Lowrance 125 problems

[river_001]

Couple of months ago I started having troubles with my Lowrance 125. It seems that the power or sensitivity has diminshed. It started shooting vertical lines or little boxes off pixels. I emailed Lowrance and they said I need a new transducer even thou I bought I new one less than a year ago. Anyway bought another. I used to also be able to hear a really audible ticking from the transducer from even up in the boat. Now I have to stick my ear down close to it to hear it. It won't track well at higher speed and every once an awhile it seems to go nuts. I am having a hard time deciphering what are arches or clutter anymore. Has anyone else had similar problems and can offer some advice?

On another note, I have been eyeing those new side imaging fish finders from Humminbird lately. I would hate to give up on lowrance but that technology really has me interested. I would love to hear opinions on if having a newer or more advanced fish finder has helped on learn and catch more fish.

Thanks in advance.

[duxsrus]

I've been using a 125 for just about 3 years now and I've never had any trouble out of it. Mine loses the depth at high speeds but I know I have my transducer a little too high. I can generally hear the "clicking" too as it's pretty loud. But every now and then, I won't be able to hear it. Not sure why that is, but the display is always working.

[catfishrus]

i dont have the same model as yours but my dad had a lcx 15mt and it wouldnt mark fish in deep water say over 20ft. he said mine was lieing so we went to the lake one day with both our boats and i put his depth finder on my boat and it worked fine. all we could figure was he left his on out of the water and it burned the transducer up. maybe your problem. i hear the ticking come off mine all the time. im with you on the hummingbird but dont want to waste 2 grand without some inside information. i dont think they mark fish too good but i love the fact of seeing structure. i thinking about running it with my lowrance at the same time but dont know if that would work either.

[jim]

Mike keep an eye on the boats of those folks that fish for a living.If you see that new technology all over those boats then you can assume it works pretty well.I have watched that company for a long time and usually the claim is far more than the performance.The company you are using right now also keeps its eyes and ears out and you can bet if there is something really good out there they will jump on the band wagon also.Their new stuff is due out here shortly.In the latest issue of Bass and Walleye boats magazine is a good article about transducer freqs and their capabilities.:smile2:

[blackwaterkatz]

What is this 'clicking' noise you guys keep mentioning? I've never heard that from any of mine. ('Course I can barely hear the alarm clock in the morning, either.)

[jim]

Tommy I was going to ask the same thing as I have never heard it before nor has anybody on my boat ever mentioned hearing it.Unfortunately my high freq hearing has been lost due to all those large caliber weapons from my Army days but my normal hearing range is very acute.Maybe I have heard it and didn't recognize it for what it was but with the aireators going etc etc I never noticed.:smile2:

[catfishrus]

guys i can hear it on my boat. i run my ping speed wide open and its a steady ticking noise coming from the transducer. i think its coming from the signal being sent down. not sure what power my depth finder is in watts but i know its high compared to most models. im thinking 3-4 thousand but not sure. the x17mt has replaced my model but i really like my 15 for marking fish. this new tech. with the hummingbird has got me looking hard but im not about to jump first. would be nice to see a picture of the bottom but i also did some studing and it will not show whats right under the boat in a picture. from what i read it does have a option for marking fish. i dont know how well it would work in muddy water though. not crazy about the transducer system they have for it either. seems its got to go thru the hull or stick down a ways. looks like a good stump catcher to me. its new with a new price.

[jim]

I have the 15 with the dual freq trans and havent heard the clicking but again my high freq hearing is non existant.My question with the side looking sonar is what happens when the boat rocks or at speed?That is why side looking hasn't really jumped out there yet.If they come up with a stabilized transducer that would be a great improvement.As I said your current company will jump on it if it proves to be really viable.:big_smile:

[river_001]

I emailed Lowrance back and I'm waiting on a response. I guess I focused in on the clicking noise because it was always there before I started having problems, now I don't hear it anymore. My unit is 3 years old, anyways, but I feel it should last longer than that. I will inform you of lowrances response if anyone is interested.

It seems I started two posts really. I have heard many opinions on the Humminbird. It seems they have got a bad rap in the past for marketing really low end units. It seems to me that if the Humminbird can still mark fish and work really well as sonar without the side imagining then really the side imaging is a bonus. There are lowrances in that price range as well. I would think that Humminbird probably has this technology patented. I am not making a case for either brand just my observations.

[blackwaterkatz]

Sometimes it takes a couple of days to get an email response from lowrance, but they have always gotten back to me. If you are in a rush, it's better to call. It does sound as though your transducer is bad, though. Someone remarked once that the average lift of them was only about 3 years, but so far I've never had one go bad. I bought a wider angle xdcr recently form LEI, lowrance's accessory division, and had great service. Do you know someone else with a 125 that you could maybe test your unit on their boat? If it works ok, then it must be the xdcr. A new one runs ~$69.
Good luck with your repair and I hope you'll enjoy the BOC. :big_smile:

[jim]

If your unit is 3 years old I can tell you that Lowrance is going to tell you that you need a new Transducer.2-3 years is about all that they last simply because life is tough back there on the back of the boat.Just replaced mine and it was 3 also the 200kh side went out but the 50kh was still working.Side looking sonar has been tried before by several companies and again once you aim that transducer to look to the side any pitch or roll of the boat causes problems.Again look at those folks that have to make a living by fishing and see what they are using,that will give you an idea of what really works.:smile2:

[catfishrus]

guys maybe the ticking has something to do with aluminum boats compared to fiberglass. i never been around one on a fiberglass boat but fiberglass could dampin the sound somewhat or jim maybe your like my dad. he said his hearing is fine but his listen is not too good.:tounge_out: jim do you fish saltwater with your dual transducer? i have two 15s on my boat one at the wheel and one at the trolling motor but i only use a single transducer on mine.

[jim]

I do fish saltwater but I don't go out to the canyons etc.After careful thought and review I will go with a single freq next time.Unless you fish 300 ft or deeper I don't think the 50kh is neccesary.To Lowrances credit when I called and talked to them last Oct about replacing my defunct transducer they fully advised that I get the single freq.My only thought was that if the one goes out then the other is available which is what happened to me.The newer units are coming out with a dual 83kh/200kh which is more of a usable compromise.83kh gives far better resolution than 50kh,Again there is a good article in the Bass and Walleye Boats magazine about freqs.Very informative.:smile2:

[blackwaterkatz]

Same here, Jim. I bought a 200mhz to get a wider cone angle. Lowrance told me the same thing as you. I still have the dual freq on the boat if I need it, though. I seldom get in more than 70' of saltwater and about the same in fresh. I recorded some sonar on a saltwater wreck a couple weeks back, and it does take some playing with the settings to get good clear readings vs the freshwater depths.
I haven't checked but I think the In-Fisherman website has something on reading sonar, too, at least according to one of their shows I was watching today.

[jim]

Probably because salt water has a higher density I think and resists the pings.Sensitvity,color scale etc have to be adjusted.I hope no one is using the 50kh transducer because they think it is for saltwater.It is simply better for deeper water (300+) which normally occurs in saltwater.The 200kh provides much better coverage or cone angle and detail.:smile2: Saltwater is very close to the same exact chemical composition as human blood.Which means we were all lizards,or fish somewhere back in the gene pool.Probably explains why we are always going fishing.:big_smile: :lol: Try that explanation on your wife.HEHEHEHE:ooooh:

[gearhead]

I have the x 107 and i can hear the transducer clicking i can slow the sound down or speed it up with the ping speed i asumed that they all did that noise.

[jim]

Hopefully what we haven't done here is cause everyone to be hanging over the back of their boat listening for clicks!!!:big_smile: If you do wear a life jacket and make sure the motor is in neutral!!!!!:lol: :ooooh: Unless the boat is in the driveway of course.:wink:

[drc3]

Intresting thread, so I'll throw my .02 in. I have an 125X, it's about a year old now and have never had any problems with it. My transducer does "click", but I can't hear it while my boats in the water... only while it's on the trailor. Does leaving a finder on out of the water really burn up a transducer? That was mentioned at the begining of this thread. I've forgot to turn mine off before pulling the boat out of the water more times than I can count, lol.

As for the HB side imaging finder... I've never seen one in action, but have only heard good things about them (except for the price). I know a couple of guy's that fish the "King Cat" tourneys and they told me that during the "classic" all the top finishers (which were weighing in unbelievable sacks)including the winners had these units. That says a lot to me! I'll own one when I find it on Ebay at a reasonable price.. $2000 is a little to steep for me.

[blackwaterkatz]

Jim, I think I've figured out why we can't hear those clicks like the others do; too many years around artillery, jet planes, bombs and H-E ordnance, paper mill equipment, armored tanks.......
They just haven't lived yet. :lol:
Y'all take care of those ears. What you do to your body now may not show up as damage for 20+ years, and then it's too late. I haven't heard a bird sing in years unless it was sitting on my shoulder, but at least I hear crickets 24/7. :sad2:

[jim]

No question my military life took my high frequency hearing.Now there is much concern and more effort is made to preserve the hearing of the young soldiers.I don't know if operating the transducer out of water will burn them up.I suspect it may have some kind of life shortening effect.I'll try and find out.I'm sure plenty of people have purchased the side finding units particularly hard core competitors.Latest bell or whistle syndrome.As I understand it the winners of the classic fished a downed tree in 12 ft of water.If it is really good and works well believe me all the competing companies will bring it out.I have this problem with it like this.Take a flashlight out in your boat.Turn it on while the boat is bobbing up and down as well as rolling fron side to side.Now shine it straight down on the water and try and hold it steady.Not to difficult,now try and shine it on something out on the water away from you.Not so easy to keep that cone of light on the target,which is why the services have gone to stabilized gun platfroms in moving vehicles like tanks.Straight down the cone can be held on the bottom for the most part and return a reading at 90 degrees the cone shifts up and down as the boat rocks and it is difficult to remain on target.Again if it works well everybody will have units out soon.It has been tried before by some of the companies and never caught on.:smile2:

[catfishrus]

i dont know that it will burn it up for sure but my dad has a problem with turning things off, so my mom said....lol. anyway he did leave his on a lot of times and then he took the grandkids out to the shop to play in the boat a couple times and it got left on. so he blamed it on them. well it was still working but just wouldnt mark fish any deeper than 20ft or so. changed the transducer and the fish went deep. i could hear mine ticking in the water today standing in the boat over the top of it when i pulling up the anchor. it was ticking on a bunch of fish that didnt have mouths.:angry:

[river_001]

To sum things up I haven't heard back from Lowrance. I have tried to call several times but cannot hold that long while at work. I did buy and try a new transducer per Lowrances suggestion and I am still having problems. Hence my post to begin with. I have also read several times on here how Lowrance has great customer service and that several people were able to replace their malfunctioning (older than a year) units for a small price.

Needless to say my unit will be replaced. With what yet I don't know.

I would be interested in starting a post for people to respond with which units or brands they are currently using. The only rule would be that you are no way affiliated or sponsored by that particular company.

[catfishrus]

okay your having trouble reading it at higher speeds. maybe this is your problem thats causeing all the other trouble too. dont know what kind of boat you have but i would drop the transducer down a little to keep contact with the water. make sure your tansducer is not behind some rib or something. dont know that this is your problem but maybe getting to read at higher speeds would help it out overall. as for the call i have had to hold before myself for too long but once contact was made i was taken care of. maybe you have done this but mine will mark fish/bait at 53mph. now cannot tell whats down there but when i see alot of trash on the screen at high speeds i slow down and it will be bait/ fish.

[river_001]

Michael,

The unit has never been able to mark at speed. I have tried two new transducers since Lowrances orginal response. Please pm me with suggestions as I am not here to complain about certain units just wanted some help.

Thanks.

Erich

[river_001]

I thought I would finish this topic off, in case anyone is wondering how I ended up. Lowrance e-mailed me back with some tech's extension. Got a hold of them, and they suggested sending the unit back with a check for $99.95 to be looked at. They sent a replacement unit several days ago. This is the level of customer support I heard of on here and I am appreciative of their efforts.

Going out to try it today. Thanks for the members help here. I will let you know if I hear that ticking again. :lol:

[blackwaterkatz]

Thanks for the follow-up. It's great to know you got satisfaction. :smile2:

[catfishrus]

good deal, i hope it works out for you. now if you can just get them fish to bite. the ticking is normal on mine. i heard it yesterday but the fish didnt hear me.:sad2: