MarCum LX-3 Test Report

[CNY Tim]

I caught 7 keeper crappies 10 - 13.5" and kept a dozen nice gills and 3 big perch. Caught alot of small perch today. 5" any where we walked on the lake with 4" of snow on top. We fished 8' to 16' best depth was 15'. Crappie were riding at about 10' along with the nicer gills. You had to keep it off the bottom on that lake or you'll get nailed with dink perch. Not a great trip as far as bluegill action but it was great to use my MarCum and we can fish close with Vexilars and no problems 1 I.R. off, 1 on I.R and one on I.R. plus one no problems. I had the zoom on 10' when I was fishin 15' and it was awesome. Funny seeing your jig and fish on both sides of the screen. Gotta train my eyes a little more to stay on the left side. What the zoom feature allowed me to do was keep the bait away from the smaller fish and the decent gills and crappies when they popped on the zoom I thought they were bass or pike, awesome machine. I am glad it's compatable with Vexilars that was a big issue.

[Mykal]

Ice C, you wouldn't have to buy another unit, just the transducer would be a separate option. Not sure what the beam angle will be, I assume it will be narrower.
Take care man.

[IceC]

mykal, I'm not familiar with how the dual beam setup works, so, I would be able to add just the dual beam ducer(if they had one) to my existing unit? how do you switch between cone angles? just curious, havent got to see a dual beam Vex to know how they work.I thought they would need a new console to support the dual beam.

Thanks for the help and info

IceC

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Have an Ice day

[Xplorer]

Mykal and others,
I am wondering if anyone has a contact point at Marcum in either customer service or service directly? I am having an issue with another product of theirs (ovs camera) and will send them an email on their werbsite but would like to discuss my disappointment at the way they dealt with my bait shop dealer who I purchased it from.
It sounds like a few of you have some regular contact with the company reps, and was hoping to work this out directly to mutual satisfaction of all. I understand that they outsource CS, and think that the owners would appreciate feedback on any issues.
Thanks in advance.
Xplorer
PS: I have a 763-271-1988 number, but cant get past the initial CS contact.

[JP Z]

Mykal,

Sounds like a power issue, and I don't mean battery power. But you should check with Marcum.

[This message has been edited by jpz (edited 02-04-2003).]

[Mykal]

Ice C, Yes and Yes. Marcum is "exploring new transducer options." I do not know if they are planning a dual beam like the Vex has. I would assume they would follow suit, as it is a must for the multispecies angler.

Xplorer, I have been working with Duane at Marcum via e-mail. He's a great source and seems to know more of what's going on then the customer service phone reps. Try e-mail. It may take a couple days at first as they are so far over sales expectations this year they have been swamped. I will give you his email address but I have it at home.

[Xplorer]

Thanks Mykal,
I sent an email thru the HSOforum this morning and will follow up with a call to CS this afternoon. Another contact point would be appreciated. Xplorer

[Scott Steil]

MarCum is in the process of making some changes to their customer service right now. They are well aware of the needs of the consumer. I think you will be very happy with all the changes that are being made.

[rockhardinmn]

Cny,, recently i did have a chance to test the lx3 for a day . i also brought my old hondex Fl8 with . i fished out of a fishtrap voyager and had them side by side. my old hondex dont have any sort of ir system on it ,, but the lx3 pretty well wiped out any interference from the hondex with is ir system. i did this with an fl 18 also the vex did the same and there was no interference from it on the old fl8 which i found surprising . as far as what i found ,, i will be watching the late winter sales for the Lx3 .. from my playing around i will be getting the marcum . Hondex was the caddie of flashers at one time ,, to me marcum in now taking its place in that role.

[rod bender]

I bought my Marcum a couple of weeks ago and reserved my post until I could fully use its technology. I love the zoom in the middle of the water column for fishing suspended crappies. Had plenty of crappies coming in from 11-16' when fishing in 21'. And when they came in on the bottom, I could rotate the zoom down to pick them up also if needed. I do like the green color of the vex (which I previously owned) better but when a fish does come in it's orange or red anyway. I will give up the color issue for the variable zoom. I did have a small infrequent jitter that was talked about in another post and contacted Marcum to ask what they thought. They told me to send it in after the season and they would take care of it for me. So far I'm pleased with the service and product.

[ellevold]

hey rodbender, that was me who had that little jitter so I contacted reeds sporting goods in Walker MN and a guy there has one and had the same prolblem. He talked to a Marcum Rep and he told him it was the battery.Marcum had a shippment of bad batteries from there distributer. His battery only put out 3.5 amps at full charge where its suppose to put out 7 amps. So he got a new battery and no prolbems since. I called Marcum and they are going to send me a new battery. I hope thats the problem. If I were you charge your battery to 100 then see how many amps it putting out. good luck

[Xplorer]

Mykal,
Thanks for the info, I emailed Marcum yesterday morning and Duane emailed back in the afternoon. I responded to him this morning and will let you know the outcome.
Xplorer

[Mykal]

Xplorer, that's great news. I had a chance to rent the OVS 500 and try it on MilleLacs this winter and it was sweet! The fishing wasn't good, but we could see the Walleye and Perch come in and out. I like he OVS 500 because it's the only unit out there that gives you all three lighting options in one unit. No light, IR and Hi Intensity. Good Luck.

[rod bender]

Ellevold, let me know how that turns out. I think I'm going to wait until the season is over to do anything. I did try an older battery that I replaced on my Vex and it didn't help. The jitter only showed up a few times in the 4-5 our trip so I wasn't real concerned but would like it fixed. Let me know through e-mail if you can. Thanks.

[email protected]

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Rodbender

[Guest]

I have received a lot of reports that the MarCum LX-3 eats up a battery VERY fast.

"Sucks the life right out of them" is the exact words used. They commented they do not think a 12V cell will last a full season at that rate. These are full time ice guides by the way.

What has been other anglers perception of the MarCum LX-3 and it's power use?

(Maybe 2 12 Deep Cycles hooked up in a series is the answer?)

[Guest]

Backwater Eddy,I have been using my the whole season and have never had It drop below 50% even on 2 days of fishing without recharging.I usually recharge It after every use since it recharges very fast and you can leave the charger on without worry for extended periods of time.GOOD FISHIN DON

[Guest]

i don't think you wanna hook up 2 12 volt batteries in series der edison. unless the markcum can work at 24 volts.

[CNY Tim]

Been having some fun on the perch lately guys and getting familiar with the FL-18 and am pretty pleased with it accept for a couple of instances while in zoom my 0 mark to 3' mark on the zoom side wen't full red but I just tweeked the depth button and it cleared right up. No problems with it today. Must have been because I was fishing within close proximity to a couple FL-18's the other day.
I have not had any problems with the battery on my MarCum and it is very efficient battery wise thus far.

[Hjalmer Tordenskjold]

Hey Ed,

I tink you better hook up dose two batteries in paralell, or the Marcum will take and let all smoke out of its vires and components den. Dat would feet 24 volts to it, ya know, vich vould not be too goot a teal, den.

Take and hook dem tings in paralell, and it vill take and be ok, ya know.

[Guest]

Ya, taught it smelt funny Eh?

[Guest]

Ya, taught it smelt funny Eh?

[Guest]

Who has a contact number or email adress for marcum? I need to ask them about the jitter problem.

[CNY Tim]

One thing I have noticed between my LX-3 and my FL-18 is I don't have near as much interference on my MarCum as I do on the 18 and what little interference I had on both units was knocked out. However, I have never had an instant when my MarCum has not held bottom zoom unlike my FL-18 but with some minor adjusting I was able to get the the FL-18 to correct this problem. Maybe with the Version 2 upgrade in the off season that minor problem will be corrected. The target separation on the MarCum is more precise because of the thin line display reading on the LX-3, but the colors on the FL-18 are more my liking. There both great units thus far and have performed extremely well. Not a bad buy either way you go, but like I said I only fish water less than 40'

[CNY Tim]

More info from MarCum...

The different transducer cone angles will be addressed in our upcoming review meetings. The deep water use is excellent. The head design engineer uses his unit for Lake Trout in 80 to 120 feet. He just returned from four days on the ice and was pleased with the deep water performance. Hope all is well! The units are close to being sold out for the season. Thanks for the comments!

On the fishing front, had a decent day in central southern NY snow squalls yesterday with 25 nice perch in 38'. Been alternating using my MarCum LX-3 and the Vexilar FL-18 so far so good with both units.

[Scott Steil]

Ed, not sure if your question of using a lot of battery was answered.

LX-3 draws 300 mA
FL-18 draws 270 mA

My FL-18 is 1 year older then my LX-3 but the batteries last roughly the same amount of time. I can use both units for a weekend of fishing and not have to charge them, unless we fish all day. Then both units have to be charges once.

[Mykal]

Thanks all. CNY Tim, please keep us posted on the transducer options for the LX-3.