LX-5 battery question

[JbuZZo]

Hey all-

Just purchaced the last LX-5 (floor/demo) from Scheels in Fargo last Monday. It was on sale and I got additional money knocked off the top for it being the floor model. So, totally happy w/ the price for the flasher i was getting...Didn't do much with it during the week (charging wise) because I wanted to run it down on the 1st use really good, so my 1st charge would be a full one and for fear of overcharging. Well...I ran it for about 4-5 hrs. on Sat. and when I pulled up shop the digital display was jumping between 10-20% charge. So, I got home around 7pm on Sat. night and plugged it in. Checked it at about 7am on Sunday, only at 60% charged...Charged it till about 2:00pm on Sunday...still only showing 60% charge. Fished about 3 hrs. on Sunday late afternoon/early evening and when i started running it, it instantly went down to 40-50%. So, I'm thinking since it's the demo I have a bad battery. So I call Scheels and speak to a 'fishing specialist', good guy, said bring in the battery, we have 1 new battery for a Marcum left, we'll swap it out for free. Sweet! Well, I go there on my lunch break on Monday, he looks at the battery and says that's not even the battery it should be using (?). OK...so, instead of getting me this 'new' battery he was talking about on Sunday night, he goes over to the demo flashers and grabs another battery, looks to be used as it's not in a box/wrapper...says 'here you go'...OK...I'm on lunch and in a hurry, so i go home last night and pop it back in the case and plug it in to start charging...display shows about 60% charge (about 7pm). I get up this morning, and check on it...60% charge???

Am i not giving this thing enough time to charge?

Battery pack/ AC charger feels warm, like it charging Is there any indicator to tell if the battery is taking the charge?

The battery they swapped out with me looks like the same model the 1st one was. I know they run on a 12 v. 7amp, I'll double check that.

Am i missing anything?

Thanks All...

[fishnowworknever]

It should have moved up over a 8-12hr period. The battery could be shot (again) especially if it has been sitting on a charger the whole time.

What i would do is quit wasting your time with those 7amp batteries and pickup a 9amp. You will want 2+ anyways, see if that one charges up.

If not, it could be the digital charger, and Marcum should/would replace that free of charge.

[JbuZZo]

It should have moved up over a 8-12hr period. The battery could be shot (again) especially if it has been sitting on a charger the whole time.

What i would do is quit wasting your time with those 7amp batteries and pickup a 9amp. You will want 2+ anyways, see if that one charges up.

If not, it could be the digital charger, and Marcum should/would replace that free of charge.

So, I wouldn't be running the risk of damaging the unit bumping up to a 9amp?

[DTro]

No not at all, in fact you can hook it up to a Boat Battery if you want.

I remember having a dead battery last year and we just pulled the truck up next to the portable and ran some jumper cables to the flasher.

Seeing as you are getting the same issues with both batteries, there is a chance that the charger might be malfunctioning.

I would try hooking the battery to a mutimeter and see what you get for voltage.

[JbuZZo]

thanks for the heads up dtro!

[Dave]

Since you got another battery, is it safe to say you got a different DCS display, that was on the 2nd battery???? The lid of my battery came right off when Marcum tried to remove my DCS display. So, that would only leave the transformer part of the DCS in question as being the issue.

[eurolarva]

Batteries developing a flat spot is a myth. Never run a battery totally dead. It is bad for them. The key to good battery life is to charge it as soon as you can. When batteries are not fully charged they start to degrade. The LX5 will suck a battery dry faster then any other flasher. I agree with getting the 9 amp battery just remember it will take longer to charge it back up then a 7 amp.

[Esox_Magnum]

Either of my LX-5's will last 16-18 hours between charges easily. after 9 hours of steady use I'm down to 60% or so.

[Ed Carlson]

Hey all-

Just purchaced the last LX-5 (floor/demo) from Scheels in Fargo last Monday. It was on sale and I got additional money knocked off the top for it being the floor model. So, totally happy w/ the price for the flasher i was getting...Didn't do much with it during the week (charging wise) because I wanted to run it down on the 1st use really good, so my 1st charge would be a full one and for fear of overcharging. Well...I ran it for about 4-5 hrs. on Sat. and when I pulled up shop the digital display was jumping between 10-20% charge. So, I got home around 7pm on Sat. night and plugged it in. Checked it at about 7am on Sunday, only at 60% charged...Charged it till about 2:00pm on Sunday...still only showing 60% charge. Fished about 3 hrs. on Sunday late afternoon/early evening and when i started running it, it instantly went down to 40-50%. So, I'm thinking since it's the demo I have a bad battery. So I call Scheels and speak to a 'fishing specialist', good guy, said bring in the battery, we have 1 new battery for a Marcum left, we'll swap it out for free. Sweet! Well, I go there on my lunch break on Monday, he looks at the battery and says that's not even the battery it should be using (?). OK...so, instead of getting me this 'new' battery he was talking about on Sunday night, he goes over to the demo flashers and grabs another battery, looks to be used as it's not in a box/wrapper...says 'here you go'...OK...I'm on lunch and in a hurry, so i go home last night and pop it back in the case and plug it in to start charging...display shows about 60% charge (about 7pm). I get up this morning, and check on it...60% charge???

Am i not giving this thing enough time to charge?

Battery pack/ AC charger feels warm, like it charging Is there any indicator to tell if the battery is taking the charge?

The battery they swapped out with me looks like the same model the 1st one was. I know they run on a 12 v. 7amp, I'll double check that.

Am i missing anything?

Thanks All...

Floor demo's seldom get maintained properly, so the battery may be in poor or weakened condition. (It may recover if charged a few times fully...or not?)

I would upgrade the battery to a 10 amp, as then you will have the max battery capacity you can achieve in a portable, and you than know it is a good battery.

Than charge it after every use as a standard practice. A 10 amp Vexilar battery (the 10 amp are standard on all Vexilars), or a like rated 10 amp battery is a very good investment, especially for a LX - 5, as they like to eat juice.

[JbuZZo]

"Since you got another battery, is it safe to say you got a different DCS display, that was on the 2nd battery????"

No- same DCS display...I'm bringing back the 2nd battery as I'm almost 100% sure that it was used in there display flashers as well...frustrating when you invest that much in a piece of equipment and you have to dilly dally around...almost not worth the additional $35.00 they knocked off the price for me.

Eddy- good advise...I will most certainly look into a 10amp battery.

If a 'brand new' battery isn't the trick, I'm thinking its the charging cord? The unit work great (transducer and display)...just need to get the power situation working

I called Scheels again last night and was not happy to hear their advice: "If you can get through the rest of this year, send it in on rebate"...haha right! I've owned it for 8 days and fished it for two...I want this thing to work!

[aczr2k]

When you plug in your transformer to the wall and into the DCS connector does the DCS flash and indicate charging? I've had issues with mine and replaced both the DCS (first) and the wall transformer. Mine would work intermittently. This weekend my buddies acted up, wouldn't charge. He just had replaced the battery and now it wouldn't charge. Swapped DCS to mine, still wouldn't work, tried his transformer my DCS, nothing. Settled on his wall transformer had quit, same thing as mine. According to "John" at Marcum they seldom have issues with the DCS or transformer. Well I'm two for two in my group, so I guess that's seldom? If it acts up again the DCS garbage is going into the trash can.

[nblasin]

I'm having similar issues with my LX-5. I got it new at the end of ice season last year. Now when I charge my battery, and I've tried numerous batteries, the charger flashes and the charging interval does increase. If it says it's chraged to 100% and I unplug the charger and turn the flasher on it instantly drops to 50-60%. I'm getting pretty frustrated with it's performance. As I've stated I've tried several batteries so I'm starting to think it is the unit or the charger. Anyone have any thoughts. Thanks.

[jerkbait]

What does it say when you unplug it from the charger before turning the unit on? I believe when you turn the unit on the display is going to read lower becuase the unit is drawing power from the battery. Full charge should be checked with no load on the battery.

[tsande00]

What does it say when you unplug it from the charger before turning the unit on? I believe when you turn the unit on the display is going to read lower becuase the unit is drawing power from the battery. Full charge should be checked with no load on the battery.

I don't think that is true with Marcum's DCS. I ran mine almost completely dead for the first time last weekend. The flasher was still spinning but it wouldn't show bottom and the 'ducer wasn't putting anything out (normally you can hear a clicking). I checked the DCS guage and it read 0%. I shut it off and it jumped up to 60%, even though it was obvious the battery was dead. Tunrned it back on and it went right back down to 0%.

I've also heard from others that the meter should be read with the flasher running.

I went home and charged it up and all is fine again.

[JbuZZo]

weird...I'm bringing everything into scheels tomorrow, box reciept, unit, battery...everything...

I need confidence that when i leave there tomorrow, it will charge and give me the battery life it should so i can count on it when i need it or I'm getting my money back...

Like I said before, I love the unit it's self, I'm sold on Marcum, but I will be returning the 'display unit' I thought i was getting such a deal on...

I don't know if I'd have the patience to send it off to Marcum. Anyone use their warrranty? How long did it take for you to get your unit back?

[fishnowworknever]

I just sent mine in on Wednesday last week, turned around and sent back to me that Friday at my doorstep. You can call and ask how long of a turnaround it will be, plus they are right in Minneapolis now.

Their warranty department is the greatest.

[tsande00]

I was having a similar issue early this winter when I first pulled my unit from storage. It wouldn't charge above 70%. I ended up playing around with the battery connections and a day after I gave up and called Marcum, it started working again. It has continued to work fine all season so to my best guess I had a loose/bad connection at the battery terminal...but who really knows.

[JbuZZo]

I'll check that tonight, thanks tsande00.

thanks for the info jhall555.

[marine_man]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd do like you're planning - take the whole works back to Scheels and get a brand new battery. I would bet that your charger is just fine, but if you've now gotten two display batteries they've either been on chargers all day, or discharged and charged on a daily or every other day basis.

marine_man

[eurolarva]

The DCS connection is kind of hoaky. When I bought my Aquaview the charger came with a red and green led. When the battery was charged it would go from red to green. The LX5 will run just fine without the DCS hooked up. You can charge the battery with a plain battery charger that comes with the flasher batteries and just re connect the spade lugs to the LX5. I would prefer the Aquaview charger over the DCS. Another problem with the DCS is if you forget to leave the charger on over the summer and you dont disconnect the battery from the DCS you are going to have a dead battery. Spade lug connections being loose between the DCS and the wires going to the unit could be loose and you could be getting intermitant connection failure.

Since the day I owned mine I would fish all day at lake of the woods and when I got back to the cabin the DCS would say that battery was at 70 percent but when I plugged in the charger it would say the battery was at 40 percent. This is not a very accurate way where I think the DCS was an add on made in China 2 dollar devise. I would use a DVM and measure the battery 12.75 volt is what you should read a day after charging. Disconnect the DCS and run the unit for a full day of fishing. Now the battery should read around 12.4 volts with DVM which would be a 50 percent charge. Then charge the battery back up.

I hate not having my LX5 in my possesion. I have become so dependent on it that I cant fish without it. Giving it to a repair place might mean not having it back by this weekend.

[catchphoto_filet]

when using in a house could a guy connect it so say a deep cycle batter with the right connector ends. I have the same issues with batteries I dont believe anything the charger says. It would be nice to just hook the lx5 connectors to a larger battery when not moving ans staying in a house. I odnt believe the 12v batteries that come with it last very long either I have burned through 2 of them that no longer will even take a charge

[aczr2k]

With shipping two times once for a DCS, and once for a transformer I'm out about $50, hopefully this setup lasts more than a year.

[eurolarva]

when using in a house could a guy connect it so say a deep cycle batter with the right connector ends. I have the same issues with batteries I dont believe anything the charger says. It would be nice to just hook the lx5 connectors to a larger battery when not moving ans staying in a house. I odnt believe the 12v batteries that come with it last very long either I have burned through 2 of them that no longer will even take a charge

Yes you can hook it up to a deep cell battery and it would be fine. I would put an inline fuse in it. The spade lugs you need and an inline fuse can be purchased from any hardware store. Probably get a 2 amp 32 volt fuse. I dont know what kind of protection the Lx5 has but my guess is if you hook the battery up backwards it probably wont hurt the LX5 but I would not want to test it.

[JbuZZo]

thanks for all the insight eurolarva...moment of truth will be tonight when I bring er' into Scheels. I'll provide an update tomorrow morning. Hopefully they swap out for a new battery, as I believe that will resolve the issue.

[JbuZZo]

well...Kudos to Scheel's customer service, they swapped out my battery without any questions and gave me a new 12v 8amp that read 100%...however...tested it last night and it looks as thought the culprit is the DC charger. I initially failed to read the part of the owners manual on what the DCS should look like when it is actively charging a battery...it should be flashing the % charge and the letters "CHRG" which mine has not done since day 1. So called Scheels back up and spoke to someone in their fishing dept. He said bring it in, no problem, we'll figure it out so you can get out on the ice...

The saga continues... Pretty sure, if I can get a new charger, I'll be good to go!