www.iFourWinns.com

Hello all! We just bought a 2006 260 Horizon and have a couple of questions. Is there a trick to keeping the acrylic accordian door to the bow open (spread out to block the wind)? On our boat, there is a slot on the port side of the bow opening that is for the door to lock into. However, when fully extended the accordian door does not fit correctly. None of the hinges appear to be bent and the door itself appears to be in good shape. If I place the door in the slot, since it is a tri-fold door, it will not "lock straight" out, which only causes the wind to blow it out of place as soon as I start moving. Anyone else experience this and have any little pointers?

Also, since the boat is a 2006, there are some stains in the snap in berber carpet. Four Winns sent me a new "pile" carpet that was "lay in" not snap in. I am working on getting a berber carpet sent (I don't like the pile carpet for a boat), but I have to install my own snaps that Four Winns said they could provide. Any one done this? Are they stitched in or an easy install? I would only need to had the female end of the snap, as I can re-use the male end of the snap on the cockpit/bow floor.

The light in the head and storage area in front of the driver's wheel are also burnt out. I am told I have to order an entire new light vs just replacing the bulb. Anyone have any advice how to take out and/or replace the lights? Or know a way to replace just the bulb? Nothing appears to unscrew or snap off to gain access to the light bulb.

Thank you!

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

The top of the door should have a stainless clip that folds over across the joint between the two halves of the door, preventing it from folding.

There are any number of tools you can buy to install snaps, from a few bucks up to very slick/nice/expensive production tools. Check out sailrite.com and defender.com for some choices. I bought a Vise Grip type snap tool, I think from Defender.

I haven't found a light in my boat yet that couldn't be changed. Many of us have swapped out the incandescent bulbs for LED's for a nicer look and much less maintenance. Some of the bulbs are a bit obscure (not found at Wal-Mart) but you should be able to change them.

Welcome to the forum. Please consider adding your boat details to your signature, it'll help people give you more accurate answers.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Hi Mike, thanks for the response!

There is a stainless clip that keeps the door closed (from expanding across the walk through), but I it does not seem to keep the doors from folding. I will have to play around with it.

I will also have to take another look at the lights. From first glance, there seemed to be no way to open them...I may be able to pop the lens off, but was worried it would break. When I contacted a Four Winns dealers I was told it was a sealed light unit and the whole thing (not just the bulb) needed to be replaced. I can afford the $20 for a new light, but that just seemed crazy when the problem could be solved with a $2 bulb

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

What 230Mike is talking about is on the folding sections of door not the lock that holds it folded. Do you have two stainless steel pieces on the top of the doors near the center panel? These pieces flip up before you fold the door out straight and then they fold down over the sections of door to lock them closed. If adding a picture wasn't such a project I would but I'm sure someone will.

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Bryan Mutter

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Yeah I'd post a pic if I had one, and the boat's an hour away. If you play with it you'll see though, unless for some reason the clips were left off of your door - which is unlikely but possible. They could be mistaken for cosmetic trim - they sit down flush with the tops of the door panels. Post a pic if you don't get it figured out.

I'm dismayed that I don't have a note on the bulb type used by the light in the head. I try to keep part numbers for every little thing I work on (and I recommend you start that practice as well, it'll pay off later). But I specifically remember replacing the bulb in the head with an LED. It's possible we've got different fixtures, but I doubt it. Are there any visible screws? I did have to un-mount some of my fixtures in order to get into them.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Our H260 had 4 panel doors and 2 clips to satay closed. I have a feeling you are missing those… As far as dome light goes I changed bulb to LED as Mike did so it should come a part unless 2006 model had different style dome light (This could be the case)

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08 H260 VP 8.1Gi DP.....Previous
2013 Crownline E6 Merc 8.2MAG BIIIX, DTS/SC

Hey guys,

My boat is about 35 minutes away...from memory, I think I may be missing those clips on the folding door. I will double check the next time I'm on the boat. If they are there, you are right, I may have mistaken them as a door hinge or something. I seem to remember it being all "white" across the top...no stainless pieces, but hopefully I am wrong...that would make things easier.

As far as the lights, no visible screws, nothing twists or "unscrews," etc. It appears to be a solid unit which is what I was told over the phone by a local Four Winns marina. The head light is mounted (the mount facing the stern of the boat) on the wall to the port side as you enter the head (face first). I will try to pop or force the lens off, but initially I did not want to break it. Could not see any easy way to access behind the mount to get at that.

I like the idea of LED bulbs. If I get these two lights figured out I will change them out to LED. Sounds like you also changed the cockpit lighting to LED too? Was that just a matter of changing bulbs or was a new fixture also needed?

Thanks for all of your input. My last boat was a 2000 Sea Ray 215 Express (cuddy cabin). Even though it was just 6 years older, it was not as "modern" so things were pretty basic. In fact, my dome light covers often fell off during rough days on the lake, so it was not an issue to access the bulbs

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

Flying Sushi,

Thanks for the picture. My door looks just like that, but I will have to double check on the clips on the top.

How do you like your E6? We test drove the E4 and E6 and LOVED them. That was my first choice, but could not pull the trigger to by a new one just yet, and could not find used one on the market (probably too new and well liked). I am very pleased with the H260 so far though. Seems to do well on our lake and plenty of room.

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

All the lights in my boat are LED now, except for the bow nav light and the docking lights, and I haven't replaced a single fixture. The bow light would require a whole new fixture and I haven't been able to find one that 1) I like, and 2) that will fit the molded contours of that area.

A lot of the folks here have gone with all blue LED's which look great. I went with all red because 1) they don't spoil your night vision, and 2) the back light in the depth gauge can't be replaced and I wanted everything to match. But I still would have gone with red if the depth gauge light were another color.

IMO the best source of LED replacements is superbrightleds.com.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Thanks for the info Mike!

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

We love our new E6…. Nice quality and It rides very smooth and stable… Much heavier than H260 but 8.2 MAG takes care of business very well… We still miss our old H260 here and there specially about small gear storage compartments around swim platform area… E6 has huge storage space but some how missing small storage compartments for water sports around swim platform… H260 is a perfect boat for Winnipesaukee and you will have a great summer.... I saw nice family who bought our old H260 in Winnisquam Lake and they are very happy with it...

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08 H260 VP 8.1Gi DP.....Previous
2013 Crownline E6 Merc 8.2MAG BIIIX, DTS/SC

Sorry for the delay...but thanks to the picture and info posted here, I solved the accordian door issue. It in fact had the two stainless steel pieces that I had never noticed. I had thought they were just a part of a hinge. The door works as it should. Geez...something so simple! Thanks!

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser

Good deal. Any progress on the lights?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

A little bit of progress on the lights: I was able to use a small screw driver to pop the lens off the light in the head...giving me access to the bulb. Turns out, the bulb was fine, as was the other one I mentioned so I checked the fuse. The fuse for those lights was missing. I replaced the fuse and all seems to be working. I do hope to change them out to LED bulbs, so will just have to work on finding those replacement bulbs. Just happy to be solving all the "little issues" at this point. Thanks for all input.

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Kevin
--2006 Four Winns 260H
Previous boat:
2000 Sea Ray 215Express Cruiser