1979 Uniflite 42' Double Cabin Sedan installed accessory identification

Hey all ... I'm trying to identify a set of foot controls at the lower helm of the Subject vessel, that is a prospective purchase for me (see attached pics, below). FYI - the vessel is powered by DD 6-71N's and has MG506 1.97:1 gears.

The owner thinks the set of controls may be for thruster control (I have not seen this vessel out of the water yet) but cannot recall (obviously he doesn't use them much, if ever ... due to in-op status? Or ?) ... one of the pics depicts the controls with the hinged chrome tabs (rectangular, about 1 1/4" x 3/4") rotated fully back and away from the 1/4" brass / bronze buttons / plungers ... which were depressable about 1/4" (initially quite stiff to depress in) but did not seem to actuate any device that I could hear or otherwise detect (the engines were not running at the time and I don't know if any required circuit were engergized). The other pic shows the apparently related equipment mounted to the engine room overhead directly below the lower helm ... the squared-off brown box with the two lateral cables going to it on the aft side with a red tag (illegible in the photo, I wish I'd taken a better look at / photo of it) hanging from an attached (hydraulic?) grey hose (more or less in line with the ceiling light) ... however, as the vessel is located 131 miles away, I will not be able to get onboard again until I travel back to see it.

If those are thruster controls (or even a jog steering control), that changes my outlook on this vessel more to the positive ... what do you think ... does anyone recognize those controls?

Thanks, K Mc

 

Could be windlass controls.
Not a bad idea for bow thruster controls!

 

Thanks kapnD ... windlass controls seems to make the most sense at this point ... I have also tried posting about this to the Google Group UnifliteWorld ... however, the admin / moderator of that group (Gord Harris) has not been authorizing new posts / particpants for some time now ... he's trying to get members / prospective members to migrate to the UnifliteWorld Facebook page (h__ps://www.facebook.com/groups/220488665433/) ... only problem with that is I don't do Facebook.
K Mc

 

I don’t do Facebook either, and from what I’m reading in the news, you and I may be some of the most anonymous people in the world!
I’ve seen horn buttons on the floor, could be anything, but the hanging brown box looks like it is a cable actuator, just follow that cable to the device it controls.

 

Thanks kapnD ... yeah, it seems the brown box must be the lower helm throttle / gear controls (4-stick arrangement) ... and unrelated to the foot controls I'm trying to identify ... most likely they are windlass controls ... nothing else seems to lend itself as readily to the fore and aft, rocking foot action that those controls imply ... K Mc

 

I have them too at the lower helm - 1974 Uniflite 42 - had to trace the rubber hoses - two up and two down to the engine room - amazing, this is foot switches for the extremely over-engineered windscreen washers!

 

Hey! ... thanks arcwi! ... that sounds like a positive ID!

So ... over-engineered in what sense? Are those electric pump, electrical-activation switches on the footboard? Or?

Thanks, K Mc

 

No, not electrical - mechanical valves - connected via a pair of 5/8" solid rubber hoses to a pump installed in the engine room on one end, routing to the top of the windscreen from the other end.

 

Wow ... over-engineered indeed ... sounds like a potentially leaky arrangement ... especially given the age of those systems these days ... I never did care for the look of the external painted copper tubing above the windshields ... the ones I've seen are usually slightly deformed out of shape (from inadvertent contact during cleaning?), and, the paint seems to chip off easily and expose the tubing to oxidation ...