Marcum VX-1, did my battery go kaput, or....??

Hello.

Hit the lake today, but when I turned my Marcum on, it had no power.  I realized when I left home I had not remembered to recharge it after its last use (two weeks ago), but thought it would have at least a little juice left to show something, even if only for a minute.  Checked on it this morning, and the indicator light on the small charger box (by the outlet plug-in) is flashing red about once per second.  I turned the unit on, while both still on and off the charger, and can hear the unit whirring, but still no lights or flashing.  Is it just a case of a battery gone bad, or something more severe?  Worked just fine two weeks ago, so don't know what else it could be other than the battery. Anybody else that has had this issue in the past?

Thanks! 

Northern, I'd been dealing with that for the last two years. Not sure why it took me this long, but I just sent it to Marcum last month to be reconditioned. For $100, plus what you pay for shipping to them, they replace everything...motor, brushes, contacts, transducer...and then ship it back to you. I think I had mine back within 2-3 weeks of dropping it off at the post office.  And as an added bonus, they even gave me a new Velcro case for it to replace my original with the rusted out zippers lol!  Tested it out last week and it worked great!

Sounds like you figured out your VX-1 problem so I don't feel like I am hijacking your thread.

My VX-1 is not locking onto the bottom.  I was in 10' of water and it would read 9' then 11', it just keeps swinging back and forth. I looks like your are raising and lowering the transducer 2' at about a 1 second rate.  It still shows my jig and bottom but it is super annoying with the lights going back and forth on the dial.  I replaced the battery last year so that is good and it worked fine the first time out this year but the last 2 times it has done this.  Is it dieing on me?  It's about 9-10 years old.

Did you check the inline fuse to see if it had blown? If so, get a 3 amp automobile fuse. 

I admit I laughed when I read this because I just had my battery die this past weekend on my Vexilar.  It would start up good and then start flashing really weird.  I would tap it and it would work, then start going crazy again.  Had just charged the battery so was thinking it broke, but then I took the battery from my camera and hooked that up...running great again.  Never saw it act that way from a low/dead battery before.

My battery was from 2007 so I'm not complaining, it had a good run.  Felt like the dark ages there for a minute.

good to hear it was just the battery and glad to help

Just an update.  I hooked my unit up to a different battery, and it worked just fine.  So, problem solved.  Thanks to all who gave their comments and insights, much appreciated!  

just following up. I read online about problems others were having with their vx-1 charging issues.  Followed the advise and charged with my Battery Charger Junior on battery and back up. Went out and vx-p worked great. Put charge back on it and seems ready to go!

How old is the battery?

I have a vx-1p that had to have the motor replaced, it had the  case of the rocking bottom. It's been rock solid the last two seasons tho. I replace my batteries after two years, no matter what.

One thing that has gotten me in the past is the negative battery terminal comes off the post every now and then and your battery obviously won't charge but if I recall correctly your charger will be green like the battery is fully charged. 

Mine had an issue I walked up to a stranger and asked if I could hook my unit to his battery to trouble shoot 4 minutes knew the battery was bad caught fish and gave them to the guy who helped me now a friend 

I have vx-1 also. I try to charge battery after every use. Unfortunately, I don’t feel the light on the charger works. Also concerned that I have overcharged batteries in the past. Read about others having similar issues with vx-1. I typically carry a back up battery. Last time out, flasher lites were bouncing. So put other battery in with same results. I’ve charged both batteries with my Batter tender Junior, as this was recommended by others online. Hoping this will help. If not too slushy, I’ll let you know.

Your charge indicator and read out could be bad ,mine will read amount of charge left but will not charge thru indicator, also just bought a lithium battery now the whole unit with battery weights less than old battery alone, was pricey,but should last as long as 2 lead acid battery's just my 2cents 

I've had locator batteries gradually die and others that when bad over one trip.  I agree the best thing to do is buy a new battery and see what happens.  I also have a VX-1 and really like it.

As far as battery maintenance make sure to charge it after each use and if you're not going to use it for a while disconnect the battery to avoid any chance of  battery drainage 

I had the same issue and it ended up being the  battery I had a portable power pack with a inverter and took it on the ice and with it plugged into the charger it worked fine turned the inverter off and within a few seconds it would make a whirring sound with no display bought a new battery and game on so I would definitely try a new battery before writing it off as some other problem hope this helps 

Sounds like a bad battery to me. If it was left on the charger and didn’t fully charge it most likely is bad cells. My advice would be to try someone else’s battery if you can. I have quite a few older units and most problems are caused from insufficient battery storage.