Marcum ???????'s

[Fredd]

I have been looking forward to owning one of these units but have a couple of concerns that I would like to bounce off current owners or those in the know. Is their a problem with the transducers?? I have two friends who have had to buy new ducers after a couple of years of use. Also wondering about the battery life since they draw so much power (the new 3's and 5's are going to use even more power it appears). Also wondering about their warranty and customer support in comparison to the competition.

[CNY Tim]

I have been looking forward to owning one of these units but have a couple of concerns that I would like to bounce off current owners or those in the know. Is their a problem with the transducers?? I have two friends who have had to buy new ducers after a couple of years of use. Also wondering about the battery life since they draw so much power (the new 3's and 5's are going to use even more power it appears). Also wondering about their warranty and customer support in comparison to the competition.

Yes there was a problem with the transducers on the LX-3's the first couple of years and those were replaced MarCum is now manufacturing there own ducers so although there maybe still a few of those old ducers out there most have been replaced.

Battery Life

VX-1 20-28 hours "One year warranty"

LX3TC 18-22 hours "Two year warranty"

LX-5 - 16 to 20 hours "Two year warranty"

MarCum's great customer service has not skipped a beat since moving to Nature Vision. There solid if you ever need them they will take care of it and fast..

[Caleb S]

No problems so I cannot comment on customer service. They are located in Anoka so...

This will turn into a Ford vs Chevy discussion. However; compare cost/features between the FL8 and the VX1. For me there was nothing to even think about. The zoom feature is great to have.

[Dark Cloud]

4 years on two Lx3's that get alot more use than most and I dont baby anything. No problems with ducers or anything...

[PerchJerker]

I have an LX-5 and an LX-3 and have not had to replace a transducer, but I've only had the units for a couple of seasons.

I've never run down a battery on a flasher in one day. There's been trips where I've had to fish 2 days without being able to recharge overnight and I've always made it through them too, although I usually bring along a second battery in those situations.

From what I hear the warranty and customer support are excellent. I've never had to use them.

[harvey lee]

I have owned three LX5 and have had no issues. battery will go all day no problem at all.

[NCLaker]

Only Marcum I have consistently heard issues with the transducer is the LX-3 & LX-3tc. I had the LX-3tc, and had to have my transducer replaced.

If you pick up a used LX3/3tc, make sure you test it out on the ice. Symtoms are that you will have trouble pickup up your jig - have to turn the gain up way to much. If working right normally only have to turn it to 0-1+ depending on your jig size/profile.

[Fredd]

Thanks for the feedback guys. One of my friends said that he had to turn his gain way down I thought (clutter all over the screen sporadically). Is the company taking on any of the responsibility for these "defective" ducers?? What is their warranty period??

[CNY Tim]

Vexilar had a problem with there zoom locking in on soft bottoms with the first run Fl-18's, all those units needed a software upgrade and you had to ship em back to get em fixed.

[Caleb S]

Warranty period is 1 yr for both. You can buy an extended 2 yr warranty from Vexilar for $20.

[CNY Tim]

I know of some that have been taken care of in the past beyond warranty when CS was with MarCum. Ducer is covered in the warranty. On my first run LX-3 I dropped my ducer off the tailgate of my wagon onto and asphault surface and had a nice crack in the ceramic disc that ran across the entire face of the transducer and that unit performed flawlessly. I sold it later on and I hear from the guy every year about this time that it's still running great.

[fishin4life...]

After Nature Vision bought out Marcum, it costs 70$ to replace your transducer.

Yes there were problems with the transducers. They would start to be exposed after a couple seasons of use. The new batch of ducers, if there are any problems, will show up in a couple years if they failed to fix the problem. It might be a gamble, may not.

Note from Admin, please read forum policy before posting again, thank you.

[nate18]

I have the lx3 and the lx5, I had the lx3 for 2 seasons before i ran into a small problem with the zoom. I called marcum, shipped it to their service department, and they didn't charge me a dime, even though the warranty ran out by then. I am sure that nature vison will be different, but the units have been pretty solid for me and I am really hard on equipment. I don't really think you could go wrong with either the marcum or the vex, both great products. On the company change, I don't know much about nature vision but they purchased a company who penetrated a pretty saturated market, by vex, and did well. Although marketing/advertising did them well, you can't put a price on great customer service, innovation, quality, and vision. In a pretty competitive market, nature vision will have to provide the current customer base with great customer service, as well as, new product innovation, for us and the market, in order to succeed. Word of mouth, in a close nit group such as ours, is a powerful marketing tool. Nature Vision will have to continue in the footsteps of the Marcum mission, which, is to provide the necessary tools to make us successful. If they falter in any way, they will not last long. It is pretty easy to keep us happy, provide great customer service and great product innovation and we will buy, one thing we are all good at, golfers have nothing on us!

[Ed Carlson]

The new 3's and 5's have fewer concerns than the older units had. A better ducer would most certainly produce a better product. Power usage is still significant due to watts generated.

The 3's and 5's zoom and high power features are a draw to many, not so mush to others, depends on what school of thought you fallow about on ice flashers.

[CNY Tim]

MarCum has been producing there own transducers the last 4 years and it's a non-issue.

[HookedUp]

I have owned Vexilar and I have owned Marcum and several of my fishing buddies have done the same. Personaly, I love my Marcum, I think it gives a lot clearer definition but I have have freinds that love their vexilars, thinking they read better. No matter what brand you get, you can get a bad unit, I know people that have problems with both. Bottom line, you can't go wrong with either one; I would figure out what your budget is and buy they best model of either brand you can afford. Like all equipment; rods, reals, augers, etc., either brand will treat you right if you take care of it.

I have had no issues with two full years use on my Marcum. There used to be a lot of reports of bad transducers but it seems fewer problems have been reported on units purchased in the last couple of years. It appears they may have had an issue they have resolved.

[fishin4life...]

CNYTim, why are Vexilars junk in the shallows when I was using a Marcum I couldn't even read the "real" bottom because the unit was picking up the weeds as it. Great example, I dropped the unit in a hole, it said it was only 6 feet, and moved on. Then a buddy with a Vex comes along, plops down in the same hole, and starts catching fish. I asked they're up that shallow and he said no, its 12 feet deep here. I was picking up the weeds as the bottom and it threw me off on my fishing. So, in my opinion, more power does not equal better fishability in weeds.

[zamboni]

Ok, now I have a question. I was fishing 3 feet of water yesterday, and even after messing with the gain on my LX2, I couldn't pick up my jig. I figured water simply wasn't deep enoungh, any thoughts? The transducer worked fine last season on 15+ feet of water. The transducer was making that snapping sound yesterday, so I don't think it's bad

[redtrucks]

I purchased a LX-3tc three years ago mainly because of the comments made about the Marcum on this forum. I don't do alot of ice fishing, I probably used this flasher no more than 25 times since I purchased it. I knew last winter that the transducer seemed to be acting up, called Marcum last week and they sent me out a new transducer for $65. Not complaining but I hate to stick money into something that should be more reliable.

[so haaad]

I'm on my third transducer with my Marcum LX-1. I got the same story from Marcum now that Nature Vision bought them. Replacement transducers are $70. I'm not trying to bash Marcum, however, I do think the faulty transducers should be replaced by them regardless of whether it's under warranty or not. Spending that much money should get you more than a couple of years. On the flip side, I know many people with Vexilars who have never had any issues.

[muc33]

I have never EVER had an issue with Marcum Customer Service, with the past ownership, or the current ownership. And after how many years, would you expect someone to cover a product you own? It may have been owned by two or three people, and you would expect them to honor that? I run a business myself and know for sure that three plus year old issues won't get the complete coverage unless that is an offer that has been held to full coverage for everyone.

I have called on quite a few occasions to Marcum customer service just to ask questions and learned everything I had questions on plus gained about 3 other tidbits of knowledge.

I cannot say that for any other companies I have products from. Be it computers, home appliances, vehicles, I will attest that the customer service at Marcum is tops on my list.

I agree like someone said earlier, do your homework, find what you think will work best for you. I did my homework, I studied all the companies, I made the phone calls, I even looked over the shoulders of those using the various flashers, all different models, finding out tips, tricks, likes, dislikes. What I concluded was best for me, and what I can tell you is my choice was, and still is Marcum.

[munchy71]

Tim, your passion to nock Vexilar and promote Marcum is pretty amazing .....Always good to provide "constructive" feedback. What you mention is a bit "alarmist".

EXACTLY!!! How did this thread turn form "MARCUMS???????'s" to a "Tim-bashing-on-Vexilar" thread? I don't believe the original poster even mentioned Vexilar, did he? Sounds to me like he was already pretty well set on a Marcum, but just wanted a few concerns adressed.

This is exactly this kind of bashing that makes readers suspicious of pro-stafffers, and disregard their expertise....pretty much defeating the purpose of a pro-staffer in the first place. In the end all it does is turn the reader off towards the product. I've seen it happen time and time again from both sides.

-Munchy

[Dahitman44]

My experience is this -- My Bro-in-law had a LX-3 and returned it three times with problems. Get Customer service with Marcum.

I have had four vexilars (upgraded) and had zero problems.

Have a Marcum 360 underwater camera -- love it had zero problems.

Based on my experience I would only use Marcum for underwater camera, but that is my experience.

Hitman

[fishwater]

EXACTLY!!! How did this thread turn form "MARCUMS???????'s" to a "Tim-bashing-on-Vexilar" thread?

This is exactly this kind of bashing that makes readers suspicious of pro-stafffers, and disregard their expertise...

Noter from admin, please read forum policy before posting again,thank you.

I have 3 LX-5's, never had a transducer issue. One was bought in the first weeks they were released and has been heavily used without a problem to date. The second was bought 3 years ago and had to be sent in to be cleaned last winter, it had some regions that would be dim at times compared to the rest of the dial. The last one I purchased had a major problem, it would beep and not light up at all most of the time. It was the demo unit at a Gander, so who knows what it went through before I purchased it. It worked on the ice all of March, but flaked out in the boat this summer. Marcum replaced it with an updated 2500W model under warranty. I think Vexilars are probably more reliable overall, but I think the technology is not the best. I've used plenty of them and consider them to be 'blob' machines. I'm excited to try an Hbird this winter, that's were the real competition is going to come from IMO.

[Drewski]

Originally Posted By: NCLaker

Tim, your passion to nock Vexilar and promote Marcum is pretty amazing .....Always good to provide "constructive" feedback. What you mention is a bit "alarmist".

EXACTLY!!! How did this thread turn form "MARCUMS???????'s" to a "Tim-bashing-on-Vexilar" thread? I don't believe the original poster even mentioned Vexilar, did he? Sounds to me like he was already pretty well set on a Marcum, but just wanted a few concerns adressed.

This is exactly this kind of bashing that makes readers suspicious of pro-stafffers, and disregard their expertise....pretty much defeating the purpose of a pro-staffer in the first place. In the end all it does is turn the reader off towards the product. I've seen it happen time and time again from both sides.

-Munchy

You hit it right on the nose!