IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: dml78 on Feb 17, 2009, 04:41 PM
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I took my ice 55 out for the first time yesterday and noticed that when the unit was on wide beam the screen would jump or skip. The jump was very faint but was noticeable. The strange thing was is that it didn't do it in narrow beam. I had the unit set up properly and I ditched the support cable and the transducer was level and below the hole. The unit was inside a heated shanty so the cold was not a factor. The unit worked great expect for this minor problem. Has anyone who owns the 55 noticed this or do I need to send it back? I spent $500+ for the thing and it should work flawlessly. Maybe I should have went with the LX-5!!!!
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Yea,my buddy got the 45 and I'm not that crazy about it,either is he
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Has he had any problems with screen jump? My 5 year old LX-3 that has a thousand hours on it is more crisp than the ICE-55. Maybe I made a mistake with this thing.
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Has he had any problems with screen jump? My 5 year old LX-3 that has a thousand hours on it is more crisp than the ICE-55. Maybe I made a mistake with this thing.
take it back man. I have a 55 and it runs great. I am very happy with the unit and the power. my only complaint is how fast it sucks through battery.
Also, if you paid 500 for it, look around you can get them down around 400 now on the web.
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Has he had any problems with screen jump? My 5 year old LX-3 that has a thousand hours on it is more crisp than the ICE-55. Maybe I made a mistake with this thing.
not to mention you LX3 had better target separation, and an LX5 even better yet. i was considering the hummingbird for a bit until i looked up the specs.
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Take it back for a Vex.
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I bought the 55 because I really liked the features. I feel that it tops the LX-5 in that regard. I would like to know if the display is that poor quality that it jumps and skips or if I have a faulty unit.
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I have heard either people really like or have returned their hbirds this year. Like I said, buy a Vex if you want reliability.
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I bought the 55 because I really liked the features. I feel that it tops the LX-5 in that regard. I would like to know if the display is that poor quality that it jumps and skips or if I have a faulty unit.
i would give there customer service a call and see what they say.
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Not to start a war here but I feel that the vex's are lacking when it comes to features that the high end marcums and hbirds have. I will have to contact the service dept. at humminbird and see what they say. I will report back. Thanks.
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Not to start a war here but I feel that the vex's are lacking when it comes to features that the high end marcums and hbirds have. I will have to contact the service dept. at humminbird and see what they say. I will report back. Thanks.
alright then i guess i will have to start the war. the only guy's that still use a vex are the guys that never tried a marcum.
they both make good products. different strokes for different folks. i like the adjustable zoom of the marcum.
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alright then i guess i will have to start the war. the only guy's that still use a vex are the guys that never tried a marcum.
they both make good products. different strokes for different folks. i like the adjustable zoom of the marcum.
Actually, i sold my marcum for an FL20. The vex has the reliability that my marcum was lacking. also, adjustable zoom really means nothing. Its not needed when fishing suspended fish.
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Actually, i sold my marcum for an FL20. The vex has the reliability that my marcum was lacking. also, adjustable zoom really means nothing. Its not needed when fishing suspended fish.
maybe not needed but it sure is nice
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I fish next to a FL-20 no way would I trade my LX-5 for one. As for the new HB units, I got to use a 35 last weekend, wasn't impressed at all. Buddy had a 55 earlier this season but after 2 days it quit working so I never got a chance to see it in action. I had a power head go out on one of my LX's a couple weeks ago. Called Marcum they sent a new one out ASAP with a prepaid shipping label to send back the broken unit. Maybe when Vex catches up with the competion I'll give them another look. I'm sure HB will adress their issues by next year and may be worth a 2nd look. Till then I'm staying with my LX-5's IMO best flasher currently on the market.
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i like the adjustable zoom of the marcum.
That's exactly the reason I would buy one over a Vex.
Trying to save the $$$$$ to replace my current flasher. 8)
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Like I said, i owned an LX-3 and I sold it to buy an FL20. Marcums have to many problems with transducers. Also even after I bought a new battery and charger, my battery would be at 40% after about 4 hours. Adjustable zoom is really worthless. The only time its needed is when fishing suspended fish. Theres a reason that Vexilar still makes their product just like they did 20 years ago, because it works, and its reliable. yes, the crispness and seperation of a marcum is nice, but I wont sacrifice that for reliability.
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Like I said, i owned an LX-3 and I sold it to buy an FL20. Marcums have to many problems with transducers. Also even after I bought a new battery and charger, my battery would be at 40% after about 4 hours. Adjustable zoom is really worthless. The only time its needed is when fishing suspended fish. Theres a reason that Vexilar still makes their product just like they did 20 years ago, because it works, and its reliable. yes, the crispness and seperation of a marcum is nice, but I wont sacrifice that for reliability.
I bought my LX-3 the second year they were out. I have never had a problem with it, the only time i sent mine in was the get the t/c upgrade when that came out. transducer trouble? I like the transducer on the marcum better than a vex for the reason that there is no float sitting in the hole. I am still on the battery that came with it and i have yet to have the battery go dead every on the ice and i put many hours in and many hours in a day. not to mention the dcs charger is nice there is no alligator clips to mess with and you can't overcharge your battery. Like i said before different strokes for different folk, we all have our own preferences.
PS: your comment Adjustable zoom is really worthless. The only time its needed is when fishing suspended fish.
there are many fisherman that fish suspended fish, just because you don't does not mean nobody else does
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What I meant to say about adjustable zoom is that its worthless. You can see suspended fish without zoom easily, even on an old FL8. Yes, I agree about the float, thats why I have the blue box with an eye bolt. if you do a little research, you will find out about marcums needing new transducers, its a common problem especially with the LX3's. Also, everyone talks about how great marcums customer service is....if they made such a great product their customer service shouldt have to be talked about, espesially since they have only been around for what, 8 years.
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Not to start a war here but I feel that the vex's are lacking when it comes to features that the high end marcums and hbirds have.
hahahahahaH YEAH until you want to fish deeper than 160 feet!!!!
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hahahahahaH YEAH until you want to fish deeper than 160 feet!!!!
I guess I forgot to add that.
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Also, low power mode on the Fl20 is so sweet. Noe more thing, FL20's and 12 have a dimming feature which is great on the eyes for night fishing.
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not gonna argue anyones great points that all of you have said. but i must say i bought my first flasher this year and i bought the humminbird 45. ive used the fl12 and the marcum. i liked it better than the vex and the marcum. personal choice though. i like being able to zoom into the bottom, or the middle half, or the top half of the water column. i do enjoy using mine and have a couple guys with vex's who i let use it and they loved it! and as for battery drain i have no problem. i can fish 3 or 4 times and still have 30% battery life after 20+hours of fishing. just my 2cents guys
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I took my ice 55 out for the first time yesterday and noticed that when the unit was on wide beam the screen would jump or skip. The jump was very faint but was noticeable
Congrats on getting the Humminbird ICE 55. It is a great flasher and you will like it once you get to understand all the features. Your bottom is jumping because you are fishing in (A) or Auto Mode. Auto Mode is designed to set your scale for you. It is contstantly trying to located bottom. So, the bottom is going to move. Once you have your depth figured out, set your scale manually using the 1,2,4 etc. That will take care of your bottom jumping issues. The Humminbird ICE 55 is an awesome flasher but has some features that your typical flasher does not so you may want to read the manual. I had to sit down and read it one night also.
Scott Steil
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Thanks for the tip Scott, but unfortunately the display still jumps at all range settings. The unit is in demo mode and this is not saying that it will occur when in an actual fishing situation. I will be on the ice this weekend and I will try to use the range settings and see if the problem is solved. I will report back. Thanks
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Why not, everyone marcum and Hbird both charge those prices. If i had a product that people wanted and were still paying for it I would raise my prices too! By the way, how does a marcum VX-1 do more then a vex? The new VX-1 pro costs the same as an FL18. Also, an LX-3 has nothing on an FL20, except a worthless(IMO) adjustable zoom. The only time zoom is needed is for bottem hugging fish.
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The unit is in demo mode and this is not saying that it will occur when in an actual fishing situation.
That is your problem. You should be fine when you take it out on the ice. If for some reason the bottom would jump when not in Demo or Auto mode, then you will want to call Humminbird. My guess is your unit will work great.
Scott Steil
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I picked up a hummingbird this year and have had absolutely no problems with it. I love the unit and wouldnt trade it for anything else. You should have no problems, if you do call hummingbird and they will take care of it. I have heard of only one other problem which was a guy whos sonar was running a little loud, he called hummingbird and had a new one in two days.
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I had problems with my Bird. One phone call and a new one was on my porch in 4 days. No charge to me. Can't beat that. They do take some getting used to. I use mine with a FL20 and FL18. I like the 20 better than the 18 by quite a ways but the Bird is best.
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take it back man. I have a 55 and it runs great. I am very happy with the unit and the power. my only complaint is how fast it sucks through battery.
I have the same battery problem with my Lowrance X102 that it sucks the battery down quickly.
I think that this is something to consider when buying any fishfinder.
If you don't fish deep lakes thru the ice what do you need all of the power for?
I have now set mine up with 2 batteries in paralell to see if this helps.Fished with with it Tuesday for 6-7hrs and the batteries were 35 percent when I came home. Usually on a single battery I get about 3-1/2 to 4 hrs and have to change batteries.
Winchester 88
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Thanks for the tip Scott, but unfortunately the display still jumps at all range settings. The unit is in demo mode and this is not saying that it will occur when in an actual fishing situation. I will be on the ice this weekend and I will try to use the range settings and see if the problem is solved. I will report back. Thanks
I hope you can solve that problem! I bought the 55 also had many issues first, where I bought it on the internet in Ely Minn would not refund my money after recieving a broken and used units there costomer service people even used profane language when I asked for refund!!!! Now I tryed every way to stop that jummping or line bouncing manual or auto goodluck. next was the transducer bracket.When you use the second lanyard around the float it veers to rifgt or left giving you a bottom signal that will not show your lure reason being it is always cocked.In my circle of friends all have returned there units 3 to be exact my feeling is for 500.00 it should work as good as a Vex or Marcum. return it
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chickenfoot, what store gave you the hassle?
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chickenfoot, what store gave you the hassle?
RED ROCK WILDERNESS STORE
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Great news guys. I just got off the phone with customer service at humminbird and they said that most likely it is a problem with the control head. They are over nighting me a new head unit and I have to send the old one back at no cost. I think that my problem is solved. I give the humminbird company an A+ for customer service. I am glad this has all worked out because I feel that the ICE-55 has alot more going for it than the competition. Thanks to all that responded to this post.
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Great news guys. I just got off the phone with customer service at humminbird and they said that most likely it is a problem with the control head. They are over nighting me a new head unit and I have to send the old one back at no cost. I think that my problem is solved. I give the humminbird company an A+ for customer service. I am glad this has all worked out because I feel that the ICE-55 has alot more going for it than the competition. Thanks to all that responded to this post.
they did the same with me please let me if your second head was better and yes there customer service is great at HB good luck
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Hey chicken, as recommended I ditched that support cable and used the cable clamps right on the transducer cable. I put one above and one below the float and used the smaller hole on the cable clamp. This allows the transducer to hang level in the hole. Also make sure that the transducer is below the hole or you will not get a good picture and you won't be able to see your bait.
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I started 9 years ago with an fl8, 4 yrs ago upgraded to an 18. love the 18, the zoom is great for the bottom huggers. this year upgraded to the ice 55. I've only used it for about two weeks, but so far I really like it. I did read the manual about 3 times because of all the features. I guess the only reason someone may have trouble with it is because they might not totally understand it. I fished vex for years and i actually had no problem with the transition to the 55. the only reason i decided to try the 55 was the price, i got it for 425, the fl20 was 529, can't remember the price of the lx5, i wanted the higher end flasher and i think i got it. love the screen(my wife thinks it's too bright), the zooms, backlight, and the different colors!!! so far so good, and i guess i haven't had the battery drain some other people have had. good luck
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If people fish with the HBirds and learn how the work they end up liking them. If I had to use just one, I'd probably leave the FL20 at home and take the 35. I have used a 55 too and it has nice features, the digital depth is great. Really though, you aren't missing out on a thing if you go with the cheap one and learn how to use it. We were fishing suspended crappies this weekend and that ajustable zoom is great for that, super easy and quick to use. I couldn't live without the dual beam tranducer either, but I fish in 40 to 70 FOW quite a bit of the time.
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i totally agree! we have been fishing in 26 fow using a size 12 gillpill,with small crappie minnows-and there is no problem seeing the jig and minnow! i have my gain set at either 4 or 5-fishing next to an fl18-----things are good!!! I've seen where people are saying they have their gain at over half just to see their bait!! I like to have mine set to where i see my jig as green, then if anything comes it ultimately turns to red---maybe other people do it different, but that's the way i like to fish it-same with my fl18!! this is the only h bird i've used, but i like it a lot, and if the 35, and 45 are even close which i believe they are--i feel it's a great product, and i like the digital readout so you know exactly how deep you are!! If this product holds up as well as my original fl8 has---there will be zero complaints from me!!!
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People get hung up about how high they have to set the gain. What difference does it make if you set it 3/4 the way around the dial as long as you can see the jig clearly? I hear things like, I can just run mine at #3 gain in 60 fow, that Bird you have to set at #7. Uhhhh, so what? As long as you don't run out of adjustment, it means nothing.
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Here is this newbie's experience with my brand new ICE 55. Bought it on E-bay for $328 door-to-door (I like to throw that in cause it was a great deal). Unit came from a guy who got it at a good price because he works at a Gander Mtn. store. Unit had a small "dead spot" in the LCD and I had no receipt so figured I was screwed on warrenty coverage. Spoke to H-bird on the phone and no questions asked they shipped me a new head unit and pre-paid label for return of old unit.
Now to my using the 55. Used for 3 days on annual trip to Canada and totally loved it. Did I mention this is my first flasher? So I have nothing to compare to. Unit ran great and could see small jigs in 30 FOW with either beam (just needed to adjust gain). Gain never went higher than11/25 and that would have been on wide beam in 30 FOW and only sometimes did I need to go that high. Typically gain on 4 - 6/25 under same conditions with a #12 Rat Finkee on dropper spoon.
Quickly figured out what I was seeing and could ID when bottom hugging perch were there and when they were absent. Loved the 6-color pallette as it gave me more "feel" for what was going on - subtle changes really noticable.
Well now for the test of time and more time on the water. This may be my only outing this year as I have two 11 month old twin boys and a four year old son as well at home so I was just glad my wife was super enough to let me go on the annual trip for a few days.
Love my 'bird. Tight lines. ;D
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that's pretty sweet they sent a new head!! test of time is exactly right-for as much as i like it-i hope it lasts for years, i'm taking a weeks vacation starting the 1st, going to lake of the woods for 6 days of fishin, and the h bird is going to be by my side(the wife too)!!!!!
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Hi All,
I tested the new head unit last night on bottom hugging crappies. The screen still jumped in wide beam mode. I guess that this is how the hbirds run. I am so use to my old LX-3 and this doesn't happen. I can get by with the issue because in the six color mode I could see fish that would have been hard to see on the LX-3.
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I had the LX-5 for one year, sold it soon after, bought the FL-20, liked that so much, sold both my old FL-8's and bought another one. Have fished through Michigan, and went to Wisconsin and Illinois to fish this year, and the MarCum issue seems to be a new one, but had lots of reports from people I know of transducer problems. Not sure if this is a result of Nature Vision purchasing the brand this year or not. The Hummingbirds seem to be having a lot of issues, many of them mentioned here already, signal jumps, transducer problems and that support cable breaking off.
Other than that, its a Ford/Chevy thing and wont get into it.
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getting serious about ice fishing this season i did the research and for the money i bought the showdown from www.productsthatsave.c om for $239.00 plus shipping (cheapest place i could find). I have been nothing but happy with the performance and the battery life is great even when using the heated screen mode. Unit has great separation and noise elimination feature works great. Back glow LCD screen works great for night fishing as well. I have fished with my more experienced ice fishing friends with marcum and vex flashers and they are amazed with the overall performance and separation of the showdown. I would recommend this unit for any level of fishermen, vertical screen is easy to understand and small footprint allows transporting unit in five gallon bucket with snap on lid no problem. Carry bag is of high quality and transducer swing out arm is a great feature. A+ rating, showdown has put me on the fish every time out with no performance issues.