Ice 45 ?

[milkingman]

So my friends wife calls me and tells me she wants to buy husband a new flasher. I recommend the 45. Finally get to fish with him today and to see a panfish jig he has to turn his gain up to about 30-38 . I also own a 45 and I go at about 17-20 on gain for a panfish jig. Could he have a bad transducer? Just seems to high. More gain equals unwanted clutter. What do you guys use for gain.(Also made sure enough cable was out to be under the Ice) Thanks for any responses

[Sherman]

So both of you have humminbirds? If I'm correct, humminbirds run on the same frequency so it will have interference in both flashers. If it were another flasher, no issue.

[milkingman]

Today I used my marcum. So he should have been ok. Sorry not to clarify

[lakeshoremunster]

make sure to turn down the noise level then you should be able to see the small jig. I had to learn that the hard way lol.

[fisherman-andy]

So my friends wife calls me and tells me she wants to buy husband a new flasher. I recommend the 45. Finally get to fish with him today and to see a panfish jig he has to turn his gain up to about 30-38 . I also own a 45 and I go at about 17-20 on gain for a panfish jig. Could he have a bad transducer? Just seems to high. More gain equals unwanted clutter. What do you guys use for gain.(Also made sure enough cable was out to be under the Ice) Thanks for any responses

He probably has his Ice45 running on the narrow cone transducer as to the high gain settings.

[CJH]

Don't use the second "cord", its not needed. Also make sure the transducer is below the ice and level.

[kfk]

The second cord is is called the "support cable" and it's on the ICE 45 for a reason or Humminbird wouldn't have designed it like they did. It provides more support for the connection from the signal cable to the transducer than just hanging the transducer by the signal cable itself. I'm leaving my support cable on.

I have an ICE 45 too and I agree with CJH that it's important to have the transducer level and definitley below the ice as well. If I don't leave plenty of slack in the signal cable I find that it won't sit level in the water and when it doesn't sit level, I've experienced issues similar to what you describe.

Your problem may be resolved by something as simple as putting more slack in your signal cable so that it hangs from the support cable alone. At least it's worth looking at. I can see small jigs very well on mine.

[fisherman-andy]

The second cord is is called the "support cable" and it's on the ICE 45 for a reason or Humminbird wouldn't have designed it like they did. It provides more support for the connection from the signal cable to the transducer than just hanging the transducer by the signal cable itself. I'm leaving my support cable on.

I have an ICE 45 too and I agree with CJH that it's important to have the transducer level and definitley below the ice as well. If I don't leave plenty of slack in the signal cable I find that it won't sit level in the water and when it doesn't sit level, I've experienced issues similar to what you describe.

Your problem may be resolved by something as simple as putting more slack in your signal cable so that it hangs from the support cable alone. At least it's worth looking at. I can see small jigs very well on mine.

Support cable not needed. It actually causes the transducer to hang off balance, not level with the float. Also fish will get tangle in it more. It's there for patent issues nothing else.

Again there's only couple scenarios which has already been suggested. Bad or weak battery, ducer not hanging level or below ice, has ice frozen on ducer, or on narrow cone beam. Swap ducers to test between both bird units for a bad ducer cone.

[Dukes]

Actually the narrow cone angle will give a stronger reading at a lower gain setting

[kfk]

Andy,

Is that from Humminbird?

Thanks.

[fisherman-andy]

Andy,

Is that from Humminbird?

Thanks.

Quoted directly from Humminbird own resource FAQ:

Why do the Humminbird ICE Series flashers have two cables on their transducers?

Humminbird's transducer assembly contains both a support cable and a signal cable. The support cable hangs the transducer at the proper position in the water, and the signal cable connects the transducer to the control head. Because Johnson Outdoors believes in respecting the intellectual property of others, we specifically designed our assembly such that it would not infringe a specific patent relating to suspending an ice fishing transducer by its signal cable. For that reason, the transducer should be utilized per the instructions in the owner's manual at all times.

I have own an Ice55 for the last 3years. Never onced used the support cable. Causes tangling, and causes the float and ducer to hang at angles. Whether you continue use the support cable is up to you.

[fisherman-andy]

Actually the narrow cone angle will give a stronger reading at a lower gain setting

Are you positive of this? Lets do a simple test. Pickup up your humminbird transducer and turn the range to 20'. Hold out your ducer and put your hand below your ducer and adjust the gain till you see it picks up on the flasher dial.

On my ice55 on the wide cone it picks up my hand below the ducer roughly about 5"-8" away on a gain setting of 21-23. On the narrow cone I have to turn the gain all the way up to 35-38 for it to pick up.

P.S. (I used the term "ducer", for short meaning transducer )

[kfk]

Thanks Andy! My support cable is coming off.

[Feathers Rainin]

Through your support cable away. You don't even need the float either.

Narrow beam will give a better read at lower gain settings than wide beam. If yours isn't doing that you may have a problem.

I don't think I have ever had to turn the gain past 15 with any size jig unless I am fishing wide beam in 20+ fow. I only do this when fishing suspended crappies.

When I got my 45 I had a lot of issues. Sent it back in three times and they finally figured out it was the transducer. If you are running it correct (ducer positioned right, full battery, etc.) I would start by using a different ducer. If that doesn't fix it good luck, humminbird warranty was very difficult to deal with.

[fisherman-andy]

Through your support cable away. You don't even need the float either.

Narrow beam will give a better read at lower gain settings than wide beam. If yours isn't doing that you may have a problem.

I don't think I have ever had to turn the gain past 15 with any size jig unless I am fishing wide beam in 20+ fow. I only do this when fishing suspended crappies.

Interesting.... this is exactly the opposite of how my narrow beam transducer on my Ice 55 has worked since day one purchase 3-4 years ago. Unit has never had issues or serviced. I dont have problem picking up target ID on either narrow or wide as long as there is enough gain.

Gain has always been higher on narrow and lower on wide for me on the Ice 55 when detecting fish and lure. At 20 fow my wide been gains could be set anywhere from 17-25. My narrow beam gain settings is usually 10+ that so typically 23-35 or higher depending on how deep im fishing.