in less than 15-20'.) can someone help me get this apart??

thanks--

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Roop

[jkrash]

I took one a part a couple years ago, try takeing the nut off the jack for the transducer. The jack will push in once the nuts removed.

[Guest]

The same thing happened to mine last year. I took it apart and found the lightbulbs were tiny so I decided to just wire and mount a cigarette lighter attachment to the side of the screen and then I plug a map light in that you get at an auto parts store and it works great.

[Guest]

Just curious guys,
I bought a Clearwater Classic about 5 years ago, just in time for a trip up north. I was the first of my buddies to have an ice flasher, and was really excited. Imagine my disgust to find that the thing didn't work when I got there - - bad transducer. The A-hole that sold it to me (a shop in St. Joseph, MI) wouldn't stand behind it, so I had to call Zercom myself. They sent me a new transducer, which seemed to solve the problem. I was never able to pick up a panfish-sized teardrop, even when tipped with a big, fat waxworm, in water much deeper than 10 or 12 feet. If I used a larger bait, such as a jigging Rapala, I could pick it up in water up to around 20 feet. After a season, I tried a new battery and this still didn't help. Not sure if I was expecting too much of this unit, but was sure disgusted that I got talked into it after seeing how sensitive other peoples' Vexilar FL-8's were! To add insult to injury, Zercom's "customer service" people were anything but sympathetic. Did I have a bunk unit, or is this the kind of performance you get out of yours? I'm now the proud and satisfied owner of an FL-18.

[fishtrap3]

farginicehole
Do you still have your clearwater classic? If you do are you interseted in selling it? If so how much do you think you would want for it?

[Guest]

Nope, sold it about a year ago and bought an FL-18. The thing worked (had a brand new battery when I sold it too!), but never was sensitive enough to pick up a panfish jig in water much over 10' or so. Had to have the gain and sensitivity turned all the way up even in that shallow of water. Maybe this is normal for a CC, but certainly not what I expected when I paid over $300 for it a few years earlier. I know the inoperable transducer it had when I bought it (new) isn't normal though!

[fiskyknut]

Musta been something wrong with it. Mine will pick up a slipbobber knot and any kinda icejig/fly in 35 foot without having the sensitivety up way high. Shoots thru the ice good, everything.

Fisky

[Rainman]

I have a clearwater and love it also. That baby is veeery sensitive also. It will pick up a minnows air bubble fart at 40+'

[Guest]

That's kind of what I figured, so you can imagine how pi$$ed it made me when the folks at Zercom weren't even interested in hearing about the troubles I thought I was having with it. Believe me, I tried to be very diplomatic about it too. They about laughed at me when I asked if I could send it back to them for credit towards a Colorpoint. If they had customer service like Vexilar, I'd probably still be using the Clearwater!

[JP Z]

Very true, what size ducer angle were you using?