NorCal Kayak Anglers

General => General Talk => Topic started by: Kayakfish7 on December 04, 2017, 06:10:31 AM

Title: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Kayakfish7 on December 04, 2017, 06:10:31 AM
I'm hoping some one can help me. My fish finder has been good to me but on my most recent trip I couldn't get the hook 4 unit to plug into the power cord. It seems like the prongs are bent I have had issues In The past an always had to play with it but this time it seemed like the prongs kept bending over. Has anyone had this issue ot know if warranty or any tricks to fix this
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: E Kayaker on December 04, 2017, 09:43:15 AM
I've had prongs bend on different plugs over the years. Usually I've been able to straighten them and get it working again. You should be able to see that they are straight and evenly spaced.
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Dale L on December 04, 2017, 10:07:47 AM
Not sure what a hook 4 plug looks like but I had a similar problem on an old unit and the problem was in the plug on the power cord, it was a bit screwed up and the unit prongs couldn't slide in like they were supposed to.

Fixed it by working on the power cord plug with a big needle to make sure the contacts buried in the plastic were open.

The prongs and plug openings have to be aligned almost perfectly.

Of course all these comments are aimed at the older units, not sure what yours looks like
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Kayakfish7 on December 04, 2017, 12:25:06 PM
Not sure what a hook 4 plug looks like but I had a similar problem on an old unit and the problem was in the plug on the power cord, it was a bit screwed up and the unit prongs couldn't slide in like they were supposed to. Yeah mine is the same way the little metal prongs got brnt over so your saying push them into the body it's stupid how the prongs fit to easy for a miss fit

Fixed it by working on the power cord plug with a big needle to make sure the contacts buried in the plastic were open.

The prongs and plug openings have to be aligned almost perfectly.

Of course all these comments are aimed at the older units, not sure what yours looks like
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Da Bruddah on December 04, 2017, 10:43:48 PM
How old is your Hook 4?
I had an older Elite 5 FF and ended having some of the prongs break off when I tried to straighten them out by hand and ended calling Lowrance Support. They told me that once the prongs are broken, there is no way to replace that part. They offered to upgrade to a Hook 5 at for less than half the price of a brand new unit. I sent my old FF to Lowrance and they confirmed that it was not working and within days sent me a brand new Hook 5 with new transducer and cables.
I was blown away by how helpful the Lowrance support staff was. I was told that Lowrance has a longer "Service Warranty " on their products that exceeds the regular 12 month warranty.
I would call Lowrance and check it out.
Aloha,
da Bruddah
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: scooter on December 05, 2017, 02:19:20 AM
I have had same issues on a lowrance unit. The plugs seem to have brass male pins on one side and female pinholes on the opposite side for them to fit into.The problem on mine was corrosion inside the pinholes of the female side of my plug most likely from salt water. I cleaned out the pinholes with a small Jewelry drill bit and an oxy/acetylene tip cleaner. Remember to always use a little dielectric grease on your plugs and terminals to keep them from corroding.

Another tip. If your ff is similar to my unit you have two cords with plugs. One is a power cord and one a transducer. They are backwards from each other so you can’t get them mixed up. On the back of my Ff one is male and one is female so you can’t plug the power cord into the transducer port. But in the dark not paying attention it is easy to try to put the wrong plug in the wrong side and bend the little pins sidewYs so I’m a little more careful now. I believe the new ones may even be Color coded because of me
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Tinker on December 05, 2017, 05:54:09 PM
And if Lowrance isn't able to help, this is the $20 red-capped power cable/plug, not the blue capped cables/plugs sold elsewhere.  Both work, this is just more esthetically pleasing: https://www.gps4us.com/Lowrance-Powercord-2-wire-hds-and-mark-and-elite-and-hook--P34347.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItK2pxuSL1gIVRR6GCh3hXQo3EAkYASABEgISWvD_BwE
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: WingShooter on December 05, 2017, 07:14:27 PM
I'm hoping some one can help me. My fish finder has been good to me but on my most recent trip I couldn't get the hook 4 unit to plug into the power cord. It seems like the prongs are bent I have had issues In The past an always had to play with it but this time it seemed like the prongs kept bending over. Has anyone had this issue ot know if warranty or any tricks to fix this

I've never seen the new plugs/prongs bend if properly maintained.  Now the old single 2 wire (power and trans) rubber plug, I've seen a few of them bend. The prongs can get weak if you don't keep them clean and salt free, I've seen so many where guys didn't use dielectric and they got wet.

Did you call Lowrance CS , what did they have to say?

Mike
Title: Re: Lowrance fish finder help
Post by: Kayakfish7 on December 05, 2017, 07:24:05 PM
I'm hoping some one can help me. My fish finder has been good to me but on my most recent trip I couldn't get the hook 4 unit to plug into the power cord. It seems like the prongs are bent I have had issues In The past an always had to play with it but this time it seemed like the prongs kept bending over. Has anyone had this issue ot know if warranty or any tricks to fix this

I've never seen the new plugs/prongs bend if properly maintained.  Now the old single 2 wire (power and trans) rubber plug, I've seen a few of them bend. The prongs can get weak if you don't keep them clean and salt free, I've seen so many where guys didn't use dielectric and they got wet.

Did you call Lowrance CS , what did they have to say?

Mike
mine is the old style I believe and no I figured I would try asking if any Ncka guys had this issue but my next step is to call