Charging my LX5 batt

[Vlasin]

Bought an LX5 at the ice show and hitting the ice for the first time this weekend.

Hooked the battery up to the charger and the Green light came on. Plugged the charger into the wall and the green light turns red. After ~24hrs being plugged in, the charging light is still red, when I unplug the charger the light goes back to green when still conected to the flasher.

Question - Is this the way it should be? ...Common sense seems to tell me that Red = still needs a charge and Green = Fully charged.

Maybe i need to let it sit longer than 24hrs for the first initial charge? - manual says battery comes fully charged and can go from completely dead to 100% in 12hrs....Thoughts? something to worry about or not so much...

[CaptainMusky]

I would think that it is charged by now, but if the battery were completely dead, sometimes those things play tricks on chargers and do not take a charge well initially.

Do you have a voltmeter to measure voltage on the battery?

[Vlasin]

I would think that it is charged by now, but if the battery were completely dead, sometimes those things play tricks on chargers and do not take a charge well initially.

Do you have a voltmeter to measure voltage on the battery?

No, but I can get access to one easy enough.

[robert aldrich]

if the battery comes fully charged you dont need to charge it before you go out for the first time with it.

[Vlasin]

if the battery comes fully charged you dont need to charge it before you go out for the first time with it.

Maybe true, But how long has that battery been sitting in a box and losing it's charge. Thought it was a good idea to juice it up before I hit the ice.

[cichlid_baby]

What "Green Light" or "Red Light" are you speaking of?

Doesn't your LX-5 come with their DCS smart charging system?

It should have an EVER-GLOW branded charger (13.5 volts at 1000 mA output) that plugs into a digital meter charging monitor which is connected to the battery and LX-5 head unit.

If the charger is disconnected from the battery.. the digital read out should read the resting voltage of the battery source and translate that into a percentage of battery life or battery charge remaining..

Once the charger is connected to the DCS and begins to recharge the battery then the digital readout will start to flash a percentage of charging status and will continue to do so until it reaches 100% or fully charged battery state.. then the DCS will stop the charging process and only maintain the battery. If the DCS is not flashing a percentage less than 100% then it is not actually in a charging state.

Hopefully all that made some sense...

[robert aldrich]

A battery will not lose it's charge sitting in storage. it would have to be touching metal to both positive and negitive or a short circuit . did you put the battery in?

[herefish101]

The LX5 should have the digital charger as stated above, so where is this light located?

[cichlid_baby]

A battery will not lose it's charge sitting in storage. it would have to be touching metal to both positive and negitive or a short circuit . did you put the battery in?

WRONG.... Most if not ALL batteries will "Self-Discharge" at some rate.. some particular types of batteries self-discharge faster than others. AGM or All-Glass Mat batteries are less prone to this but it still does happen.

Batteries in storage will need to be topped off or tendered to maintain optimun voltage and capacity.

[robert aldrich]

not what i saw when i did research about battery power loss.

[SkitterPopper]

The LX5 should have the digital charger as stated above, so where is this light located?

This years models do not have the DCS charging systems. I think it is a good thing. I had one on my LX-5 that I bought last year. I had some problems with the charging systems and I ended up taking it off mine. I just use a standard charger with aligator clips now. I know two different people that had there DCS system literally melt down during the charging process.

[slipperybob]

A battery will lose it's charge just sitting around. It's also not a good idea to plug in a regular charger multiple times to check if the battery is fully charged. You may confuse the charger. Get a smart charger, to top it off.

[Vlasin]

The LX5 should have the digital charger as stated above, so where is this light located?

The charger that came with the unit does not have a digital charger. It looks more or less like the standard clip wall mount charger http://www.marcum.com/Products/tabid/92/CategoryID/12/List/1/catpageindex/2/Level/a/ProductID/48/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName

[robert aldrich]

WRONG.... Most if not ALL batteries will "Self-Discharge" at some rate.. some particular types of batteries self-discharge faster than others. AGM or All-Glass Mat batteries are less prone to this but it still does happen.

Batteries in storage will need to be topped off or tendered to maintain optimun voltage and capacity.

i did more research and found out that All batteries have an inherent self-discharge. The self-discharge on nickel-based batteries is 10 to 15 percent of its capacity in the first 24 hours after charge, followed by 10 to 15 percent every month thereafter. Li‑ion battery's self-discharges about five percent in the first 24 hours and one to two percent thereafter in the following months of use. At higher temperatures, the self-discharge on all battery chemistries increases. The self-discharge of a battery increases with age and usage. Once a battery exhibits high self-discharge, little can be done to reverse the effect.

[cichlid_baby]

This years models do not have the DCS charging systems..

Wonder if this has more to do with cost cutting..?

[robert aldrich]

if your realy worried go to where to got the LX5 and ask them. when i ever i have a question i call up my buddies at marine general duluth. i dont like calling or asking at gander/ any big box store because they are mostly college students who dont know anything about the product. i haved had that happan about 30 times at gander/ any big box store.

[mark n]

Some lowlife punk stole my LX 5 from my garage. When I catch the thief, he will go awy in handcuffs. That was a great sounder.

The new LX5 I replaces it with has the red light green light charger, NOT the old DCS smart charging system my stolen one had. You cannot charge while using in the permanent without a bunch of useless screen clutter

Shame on you Marcum for putting out an inferior product. The other DCS smart charging system was way better.

I think the internal electronics has been cheapened up too. The seperation is not as good as the older unit i had.

Shame on you Marcum. I used to recomend your products.

Consider you butt chewed.

[SkitterPopper]

Quote:

The new LX5 I replaces it with has the red light green light charger, NOT the old DCS smart charging system my stolen one had. You cannot charge while using in the permanent without a bunch of useless screen clutter

Shame on you Marcum for putting out an inferior product. The other DCS smart charging system was way better.

I think the internal electronics has been cheapened up too. The seperation is not as good as the older unit i had.

Shame on you Marcum. I used to recomend your products.

Consider you butt chewed.

WOW... don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

I just mentioned that there was a problem with the DCS. Not a really big deal. They found the problem and removed it. It really doesn't matter what you charge it with, they all end up with the same results, a charged battery. Is a charger really worth getting worked up over?

I always have mine fully charged when I go out so I am not in the position to have to charge while fishing. That is hardly Marcums fault.

The rest of your post is just a rambling rant that doesn't deserve any attention.

[harvey lee]

MY DCS went kapooie about the 4th month I had it. I now use a different charger and the battery charges fine. I believe many had issues with the DCS or so I have read.

Other than the bad DCS, my LX5 has been a great flasher. I now use a Bird 55 but the MarCum does still get used from time to time if I forget to charge my Bird or the battery gets low.

I believe every piece of electronics has an issue from time to time. Just a matter ofg how the company handles those issues.

[Love2Cabin]

I just bought 2 of the lx5's one for me and one for my son to replace my older lx3's. I noticed that they no longer have the digital readout battery charger so I sent Marcum a note on their HSOforum. They quickly replied that they have been replaced with a more reliable charging system. Also if I charge my lx5 over night before going fishing I will have plenty og battery for the next days fishing. Works for me, I never looked at the percent of charge anyways when I was out fishing.

Since I have not had a chance to use them yet I am concerned about the previous message that says the new lx5's are not as good as the old ones.

Anyone else have a comment on this? I have always been very happy with all the Marcum products in the past and think they are the best thing on the market.

Thanks

[Twins Guy]

Bought an LX5 at the ice show and hitting the ice for the first time this weekend.

Hooked the battery up to the charger and the Green light came on. Plugged the charger into the wall and the green light turns red. After ~24hrs being plugged in, the charging light is still red, when I unplug the charger the light goes back to green when still conected to the flasher.

Question - Is this the way it should be? ...Common sense seems to tell me that Red = still needs a charge and Green = Fully charged.

Maybe i need to let it sit longer than 24hrs for the first initial charge? - manual says battery comes fully charged and can go from completely dead to 100% in 12hrs....Thoughts? something to worry about or not so much...

Hey Vlasin-

I picked up an LX5 just after the show from Thorne Bros. Really enjoying it but I am experiencing the same thing you are with my charger.

In fact I was experiencing something similar with the charger for my Showdown troller (performance pack) purchased last year. The light would never change from red to green even after days/weeks of charging in the offseason. I emailed Marcum and got an immediate response regarding the issue with my troller's charger from Chris. I live in the cities so I brought my unit and charger by their office and they looked it over and determined the issue was within the charger. It was charging and the battery had taken a full charge but a resistor? within the charger which is supposed to switch the LED from red to green when fully charged was faulty. They replaced the charger on the spot and the new one is working great so far.

The body of the showdown troller performance pack charger looks identical to the LX5s. And I have been surprised at how long it has taken to recharge my LX5-that is according to the red-green LED. I have watched it switch from red to green both times I have recharged it after use. It was red for at least 48 hours then switched when I was plugging something else into the same outlet. Might have to talk with them about this charger too.

tg

[cichlid_baby]

The chargers have gotten CHEAPER in terms of quality and I am sure cost... that is the only reason for the change... anything else is just "B" "S" in my opinion.

Just take a look at it.. and compare it to the previous models. Take a look at the specs on them too..

On top of that.. the new chargers retail on their site for what $10... and the old DCS charging system.. retailed for something like $40-$50 if I remember correctly.

Don't let someone give you an onion and tell you it's an apple just because they both go "crunch" when you take a bite.... as one surely leaves a different taste in your mouth.

[cichlid_baby]

Also take note....

I have both the older LX-5 and the newer LX-5 units...

I can tell you the the soft-padded carrying case on the older units are so much more nicer. They are made with a material that has a bit more foam or padding than the newer ones are made of. You can obviously tell when handling the side by side that one case will provide a bit more padding protection than the other.

Another step at fattening the bottom dollar.

[mark n]

QUOTE""This years models do not have the DCS charging systems. I think it is a good thing. I had one on my LX-5 that I bought last year. I had some problems with the charging systems and I ended up taking it off mine. I just use a standard charger with aligator clips now''"

So you dumped a good charging system and just use jerry rigged clips now. Real intelegent.

The old system indicated battery level. And also allowed for charging while in use.

I like my 500 dollar toys to function as designed.

And I've heard many a rant without an arrogant response like yours. Its a free country d a.

Maybe my "rant" will deter someone from burglary.

[fisherman-andy]

Not gonna kid around, im a Marcum fan but them DCS lcd display has some issues. I bought one for my Vx1 and it went bad the 1st month. The one that came with my lx3tc is still working properly. The one that came with my lx5 went bad in 1 month.

It doesnt exactly go bad but the display doesnt show the proper discharge, always 100% being shown on screen. When I charge it though it does show how much battery power is left and starts charging too 100%. But when its fully charged it or discharging it will always shows 100%. Only the one on the lx3tc is still functioning. If not for the trickle charging feature so you dont overcharge your battery I would've probably thrown them out already.