Hole hopping with flasher

[GP]

How many hole  hop with their flasher left on?  I read somewhere that going from hole to hole and checking depth/ fish can shorten the life of the motor if left on. Is it better to turn it off and when traveling to different spots and then back on when you arrive?  Not sure why it would matter but curious if there is any truth to this.

[Seamonkey84]

I would think the constant on and off will shorten the life more than leaving it on

[dsupercat]

Hole hopped for years with a vexilar and  have yet to wear a unit out.  If you had to turn it on and off I would slow the process of hole hoping.  If I am moving with the snow machine then I shut it off.  I am not familiar with other flashers to know if it causes problems with them.

[Skywagon]

Back in the day I used to walk around with a Humminbird 55 turned on when checking holes, that worked fine until it quit.  The people at the repair facility said that I had probably damaged the gyro in the unit by jostling it around with it turned on and recommended shutting it off when changing holes. After getting it back from repair, I still walked around with it, but was careful to keep it upright with no quick movements.  That flasher was still working fine when I got rid of it several years later. 

[esox_xtm]

Turn it on when you hit the ice. Turn it off when you come off. Flasher, graph, no matter. If I'm in the boat it's the same deal - always on. Never wore one out yet.

Back in the day I used to walk around with a Humminbird 55 turned on when checking holes, that worked fine until it quit.  The people at the repair facility said that I had probably damaged the gyro in the unit by jostling it around with it turned on and recommended shutting it off when changing holes. After getting it back from repair, I still walked around with it, but was careful to keep it upright with no quick movements.  That flasher was still working fine when I got rid of it several years later. 

Though, on reading this, actually makes sense as far as flashers with a rotating wheel goes.

[DR.SPECKLER]

If im hopping in a area that i cut 15 holes i leave my vexilars on.if im moving out of the area and headed to a different part of the lake i will turn it off.never had a flasher fail from leaving it on.i figure its like a house fan.ive got some that have been running for 5 years straight without turning them off but as soon as i start turning them on and off they die.lol jmo

[bart]

Hole hopped for years with a vexilar and  have yet to wear a unit out.  If you had to turn it on and off I would slow the process of hole hoping.  If I am moving with the snow machine then I shut it off.  I am not familiar with other flashers to know if it causes problems with them.

I have been doing the same thing with a Marcum VX-1 for 13+ years now, no problems. I still have the original battery also!

[kpd145]

i never turned off my older vexilar, would just let the motor hum away.

Never had an issue. Like ESOX said, I turn it on when I hit the ice, turn it off when i leave.

[cwavs1982]

If I am hopping from holes that are about 15' apart I am not shutting my flasher down.  If I am moving to another part of the lake, or really far off, then I will shut it down. 

[hardwater diehard]

Leave my FL18 on from the first hole till pack up ..unless I run out of power ..like what happened the other night with my lithium battery..for the record 40 plus hours on a 12ah Amped Outdoors battery ..Thought my Vexilar was in need of repair ..nope some quick Email responses from Amped Outdoors and Vexilar concerning the DD-100(digital depth and battery percentage gauge ) . Lithium's just stop ..I knew that ..but what I did not know is the DD-100 is not capable of giving a accurate battery percentage reading ..apparently they will run at 100% for some time then drop down to 80% for some time and then without warning ..no more juice . 

[DR.SPECKLER]

Leave my FL18 on from the first hole till pack up ..unless I run out of power ..like what happened the other night with my lithium battery..for the record 40 plus hours on a 12ah Amped Outdoors battery ..Thought my Vexilar was in need of repair ..nope some quick Email responses from Amped Outdoors and Vexilar concerning the DD-100(digital depth and battery percentage gauge ) . Lithium's just stop ..I knew that ..but what I did not know is the DD-100 is not capable of giving a accurate battery percentage reading ..apparently they will run at 100% for some time then drop down to 80% for some time and then without warning ..no more juice .

hmm ive got 60 hrs on my dakota 10ah lithium.still reads 13.3 volts on my flx28.thought i was hearing over 60 hrs on the amped 12ah on a vexilar.weather depending i guess but i was getting 30+ on a  9ah battery.i have my amped 12ah in my garmin striker 5 and got 2 full days out of it.

[hardwater diehard]

It may have been more then 40 ..not recalling how many times I have used it/ran it ..I also recalled that I had charged it too after a ice outing  ..but now really thinking on it I did not ..it was my other lithium battery.

[bigfoot86]

Never ever turned my flasher off hole hopping.  Never had issues but I would suspect most people don't turn their units off.

[Unclegillhunter]

Glad you folks chimed in! Read the post and thought oh no been doing something wrong all these years! If I know where I am going to be fishing I drill my holes and then go back to the first and then the unit gets turned on go from hole to hole till I find the one to fish. Never had any issues. The only thing I worry about is some how damaging the cord.
Keep it safe! JDL

[WALL E GATOR]

Most Electronics do better left on. The power surge that happens when you power up electronics is one of the most destructive things you can do. Power Supplies do not like off n on off n on over and over. Now the older flasher with mechanical aspects to them, I could kinda see turning them off, but with all the old timers on here still using their old flashers with more than 10 15 even 20years on them.... well it does not seem to be a problem then. 

[fishermantim]

If you are traveling some distance between holes, maybe but if you can walk to each then definitely NO, leave it on.

It's like turning a light off and on just because you went to another room for a minute, or like turning your car off when stuck in traffic....

[PoleJerker]

Turn it on when I start and off when I'm finished.

[Huntindave]

If you are traveling some distance between holes, maybe but if you can walk to each then definitely NO, leave it on.

It's like turning a light off and on just because you went to another room for a minute, or like turning your car off when stuck in traffic....

My brand new vehicle is designed to do this (shut's itself on and restarts itself)  on it's own.  Happens every time I'm sitting at a traffic light.  Saves me the trouble of reaching for the key.

  I suppose a sensor could be designed into any sonar unit, which would put the unit in standby mode, any time the transducer is out of the water.  Kind of surprised this hasn't been done already.

[Unclegillhunter]

My brand new vehicle is designed to do this (shut's itself on and restarts itself)  on it's own.  Happens every time I'm sitting at a traffic light.  Saves me the trouble of reaching for the key.

  I suppose a sensor could be designed into any sonar unit, which would put the unit in standby mode, any time the transducer is out of the water.  Kind of surprised this hasn't been done already.

LOL first couple of times I was next to a vehicle that did that I thought why are they turning the car off! Then I got a loaner and freaked out when it happened!
Keep it safe! JDL

[RyanW]

Honestly, it has never even crossed my mind to turn it off between holes. If a 3,4,5, 900 dollar machine can’t handle being moved 10 feet when it’s powered on I begin to question the integrity of the machine as a whole. The only thing I’m careful of is to not slam the ducer down onto the ice or break through skim ice with it.

[Unclegillhunter]

Honestly, it has never even crossed my mind to turn it off between holes. If a 3,4,5, 900 dollar machine can’t handle being moved 10 feet when it’s powered on I begin to question the integrity of the machine as a whole. The only thing I’m careful of is to not slam the ducer down onto the ice or break through skim ice with it.

Careful not to slam the ducer down on the ice! The few ice fishing videos I have watched the guys pull the ducer out of the hole and toss it to the side! I myself pull it out of the hole and set it on a towel. Can’t understand how their ducers don’t get damaged!
Keep it safe! JDL

[ice dawg]

I like watching the TV ice fishing shows when a guy is bringing a fish up to the hole and someone else walks up, grabs his flasher and tosses it about four feet from the hole. Maybe their sponsor gives them to them for free.

[Unclegillhunter]

I like watching the TV ice fishing shows when a guy is bringing a fish up to the hole and someone else walks up, grabs his flasher and tosses it about four feet from the hole. Maybe their sponsor gives them to them for free.

That was what I was thinking cause they don’t look like they care about them!
Keep it safe! JDL

[hardwater diehard]

I like watching the TV ice fishing shows when a guy is bringing a fish up to the hole and someone else walks up, grabs his flasher and tosses it about four feet from the hole. Maybe their sponsor gives them to them for free.

Supposedly some of the refurbished/reconditioned unit are from the pro staff 

[RoeBoat]

Let the vex run!!

[Ranger619]

I’ve always done it for years never ever had an issue. My opinion but I’d think it would be harder on it turning it on & off all the time.

[kevs]

 I have a Marcum Showdown, have never shut it off when hole hopping, only when moving to different locations on the lake or leaving the ice. I've had the unit since the first year they came on the market no issues, same battery.

[UFCreel]

Depends on what depth of water i am fishing. Whether or not i even use my flasher while hole hopping. Deeper water yes i leave it on. Shallow water of say 4 to 8 feet. I do not even use the flasher. Since in this case i am chasing Crappie. I use a long rod 48-50 inches in length with a set amount of line out. Drill out my grid and start fishing. A couple of minutes at each hole. Until i catch a fish. Then i will fish that hole a little more. Then move on to the next. This method of fishing Crappies has put a lot of them top side.

[bearnoob]

I like watching the TV ice fishing shows when a guy is bringing a fish up to the hole and someone else walks up, grabs his flasher and tosses it about four feet from the hole. Maybe their sponsor gives them to them for free.

That's a shame. The pros should know that the proper technique is to safely stow the ducer and then chuck the unit 4 feet away, but for God's sake make sure not to turn it off first.