Cat 310, 2001 - Control Panel

[Albanach]

I seem to stumble from one drama to another with the purchase of this boat. Instead of sailing it my time is taken up trying to fix things.

Since my Maxwell windlass has suddenly given up its ghost, I have been trying to trace wires. In the pursuit of same I noticed that the Control Panel is locked by key. However, none of the keys handed to me by the previous owner fit the lock. When I rang him he said he never had occasion to worry about it. So the secret may remain with the preceding/original owner.

I tried the ignition key, which seems to fit but does not open the panel. Unfortunately, I am not good at all at picking locks and don’t have any “connections”.

Could anyone please enlighten me if there is a special key for it and/or how to get it, short of calling a locksmith or taking the whole cabinet off the side.

It would be handy to have future access in the event of a fuse blowing.

 

[paulj]

What's behind the door?


paulj :troll:

 

[rpwillia]

You can just take the whole panel off

If you remove the trim on the top (recall it is just a couple of screws, and then the screws on the bottom the whole panel comes off. The key itself is fairly standard (I had an extra made at Lowe's). You should be able to unscrew the front and replace the lock with any kind of cabinet lock like Paul shows in his pictures.

 

[Albanach]

Re: You can just take the whole panel off

Thanks for all your assistance, folks. Have solved this problem by trying all likely keys from my collection of 40 years of spare keys (always been too scared that I may throw out the wrong key). One works with a bit of persuasion and I can now replace the lock.

Should have tried it in the first place - but there is the old saying favoured by politicians: 'Why make it simple if it can be complicated'.