Final straw

Sorry guys I need to vent. I bought a Marcum lx5 brand new a number of years back and after another failure I am done.  2 weeks after I bought it the bottom return started moving,  sent it in and they fixed it within a week.  2 seasons after that same thing but now out of warranty so now I have to pay to have it fixed.  End of last year same thing now it cost $80 plus return shipping I figured it would be cheaper than a new unit so I sent it in.   Did not last one season now the screen is flashing like I have constant interference with a little research sounds like a bad motor.  I am not giving them any more money.  I take care of my equipment so no it was not due to abuse!  Will be changing to a Vex next year.   Let me know if you want this pc of crap!

I had an LX-5 for about 7-8 years. I sold it because the shallow setting (20) stopped working. Got $275 for it so not too bad. I could've spent the $80 and got it fixed, but I wanted to ditch mechanical flashers and go with a digital one. Picking up an LX6s soon. I loved my LX5. You got a lemon sounds like.

I store in the basement on a wood shelf.  I remove the battery and keep separate....i also trickle charge battery at least twice during the summer

I still have one of these and it works really well when you put it in a drilled hole. On top of the ice, not so much. It has to be clear, smooth and like others have said, you need to couple it to the ice for it to work.

Back when it was first discovered that a flasher could read through ice, some people began carrying a bottle of water for better transmission.  That worked well on warmer days, but on really cold days the puck would freeze to the ice quickly.

So, they started using antifreeze, which caused a rash of dead animals that licked up the sweet-tasting antifreeze.

Sdrag - where do you store it for the summer?  Most men's toys should be stored in the woman's part of the house (NOT the attic, basement, or garage). 

Hopefully the tech will write up a summary of what was fixed, including what is the likely cause.

Most transducers will “shoot through ice.” I haven’t done it to fish since I need a hole anyway but I will check depth without drilling a hole by kicking the snow away and holding it down tight to the ice. Sometimes you have to play around to get it 100% perpendicular to the bottom. It is a little more difficult with crappy, porous ice but works even better if there’s a little water on the ice. I use a humminbird ice 35 which I bought about 7 years ago now. 

I can't see Vexilar butchering the cash cow but companies have done worse things.

With the advancement of sonars like the HumminBird CHRP units and the new Garmin Panoptix, I wonder if the day and age of the flasher is coming to an end.

Marcum has quality issues. Its not a Ford vs Chevy debate. Its a Lexus vs Kia debate. 

If you swap companies in your vent it isn’t much different as to why after two plus decades of using vexilar products I switched to a Marcum.