Andy135 Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Today I installed foot switches for my Quick Prince DP2 windlass. Why do you need foot switches I hear you ask... Well, the rope and/or the rope to chain splice get jammed in the hawse hole fairly regularly, and clearing the jam involves going up front by shuffling along the gunnels past the wheelhouse. Once the jam is cleared I then shuffle back to the cockpit and into the wheelhouse to use the dashboard switch again. If another jam occurs, then its rinse and repeat until the anchor is recovered. As such I've found I avoid anchoring when fishing solo, which then limits my options for using the boat. So, with foot switches installed up front I can do the forward shuffle just once and sit on the fore deck using the winch and clear any jams as they occur, which saves time and is safer as I don't have to faff about on the gunnels any more than necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Good work,looks tidy but why didn’t you get a remote like Neil has for his boat? Saintly Fish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 1 minute ago, JonC said: Good work,looks tidy but why didn’t you get a remote like Neil has for his boat? Cost and usage. I looked into the remote control option but the cost was north of £300 if I remember correctly, for the handheld control unit and the remote receiver box, whereas the foot switches gave me change from £40 at Marine Superstore today. As for usage, I'd only ever use the remote control sat on the foredeck, so my thinking was... what could a remote do for me that foot switches couldn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Andy135 said: Cost and usage. I looked into the remote control option but the cost was north of £300 if I remember correctly, for the handheld control unit and the remote receiver box, whereas the foot switches gave me change from £40 at Marine Superstore today. As for usage, I'd only ever use the remote control sat on the foredeck, so my thinking was... what could a remote do for me that foot switches couldn't? A corded remote is about £80. Anyway was the installation simple enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 7 minutes ago, JonC said: A corded remote is about £80. Anyway was the installation simple enough? True, but I didn't fancy having a deck socket that would be a source of corrosion, nor having to faff about trying to plug the cord into it during a swelly chop. Installation was fine. Hardest part was marking out to ensure the switches were positioned where I wanted them. The rest of it was just drilling, screwing and making some new connections to the existing wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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