I used an FL-8 Propac for several years and had zero problems and good performance. This year I decided to upgrade and bought an FL-20. The first two times I used it , it did as adverised and it was really fun to use the split screen. The third time I took it out (having used it a total of about 14 hours) it started giving me problems after about three hours. It would not even read the bottom unless I turned the gain up to full and then it would still not show my lure or any fish. ( I was catching perch pretty good that day). I called Vexilar and they thought the transducer was bad so I sent it in. When I took it out last Saturday at Wolford it was better but I still could not see my lure or fish..no green, orange-red as it normally would. I moved the transducer up & down below the ice, tried every different setting and still all it would show was the bottom.I sent the unit back and today they called and said they could find nothing wrong. They were nice and are working with me but DARN I need a unit that works! Anyone else having problems with the FL 20?
Vexilar FL-20 problems
1 reading
jonesboy
21 - 26 of 26 Posts
thank you checker8. i got an email from the vexilar service people today with detailed instructions on how to clean the brush dust and the wheels. took all of 15 minutes. and it looks like it solved my problem. thank god i dont even have to consider a hummingbird! vexilar and its people sure are great.
No problem brother! I've owned an FL-8 for 15 years and an FL-20 for two. Both are great products in my opinion. Good companies stand by their products and support their end users. Some companies do certain things better than others. Some companies differentiate by price. Some do it with features. You'll pay more for a Vex than the competition, but it's well worth it as far as I'm concerned. Reputation and reliabilty are huge in my book and my vex's have never let me down.littlemac said:
Hey, Jones, that's awesome. They don't mess around up there - they'll field test it to find the problem!
Companies like Strikemaster and Vexilar exist because they treat their customers like best friends parents. (You don't mess with your best friend's parents!) Funny how both companies are small, very mom 'n' pop, and are both entirely SOLD OUT of inventory well before Christmas.
And the current administration says 'the free market system doesn't work'.
And how you can't get either of these products at Walmart, either.
Hubby says "I'd rather pay the extra $10-20 for a product that gets good customer service from the mfr rather than having to buy a new one in 6-12 months".
His first Strikemaster power auger is now in it's 15th year of use. Still runs great. He's on his 2nd Vexilar (had an FL-8 SLT since '97, which a forum member bought a few years ago after I got him an FL-18, which he had been hankering for since before I'd met him - the first discussion was something like this - "This is my FL-8, which is great. I'm wanting to upgrade it to an FL-18, which is awesome..." - that was before he even turned the darned thing on!) as he was good for Christmas a few years ago...
Well, that, and I'd already gotten one for myself... yeah, 2 Vexilar household.
Still having mechanical issues with the ole Strike Lite - sending her back (blown head gasket!) this week. Still have the Lazer Mag, so we can still fish like crazy (put the Strike Lite blade on there and it still drills like there's no tomorrow).
Companies like Strikemaster and Vexilar exist because they treat their customers like best friends parents. (You don't mess with your best friend's parents!) Funny how both companies are small, very mom 'n' pop, and are both entirely SOLD OUT of inventory well before Christmas.
And the current administration says 'the free market system doesn't work'.
And how you can't get either of these products at Walmart, either.
Hubby says "I'd rather pay the extra $10-20 for a product that gets good customer service from the mfr rather than having to buy a new one in 6-12 months".
His first Strikemaster power auger is now in it's 15th year of use. Still runs great. He's on his 2nd Vexilar (had an FL-8 SLT since '97, which a forum member bought a few years ago after I got him an FL-18, which he had been hankering for since before I'd met him - the first discussion was something like this - "This is my FL-8, which is great. I'm wanting to upgrade it to an FL-18, which is awesome..." - that was before he even turned the darned thing on!) as he was good for Christmas a few years ago...
Well, that, and I'd already gotten one for myself... yeah, 2 Vexilar household.
Still having mechanical issues with the ole Strike Lite - sending her back (blown head gasket!) this week. Still have the Lazer Mag, so we can still fish like crazy (put the Strike Lite blade on there and it still drills like there's no tomorrow).
YES! I really like dealing with American companies that are market driven by their own desire to build a great product and then servce it "like they mean it". All of us need to tell Government to forget bailing "US" out and just get the hell out of the way! We Americans are capable of doing wonderful things. If you want to read a good email I got today PM me and I will forword it to you, about our generation and it's accomplishments.
Joined
·
6 Posts
I have an FL-20 with the same problem. I talked to a service guy from Vexilar today and he suggested trying another transducer to see if that is the problem. He said it definitely had nothing to do with the brushes. Also, it depends on when your Vex was manufactured. Mine was one of the first made according to the serial number. Vexilar said to send it in and they would tweak it and make it better for free, because the later technology was better. I am going to try the transducer off an FL-18 of my friends to see if that is the problem. Keep us posted. I hate to buy a new transducer until I'm sure that's the problem.
21 - 26 of 26 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
