Vexilar question

[AstroRails]

Hi Guys,

I am new to this board, but have had a lot of fun reading up here!

I have a question on trouble shooting a vexilar. This fall I purchased a FL-8slt off of c-list. Took it out for the first time yesterday. I found that I was not able to see my bati! We were fishing in 17' of water. This happened with both my Nuclear Ant and Demon. My friend could see them with his FL-18 clear as day. My battery shows a charge of 13.5 volts. We tried rubbing any film etc off of the transducer. I think I have the 19degree transducer. We also tried turning up the gain. What could be causing this?

Can the transducers go bad? I hate to think that I got a bum unit, but I am starting to think that may be the case. D'oh.

[Esox_Magnum]

Yes ducers go bad, try your buddies on yours to see for sure.

[Twins 57 Fan]

Is it reading bigger baits?

[GoneFish'n71]

Is there a suppression cable(its about 6" long between the vex and start of the ducer cable) inline with the transducer cable? If so you might not be able to see small jigs in 17'.

[AstroRails]

No, I did not get the S cable... I am going to try and borrow my buddie's transducer...

[wayne123]

I would make sure the battery is fully charged and good too. I am not sure if measuring 13.5 volts as you stated proves it is a good battery. I think it would if you measured the 13.5 with the vexilar running but am not sure. Maybe try your freinds battery too.

[Gordie]

Clean the bottom of your transducer off also

[Gissert]

Sounds like a bad 'ducer to me - Go with the swap 'ducers plan mentioned above any you'll know for sure.

When a battery starts to fail, the colors typically fade, starting with red, then the orange, and finally green.

[leech~~]

No, I did not get the S cable... I am going to try and borrow my buddie's transducer...

Turn it on and hold the ducer flat bottom up to your ear, you should hear a faint clicking sound. If you do not then it maybe shot. But putting your buddies on will be the best way to tell.

[Blaker55]

I was having the same issue with not seeing my bait in 18' of water. So I rubbed the transducer bottom in a figure 8 on the carpet in the perm house and.......................

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Clearly see the bait now.

[AstroRails]

So I got the unit fired up again on Sunday. A fresh battery charge helped out immensley. Also having it sit in the water for a whled helped some to. But I still had to turn the gain up to 7 or 8 to see the bait. I also rubbed the end of the 'ducer against my pant leg. So I am going to try and get another transducer, which I think should do the trick. Thank everyone for the help!

[EBass]

Bring it to Vexilar and have them test it out.

[AstroRails]

So I tried my friend's transducer today, and the unit worked like a charm. Looks like I'll be off get a new transducer... At least now I know!

[leech~~]

Well a little costly for a new one but at least you found out what the problem was!