Lowrance Fishfinder reliabiity issues???

[bulletbob]

I just bought a new Lowrance Mark 5 X to replace the Garmin 250C that crapped out... After reading a lot one various websites about the reliability of the various brands of fishfinders, I fear I may have made a mistake.. I bought the Lowrance because the resolution was superior to the Bumminbird and garmin units in the same price range... However. I have been reading scores of horror stories about reliability and customer service [ or lack of] withy Lowrance.. Most people think Humminbird is a more reliable unit with far superior customer service...

The Lowrance Mark 5X was only $10 more, had double the pixels, and looked far better than the Humminbird 550, but I would take superior reliability over a more refined looking screen any day.. RMS power is the same, so both will show fish and bait..

I have NOT taken the Lowrance out of its blister pack as yet, and can take it back for the Humminbird... any thoughts on this?? bob

[ReelPower]

I've always had good luck with Lowrance products. Broken transducer but it was old. The Mark 5 pro is my next upgrade for a back up finder/transom viewing. I also thought its features were well ahead of the competition for the price.

[K Gonefishin]

I have 3 lowrances on my current boat and have had 4 others in years past no issues whatsoever. Some of the HDS units had bad seal problems but no issues on the unit you purchased and the HDS units (newer ones) the seals have been fixed on them. I say run it.

[jekyll]

No problems with the 4 I've had. They could use a better menu structure IMO. You will hear from some guys who have had bad luck from them but, the ones with good luck are not as vocal.

[hawkeye625]

I've have a Lowrance 520C since 2008 and this year it started acting up. Sometimes it'll show the bottom at 250' and then it'll lose bottom. It rarely shows fish anymore. Spoke to Lowrance support and they said it was the transducer going bad, no longer under warranty (1year). Had to buy a new transducer at $75.00 from cabelas (sales rep said that was a common issue with those units).

I'll let you know if that solved the problem (hasn't been in water since replaced). IMO a $500-$600 2 year old unit should be problem free or at least repaired by the company. My unit has always been used on Erie or Ontario and the transducer never contacted anything it shouldn't have.

I love the unit, but if a company doesn't stand behind their product my next purchase will be another brand.

[Lund SSS]

Had a problem with my Lcx 26 that I put on the boat in 2006. Sent it back to Lowrance and heard from customer support that a new unit would be back in 5-7 business days. With 8 days till my annual fishing trip no unit and I'm NOT happy, call tech support and end up being put through to a VERY helpful woman who not only gets to the bottom of my problem but does something I never expected. She upgrades my unit to a 2009 Lcx 28, better unit with a 30 gig hard drive and more pre loaded software. There's stuff on this thing that I will NEVER use. The new unit is awesome. Tracks the bottom at 45 mph because of the 8000 watts peak/peak power and the definition is well lets just say I can see my downrigger release at 100' .

Good luck,

Steve

[hawkeye625]

Put a new transducer on my 520c and took it to Erie yesterday. Works like a new unit. Tracked bottom up to 37MPH. I'll keep you updated.

Jeff