LX5 Charging

[bturck]

i bought my son an LX5 for christmas. i charged it until the green light came on. we gave it to him sunday, a little early, as we're headed for Red on friday. we turned it on a few time and ran the simulator program but nothing excessive. i put it on the charger at 1100a this morning just to be sure it was topped off. the charger is still showing red at 450p. any thoughts? i'm a vexi guy so not famaliar with any quirks with a Marcum. yes i did read the destructions....ooops instructions... thanks

[leechlake]

bturk-

I did exactly the same thing. Bought an LX-5 as a gift for someone and we're going ice fishing during Christmas. I opened the box and made sure the battery was fully charged. After ten minutes it turned green. I then unplugged it and plugged it in again and it flash red. I unplugged again waited and plugged in and it turned green after 5 minutes. Don't ask me why I messed with it in the first place, couldn't tell you.

I did some research and I think I'm going to suggest he just uses one of his normal chargers he already has in the future if the Marcum one acts up again. Sure the thing should work but it seems most of us have more chargers than good batteries.

To answer your question I'd unplug and plug back in. The research I did showed that in your case I'd wager the battery is charged but the red/green light is a little shlocky.

[CaptainMusky]

Guys those chargers are flaky. Not sure why but I know guys who had same issue, Marcum sent them new chargers and they did the same thing. Test using one of your other chargers to ensure the batteries are charged. If you have a voltmeter measure voltage across terminals when the light is red. It should be putting extra volts into probably near 13 volts

[bturck]

This Marcum charger has a different connection than my other two chargers. It does not have clips but a plug in syestem

[harvey lee]

I use another charger and threw the Marcum charger away. I have been very happy with the flasher but the charger is questionable at best, at least mine was.

[aczr2k]

Yeah I don't understand why Marcum cannot source a quality charger. I've had nothing about problems with their chargers over the years. I've gone to using a battery tender jr. Keep in mind if you decide to do that and use the original two pin plugin the polarity is different and you will need to change the connection at the battery. Mine has been working great, no more charging issues. Step up Marcum for they price you "charge" junk chargers are unacceptable.

[bturck]

the LX5 has been on the charger all night and still shows red.....i'm going to give them a call this morning and see what they have to say.

could i use a Vexilar charger on the batter direct, insteadd of the two prong plug in on the machine? i would think that should be a direct charge and by pass the 2 prong? Thanks for the comments guys. will let you know what Marcumm ahs to say.

[Pat K]

You can use the charger from a Vex, Humminbird or the charger that comes with a Cabelas battery connected directly to the battery tabs. On fishing trips with large groups, many times someone has forgotten to bring a charger and has used a different brand of charger on their battery with no ill effects on the batteries.

[bturck]

PatK, thats what I'm going to do. Called Marcum, recorded message...leave name and number, we'll call you back.....oook we'll see how that works

[bturck]

called Marcum at 900am, left name, number and reason for the call...still waiting on call back. hooked up Vex charger, no problem. green light.

[harvey lee]

Hope you get a call back within 2-3 weeks, I have had very poor luck with return calls from their recordings, very poor, there were times they never bothered so I switched to another brand.

[bturck]

hoping they realize the value of customers. My son was adamant about the Marcum so thats the route i went. I've had a Vex fl18 for 10 years and have reolace two batteries. as long as i can charge it with Vex at least its not a boat anchor

[FISHINGURU]

I've never had a problem with my charger, mines like 5-6 yrs old. Mine don't have any lights that I remember it has a %, when it gets to 100% it's charged.

[hamms-scooter]

I know many guys that their charger never turns green but the unit is charged mine included. I have never had an issue. Might get a battery tender jr at some point but it charges it up so why fix what isn't broke.

[Gus]

I've had my LX-5 since the first season they came out. Zero problems with the unit or charger. Couldn't pry it from my hands. I love this thing.

That being said, I had to email Marcum a question on my camera earlier this season, going on 4 weeks now and no response. Simple question, yes or no answer. How hard is that to complete and send back to a customer who has spent many $1000's with your company?

I sure hope they read these forums and realize they are pushing customers away just like Lowrance has done with their horrible service.

[fsnrod]

Ive had lx3 since 2003 same charger works great never failed .Also have a lx5 since they came out that charger also works great I wouldn't trade either one for anything else. I bought a FL 18 on sale a few years ago used it a few times didn't like it compared to the marcums sold it same year.

[Dave]

Four Marcum chargers, three LX5's and one camera. All work fine.

[Dave]

I jinxed myself My Marcum camera charger (little black box with red led) doesn't work any longer. But, I think I did it. Before plugging it into the outlet, when connecting the spade lugs to the battery, I mixed polarity and noticed a little spark at the battery terminal when connecting the second lead. So, I'll take the blame on this one. No doubt there could be bad ones but, am wondering if others are doing that as well and then blaming the Marcum charger.

[aanderud]

Before plugging it into the outlet, when connecting the spade lugs to the battery, I mixed polarity and noticed a little spark at the battery terminal when connecting the second lead. So, I'll take the blame on this one. No doubt there could be bad ones but, am wondering if others are doing that as well and then blaming the Marcum charger.

LOL. Yeah, because no other chargers have reverse-polarity protection. It costs at least 15 cents to add.

[leech~~]

called Marcum at 900am, left name, number and reason for the call...still waiting on call back. hooked up Vex charger, no problem. green light.

I was going to say, hook up your Vex charger, they all work the same for a 12v battery.

[harvey lee]

Common issue with some MarCum chargers, no surprise there. I believe the one charger that came on LX5 that was hooked up to the battery or on the top of it is a very poor design. As Aanurad said, pennies to make it work better but they went with the cheapo design. great flasher, poor service and charger.

The charger I had was the DCS100 and I heard many issues with this one, one can by another but why, it more than likely will take a dump on you anyways. Then I had the one that a green light goes on when it is charged or charging, don't remember, threw those away also and got and use another brand to charge the batteries. Issues ended with the other brand charger.

As far as calling Marcum and getting a response, save your time.

Get another charger and you will be fine.

[CaptainMusky]