Lowrance Hook 7 models, compatibility?

[Tazling]

Well I am not winning so far with the new boat. The flybridge depth sounder was not reading (chartplotter worked, temp OK but depth just blinks random numbers). It's a Lowrance Hook7 from about 2014, 2016, somewhere in there.

Googling around I found the suggestion that low voltage could cause the ducer not to send data so the unit thinks it's missing. So I took a look at the power cable and sure enough there was copper verdigris showing. I scrubbed it off and then resorted to an old trick -- use a very fine drill bit very gently to loosen any flaky verdigris inside the sockets (needless to say, all boat power off at the batteries while doing this!)

DVM confirmed 13v across the sockets on the connector. A spray of Corrosion Block, turn the power on, plug the Hook 7 in and... black screen. WTF?

So now I'm scratching my head and cursing. The unit was working fine except for the depth reading, just a few days ago. Now it's black screen even though power is present. I've never owned one of these Lowrances before (always had Furuno depth sounders) so not sure what to think.

If I have to replace the head, does Lowrance use a standard connector pair for all its models? i.e. could I swap in a more recent Hook 7 head and just plug in my existing cables? Or am I doomed to replace the whole thing from the ducer on up?

 

[Tazling]

I will answer own question in case someone else has the same issue in future. The answer is yes, there is an adapter cable from 7 to 9 pins so you can use later model Lowrances with older transducers. It is not cheap. The new Lowrance head units are also not cheap -- they are more expensive than the old Hook 7. So there is kind of a forced upsell there. But it looks like I can make a new head work here.