1999 Sundancer 270SE pre-wired for windlass?

[Drwikboz]

I am looking at three of these and I know two do not have windlass so I am wondering if they might be pre wired to make installation easy?

 

[Lazy Daze]

The boat is old enough that it might be (hit or miss). Newer ones would definitely not be if it wasn't installed OEM. Look for heavy gauge wires in your anchor locker. Look for a wiring harness behind your dash.

It's not terribly hard to run the wires (especially on smaller boats), if you have to.

 

[Stray Cat]

I had the same boat you are considering without a windlass. I considered a windlass until I learned that it would need to be mounted to the anchor locker door, which would've needed a lot of renforcement. If you really want to get a good look into the anchor locker, the mirror forward in the V berth is hinged (flips up) so you can access it from the cabin. Grab the lower corner on each side of the mirror and pull straight out.

 

[MLauman]

I've seen that question asked a few times and for that model the answer has always been no.

 

[MonacoMike]

MLauman is correct no windlass, no wire. Dennis is correct it is easy to run the wire, the bad part is it costs in the $200 range for marine copper. The mirror is hinged but the opening is not cut if it did not have a factory windlass. Reinforcement of the hatch was not difficult and photos can be seen on my 270 windlass retrofit thread. Good luck, MM

Added the link: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/37167-90s-270DA-Windlass-Retrofit-II

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/32183-90s-270DA-Windlass-Retrofit

 

[Lazy Daze]

I agree that chances are good that it is NOT pre-wired. But we have found, over the years, that some are pre-wired. It's at least worth the time it takes to stick your head in a hole :smt101

 

[MonacoMike]

I agree that chances are good that it is NOT pre-wired. But we have found, over the years, that some are pre-wired. It's at least worth the time it takes to stick your head in a hole :smt101

Dennis has way more experience than me, so listen to him and check before buying wire.

I was gonna say something about the "stick your head in a hole", but then that whole "Mr. smarty pants" thingy comes up. :smt043

Think the few that have it were preped but the order changed etc?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Nothing bad can come from sticking your head in a hole.... right? :smt101

An order being changed is certainly a possibility. I also wonder if, going back a bunch of years, they weren't all pre-wired? And then as companies became more frugal with cost cutting, they stopped doing it. Maybe some plants continued to pre-wire while others stopped much quicker. Truth is, I don't know - never looked into any further. We always just figured it was a nice "bonus"! :smt001

 

[MLauman]

My guess is that they either installed the windlass wiring or the big anchor locker door - but not both on that model.

From MonacoMike's comment about the hole, it sounds like they were not entirely consistent about that. Mine had no factory windlass, but did have about a 4-5 inch diameter hole behind the mirror. I had to enlarge the hole to get more tools, etc in there - don't think I ever stuck my head in though.

 

[MonacoMike]

My guess is that they either installed the windlass wiring or the big anchor locker door - but not both on that model.

From MonacoMike's comment about the hole, it sounds like they were not entirely consistent about that. Mine had no factory windlass, but did have about a 4-5 inch diameter hole behind the mirror. I had to enlarge the hole to get more tools, etc in there - don't think I ever stuck my head in though.

So, you had a hole even though you had the anchor locker with hatch door. The rigger of 30 years of SR experience didn't think they did both due to water penetration of the cabin. That is why he recomended no acess through the deck and sealed the entire door with 5200 after securing.

 

[MLauman]

So, you had a hole even though you had the anchor locker with hatch door. The rigger of 30 years of SR experience didn't think they did both due to water penetration of the cabin. That is why he recomended no acess through the deck and sealed the entire door with 5200 after securing.

Yes - had the hole and the door. I've wondered about the moisture issue as well - not so much water directly getting thru but the wet rode sitting in the locker causing moisture/mold issues around the mirror door. I've sorta kept an eye out for that over the years and never seen any evidence of problems. I also have a compressor for my air horns mounted in the locker and I wondered if that was a bad idea, but 7-8 years later it still works like a champ so I'm thinking that compartment dries out quickly.

I sealed mine with silicone so that it could be opened if it had to be. In your case it would require a sawzall!