IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Equipment => Ice Fishing With Electronics => Topic started by: fishEH on Feb 06, 2018, 08:44 PM
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So who's got a Lithium Shuttle and what mods have you done?
I've got my Helix 5 mounted to it. Didn't want to drop the $40 for the adapter cable and the adapter cable looks sloppy all hanging out like that. I opened the unit up and found where to cut the positive/negative wires. Once I did that I popped the grommet and pulled the MarCum power cable out. A little Vaseline helped the Humminbird power cable slide right through. I coiled up as much of the Humminbird cable as I could and stuffed it into the bottom of the shuttle. In the end I only lost about 18" of the original cable length. A few spade connectors and cable ties later and its looking like factory!
(https://s14.postimg.cc/8wicoc20d/20180201_162550.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/8wicoc20d/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/sed04a6nx/20180201_162703.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/sed04a6nx/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/lnwiuv6nh/20180201_163315.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/lnwiuv6nh/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/p7igkpby5/20180201_171649.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/p7igkpby5/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/ittdhgu7h/20180201_171925.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/ittdhgu7h/)
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I didn't like the way the Helix protruded out so far, it hung over the buttons a bit. I had a bit of thick plastic so I cut it to fit and set the Helix back about an inch. It also balances very well now.
(https://s14.postimg.cc/ew63shmy5/20180206_201654.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/ew63shmy5/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/x1j260jq5/20180206_201701.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/x1j260jq5/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/4onkfl0kt/20180206_201722.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/4onkfl0kt/)
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The ON/LED-ON-OFF switch bugs me too. It doesn't make any sense. The cover has parts to be backlit but nothing lights up. Its probably whatever cover came with the switch. Its also a Contura II cover while the Aux power is a Contura V shape.
I'm trying to get a new cover for the switch made.
(https://s14.postimg.cc/dwfswisa5/Light-_Sonar-_Off_switch.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/dwfswisa5/)
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mine is stock. waiting for warranty to expire before i think of changes. i like how well you do what your doing tho. looks good.
i haven't had mine apart. is there a gasket on the cover and o-rings on the screws?
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mine is stock. waiting for warranty to expire before i think of changes. i like how well you do what your doing tho. looks good.
i haven't had mine apart. is there a gasket on the cover and o-rings on the screws?
There is a gasket around the bottom. I'll have to check around the screw holes. Glad you mentioned that because I almost forgot I had only put three screws back in when I reassembled! :o
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Got some toys for it!
Glow cup in red. The video says you can install it on the left front accessory mount, close the ducer arm, and it will still fit in the bucket. Not so much. There's not a lot(hardly any!) of room at the bottom of the bucket and installing the cup on the left front accessory mount won't let the ducer arm fold far enough in to clear the inside walls of the bucket. So I grabbed a longer bolt and a nylon spacer and mounted the glow cup in the same mount as the ducer arm.
Also got my custom switch. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Matches the USB accessory ports on the right side and has icons that make sense instead of just the generic switch. The cover just pops off, no need to open the unit or pull the switch or anything.
(https://s10.postimg.cc/kx53pwout/20180215_171918.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/kx53pwout/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/49dlnf9it/20180215_171927.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/49dlnf9it/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/s0cz5jwv9/20180215_172229.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/s0cz5jwv9/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/t2n5o609x/20180215_172211.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/t2n5o609x/)
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heard from a source that hummingbird will be coming out with their own brand of shuttle knowing now how much of a demand there is. and might be available for maybe next year. so i'm going to hold off on buying and or fabricating up the marcum. just like anything we purchase now a days... what is our chest pounding purchases of today will be only a faint battle cry tomorrow.. lol yes there are some that will say that they will spend the money and buy it anyway cause thats what they do.. spend on fishing....but then there are those like myself that take the more conservative approach.
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I wouldn't doubt it if Humminbird did. They better get their crap together with the transducers first though!
Sometimes you can research yourself into being paralized and not being able to pull the trigger. There will always be the next new bigger better thing. Eventually you just have to buy something and use it. I've been working a ton of overtime plowing snow so I could afford to splurge on a few toys.
I like to fiddle with things so I figured I'd tweak a few things to get it dialed in. 😁
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You can be sure Marcum will come out with some big improvements to their shuttle next year forcing existing owners to upgrade... I'm guessing better battery performance and smaller/lighter footprint...
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I won't be upgrading, LOL. I think the footprint is a good size. Any smaller and you risk stability, especially with a larger unit like the LX7.
They could definitely clean up some aspects of the unit. Make the switches match. Maybe redesign the ducer arm mount. And the adapter cable is just plain silly. Battery life has been fine the couple times I've used it.
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Got some toys for it!
Glow cup in red. The video says you can install it on the left front accessory mount, close the ducer arm, and it will still fit in the bucket. Not so much. There's not a lot(hardly any!) of room at the bottom of the bucket and installing the cup on the left front accessory mount won't let the ducer arm fold far enough in to clear the inside walls of the bucket. So I grabbed a longer bolt and a nylon spacer and mounted the glow cup in the same mount as the ducer arm.
Also got my custom switch. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Matches the USB accessory ports on the right side and has icons that make sense instead of just the generic switch. The cover just pops off, no need to open the unit or pull the switch or anything.
(https://s10.postimg.cc/kx53pwout/20180215_171918.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/kx53pwout/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/49dlnf9it/20180215_171927.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/49dlnf9it/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/s0cz5jwv9/20180215_172229.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/s0cz5jwv9/)
(https://s10.postimg.cc/t2n5o609x/20180215_172211.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/t2n5o609x/)
Saw this post, did you wire the switch up to light up with that new cover?
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Saw this post, did you wire the switch up to light up with that new cover?
I thought about it, however I didn’t want something lit up all the time pulling power from the finite battery source. It’s bad enough the USB charger is constantly lit up pulling power. :/
If this were on a vehicle or boat where the battery was constantly being charged then I wouldn’t have hesitated.
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That makes since.
I can't believe the gauge of wire they use for some of the connections. I think that is something they could improve on.
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welcome to the shanty djcoudert!
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I’d like to see a soft case “mod” lol.
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I’d like to see a soft case “mod” lol.
Just buy the RT-9 soft pack, it fits and works if you just want that to put in during transport.
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So I was wondering how was the battery life with the helix 5 on the marcum shuttle? Was it worth the upgrade?
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Battery life seems to be pretty good. I never really use it all day though. Usually a few hours after work or maybe 6 hours on a Saturday or Sunday. I like that I can grab the shuttle and use it in a canoe or rowboat.
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It’s a lithium ion battery and not lithium iron (Dakota battery)
Meaning – lithium ion max voltage is 12.6 then stable at 11.1v
Your Marcum will shut down at 10.5v but your battery will go down to about 8.4v.. This leaves alot of amps on the table. There for you will never get the advertised usage time on a unit drawing around 500mah. Also lithium ion batteries are very susceptible to cold weather.
In comparison lithium IRON (Dakota) full charge is 14.4v and stable @ 12.8v.
So you see you get more AH on lithium iron battery.
Now it’s a cool case with lots of room for improvement so if you can get it for around 150.00 I would say buy.