I just wanted to see if anyone else has bought or used a hummingbird ice 45. I picked one up at thorne bros the other day and I have mixed feelings about it.

For those of you that have used one are you having problems picking up your jig on the screen? I am having to turn my gain to 20+ (scale of 1-25) to see my lure in 17 ft of water, and sometimes it doesnt even pick it up with the gain maxed out. I have went through the book 5 times and it is assembled correctly. Just want to see if others are having problems.

Maybe one could call Hummingbird and they could trouble shoot this for you.

yeah, i was wondering the same thing? is it worth buying.

I really like it, other than the problems with the gain.

have you had any vexilars or marcums before you got this? If so how do they compare? Hopefully it is just a minor problem with yours. I have heard nothing but good things about them, coming from the pros atleast. Just finding some person that might not be interested in selling the product.

I have one and was going to ask the exact same question. I have never used a flasher of any kind before, so I'm not sure if it's normal or not, but I was having to turn the gain to 25(maxed out) in order to pick up a size 12 ratso in 12 ft. of water, and at times it still wasn't picking it up. That seemed a little extreme to me as I've heard of other units picking up split shot in 40 ft. I like the unit overall, but this can't be right.

Like you said mozy, something's not right. I would contact hummingbird.

NOT liking what I'm hearing here. I just bought the ice45 this weekend.

doesnt sound too good. post what they say about it. they have customer support on their sight. I would like to find out before i purchase one this weekend!

I had an FL-8 before this, and I was gonna get the marcum lx3, but i decided on this one. I never had a problem picking up small lures in deep water with the vexilar. The Ice 45 has a dual cone (19 and 9 degrees). Even on the 9 degree setting I need to turn the gain way up sometimes.

I really wish it would work just like the vexilar cause all of the other features are awesome. Hopefully more people will reply so we know if its a problem comming from hummingbird.

Bummer to hear about your problems.

I have/had both Marcums & Vex's and on those normally only have to turn up gain a couple notches at most (if at all).

As others have said, definitely call Hummingbird (asap to beat the rush . Also, hang on to those reciepts

By the way. The gain runs on a scale of 1-25. 1 being the lowest strength and 25 being the highest. The default for the unit is set at 16 when you turn the machine on.

I thought at first maybe it was the battery, but I have it charged to 100%

I'll try to get in contact with Humminbird, but I may just return it. It's my first flasher and it's a lot of money, so I feel like I should get something more reliable.

So it's not normal to have the gain that high to pick up the lure? Like I said, I have never used one before and it seems that on videos I've watched on Vex's that they barely turn it past 3-4?

I have used and owned both vexilar and MarCum and the most I would turn the gain up to was 1 or 2. I would call Hummingbird as they may be able to address your concerns very easly. If that doesn't help. then return it.

I would say it is definitely not normal. Most other units I have used you pick up way too much clutter in the water making it too difficult to read if you turn gain up that much.

Worth hearing what they have to say before your return it. Maybe it is a simple fix.

I know when I originally bought my Vexilar FL20 they had a problem with the glue/epoxy on some of the dual cone transducers, causing them not to hang pointing straight down. They included a simple proceedure for fixing in their instructions, after doing it problem solved. If I remember correctly, this was causing issues with picking up signals.