Marcum crash

[mudchuck]

$79.99 flat rate repair, $18 return shipping 3-day UPS ground, and $18 UPS 3-day ground to ship it to them...sucks gotta pay both ways...

That's right $116 to get a 5 year old baseline flasher fixed...hope everyone understands that buying electronics ain't cheap.
This cuts into my boat refurbishment money...sucks!

[mudchuck]

Not to mention Marcum must know this is an issue with dial flashers as the repair appears to be something they query you about in their online troubleshooting site.
I'll get this repair done, but I'm looking at other brands that can pull dual duty on the boat and ice...Lowrance, Garmin, Hummingbird all have GPS/Charplotter units with flashers built in for about the same price I paid for this new dial flasher back 5 years ago, so a no brainer to look at these units with better features and multiple transducer beams...for the cost of the ice ducer to be able to be portable on ice then mount in on the boat, I'll not look back to dial flashers unless they come down drastically in price and add more features.

[dickbaker]

    I'm shocked to find that I could have bought two of my Vexilar FL18 flashers for the cost of one Marcum lx-1p???
I have a FL18 and FL20 that are now nearing 8 years?    I always think that you get what you pay but the Marcum seems just too much.
I always thought of Marcum and Vexilar being the innovators producing high quality but I didn't realize the price difference?/
Dick

[mudchuck]

DB, in 2012 I paid $250 for the VX-1P, IDK if you could get 2 FL-18's for that price.

[Registered Kayak]

I have had 0 problems dragging my elite 4 hdi and a 35ah battery to my hunting grounds. Can usually get around 70 fishing trips on 1 charge  did I also mention it keeps my flip over anchored while I'm out checking flags?

[dickbaker]

DB, in 2012 I paid $250 for the VX-1P, IDK if you could get 2 FL-18's for that price.

You old tight-wad?   You must have found a super deal even that long ago.   They now go for over $700?
Dick

[Oldbear]

I was thinking about trying a Marcum flasher next time just to compare but will stick with the brand I have after this post.  My Vexilar fl-18 was bought in 2006, never quit and changed the battery just last year for the first time.  Might of made another year ha.  I'm retired and fish all winter and also use it on the boat with the bottom lock.

[3300]

Not to mention Marcum must know this is an issue with dial flashers as the repair appears to be something they query you about in their online troubleshooting site.
I'll get this repair done, but I'm looking at other brands that can pull dual duty on the boat and ice...Lowrance, Garmin, Hummingbird all have GPS/Charplotter units with flashers built in for about the same price I paid for this new dial flasher back 5 years ago, so a no brainer to look at these units with better features and multiple transducer beams...for the cost of the ice ducer to be able to be portable on ice then mount in on the boat, I'll not look back to dial flashers unless they come down drastically in price and add more features.

quit buying these old outdated mechanical sonars and then no motor repairs! even vexilar motors burn out.
instead get into the digital line up like your thinking about now. marcum also makes digital units and they are for open water also. they are designed for ice first and offer an open water high speed transducer.
there is a lot your missing out on staying with out dated sonar like these that use motors.
marcums lx6/7/9 are what you should take a look at next. they offer 6 charts to pick up to 4 of to view at one time. the lx9 also allows a camera for back ground or half and half screen or full screen.

100$ here and another 100$ there to keep these mechanical sonars running isn't worth it in my book. spend those extra monies up front and get some thing digital. there becomes a time when you come to realize it's time for a change before spending more on the same thing.

if you think these rates are bad, wait until you buy a humminbird. their flat rate is 180$ plus shipping both ways and they set the return price on shipping and they don't repair what you paid them to repair. so that's another 100$ to do the same thing and get reamed while paying it. i had to send mine back in because they forgot to fix the on/off/depth knob and the digital center screen blacking out all of the time. they never would fix those issues even after sending it back to fix only those issues.

i paid 535$ for a hb ice-55 and the motor fried.(see, no escape from motors frying by changing brands) and they want 180$ plus your shipping to them and you pay their shipping back to you. it costs over 200$ to get a motor replaced by them. so then how long will that motor last and what do you have now that you may be missing out on if you had spent that money to begin with on some thing nicer.

just go with your gut and go digital. look into the costs to get them on their feet. they all quit sooner or later. you need to know what those costs are. marcum digital repair flat rate is 125$ it's up to you to find out what the others cost. i read how lowrance quits supporting their units after some time, so i counted themout just for that one reason. vex doesn't make digital ice units, so i counted them out for that one reason. that leaves only two left, garmin and marcum. garmin is too new to the game so i counted them out for that one reason. we don't have a lot of choices here.
or if it lasts a long time and it quits, use the money to advance your sonar even further when newer and better versions come along.

marcum told me they have way more digital units on the field than mechanical units. the numbers are very high.

[dickbaker]

  ::)I have a Lowrance for my boat and a Vexilar FL20 and FL18 for ice fishing.  Whenever you get something that does "everything"
You end up with something that isn't perfect for anything??
Dick

[mudchuck]

You old tight-wad?   You must have found a super deal even that long ago.   They now go for over $700?
Dick

VX-1P goes for $325 these days.
You must mean the FL-18 goes for $700

[mudchuck]

I'm looking at the Garmin 5DV and the portable accessory option.
The Garmin will be a great fit for my small boat and will keep the old Marcum (that I'd say I got my monies worth for 5 years of use) as my ice fishing backup.

[rbobby]

The humminbird's are super reliable units.
I fish with a few guys that have them and they go years without any issues.

[shiveringjoe]

VX-1P goes for $325 these days.
You must mean the FL-18 goes for $700

My fl-18 was $240 when I bought it 6 years ago in April. He must think you have one of the fancy marcums. The marcum and hummingbird units at the same price point as the mechanical vexilars have more features and prettier displays, but Vexilar are more durable.

[Oldbear]

Boy did I get screwed, my  fl-18 with the Ultra pak was $439.95 in 2006.

[dickbaker]

Boy did I get screwed, my  fl-18 with the Ultra pak was $439.95 in 2006.

Good investment But you could buy a new one for less than that now?
Dick