flasher question???

[Wild-man]

hey dudes!!!!!!!!!!
JUST got my new MARCUM!!!!!
VERY pumped to use it!!!
anyone know if the battery is fully charged new???
it says that damage can occur if it is overcharged...
any thoughts???
thanks and cheers,  gw

[ryan johnson]

should come fully charged..but it should come with a charging unit...if you plug it in to that unit ..it will not over charge it..if it dosen't what are you planning on charging it with?

[Wild-man]

hey r.j.
yup, it DOES come with a charging adaptor...
just a little concerned to charge it because of the overcharging danger warning.
cheers, gw

[icetechy]

Is it a MarCum VX-1 from Gander that you purchased for like $199.  If you remember 2-1 Two hours fishing = 1 hour charging. Another option and I highly recommend it is the MarCum DCS 100 Fully Automatic Charger, Fish 307 a site sponsor carries them and there the bomb.  Protect your investment's battery, it's worth it's weight in gold...

[icecutter2]

I got mine last week and had the same question, wrote MarCum Customer Service and had this reply within 30 minutes:


Your unit should be close to a full charge out of the box but it would not hurt to give it a 4-5 hour top off. I do recommend purchasing a battery status indicator for your unit as it will assure you of the % of charge. But here are some general charging guidelines. The unit is supplied with a 12 volt 7 amp battery and the charger is a half amp charger. So it will take 14 hours to full charge a completely drained battery. The voltage is considered 100% when the battery reaches at least 12.9 volts or higher. I believe the performance of the unit begins to diminish after 11.9 volts.  The current draw on the unit is about 325ma so you should get roughly 21 hours of run time on a perfect battery in ideal conditions. You can over charge the battery, so never charge it for more than 24 hours.

Jon Marshall[/font]Nature Vision, Inc
1480 Northern Pacific Rd
Brainerd, MN 56401
866-777-0733 - phone (M-F 8am-5pm CST)

218-251-7991 - Direct

 

[Wild-man]

excellent ic2!!!!!!!
that's exactly the info i was looking for.
thanks everyone for the input!!!!
cheers,  gw

[paulyum1616]

how much are the charge indicators you speak of? I brough a marcum last week and love it already and am catching more fish, definity dont want to hurt it.

[icecutter2]

FISH307 has the MarCum indicators for $29 and the Vexilar ones for $19. The Vex indicator states it works on any 12 volt battery, I'll go with that one I think

[paulyum1616]

FISH307 has the MarCum indicators for $29 and the Vexilar ones for $19. The Vex indicator states it works on any 12 volt battery, I'll go with that one I think

Thanks Icecutter, i think its an investiment i should make,

[icetechy]

The Vexilar V410 is $24.95 and the MarCum DCS 100 is $29.95 The MarCum charger also has a bold LCD display that has piggy back connectors that attach to your battery and leads from the power head.... This will give you constant battery status in a LCD display.
The Vexilar V410 charger like the Marcum is automatic as well and have the same performance features as far as being a 3 stage 1 amp charger this will show a green light when charging is complete.

You got a great deal on a flasher, time to add the battery protection.

Most guys I know have purchased the DCS 100 to go with their MarCum flashers
Here's a couple of pics of the DCS 100 found at Fish 307...

[iluvcrappie]

they do come charged.........use it until it goes dead before you even think about putting it on the charger and make sure its completely dead every time.................. .if you want the most and longest life out of your battery dont charge it when it has a charge................ ......

[Scott Steil]

Good advice....and if you are using the DCS make sure you unplug it after the season.  If you store your flasher with a DCS on it over the off season your battery will be shot next year.  Batteries are cheap and don't like the slow drain of the DCS over the summer.  Just a little advice.

Scott Steil

[iluvcrappie]

you can buy batteries for them for around $20 bucks that isnt too bad i dont think.............I saw them the other day in Mills Fleet Farm they had them on sale for 16.99................a lways nice to have a spare battery