Official 280 Sundancer Thread

My 2004 has the Clarion with Sirius ready.
My question is if I install an antenna to the arch I assume it's relatively easy to run the wire down the port side of the arch. From there has anyone tried to run a wire from the arch to the stereo/electrical panel area? Any tips?
 
My 2004 has the Clarion with Sirius ready.
My question is if I install an antenna to the arch I assume it's relatively easy to run the wire down the port side of the arch. From there has anyone tried to run a wire from the arch to the stereo/electrical panel area? Any tips?

I haven't run any wires yet but I would think your best bet would be to pop out the port side cockpit speakers and fish the antenna wire along the speaker wires back to the stereo.
 
Does any one use a chartplotter on their 280? I've been thinking of getting one but I have no clue of where to mount one. The helm doesn't lend itself to any additional electronics so I'm looking for a bit of advice on what kind is recommended by other 280 owners for our helm.

1st. What make model do you recommend? I boat in the upper Mississippi & Illinois rivers above St. Louis. So, I'm not looking to go to fancy.

2nd. Do you have any picts. of your installation? If so, please post them up.

Here's a pic of my Garmin 198C. Discontinued in 2006, but a very nice GPS/chartplotter/sounder. Put a chip in a few months ago which gives very detailed info of my lake. Love this mount as it's easy to see and not in the way at all.
 
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Thanks for the picts. on the plotters guys! So far all of the above installations look good. I spent most of the day yesterday looking for a plotter and have pretty much decided on the Garmin 430. My next question is... Do any of you use the "in hull transducer"? Since my boat is in the water all year long I was thinking about installing this type so I don't have to pull the boat just to install the transducer.(Through hull) Do any of you have any experience with this type of transducer? Also, how did you guys run your wiring down through the helm station to keep the wiring so neat looking? Also, on the ram mount, which one did you use?
 
RiverRat,

The Ram mount is the basic unit that is sold by West. In keeping with the teak theme I used a piece of leftover to interface the Raymarine mount to the mounting plate on the ram. I'm not familiar with the unit you plan to use so you might go to the ram website, they have pre-set combinations for the newer GPS setups. That should provide a mount with a bolt pattern that matches your new GPS.

My wiring is inside of black plastic cable protector that is held closed with black wire ties. It is kind of complicated because in addition to the power and GPS antenna cable, there is also a NMEA out cable to supply Smartcraft with SOG, COG, time data. I am not satisified with way they go through the top of the dash and am looking for a better look than a 3/4" hole with wire protector sprouting out of it.

Henry
 
Duh! Why didn't I think of that? That's why I paid my $25.00 sponsor fee.

There was a drain hole in my arch on the port side that came out just above the batteries. From there, you have to get through the silicone and you are in the closet in the midberth. It is an easy run to the radio. The vinyl covered panels are a pain to get back into the closet after you remove them.
 
Do any of you use the "in hull transducer"? Since my boat is in the water all year long I was thinking about installing this type so I don't have to pull the boat just to install the transducer.(Through hull) Do any of you have any experience with this type of transducer?

My 2007 already has the water depth transducer as a standard option. There was no need to install the Garmin transducer.
 
The cabin is really hard to push open. My surveyor told me that the door needs to be reailined. Any idea how that's done? Thanks
 
The cabin is really hard to push open. My surveyor told me that the door needs to be reailined. Any idea how that's done? Thanks


If you're talking about the cabin door, mine was hard to open and close when we bought it also. My problem was that the track was full of junk (dirt, hair ect....). I took a garden hose and flushed it out, let it soak a while and flushed it again. You might give that a try, it worked for me.
 
J,

This is one of the 280's quirks. I find that if you stand in the well and pull the handle horizontally it will move smoother. I have also found that dangling wires from the dashboard have a surprising negative influence.

If that does not help. Here is the bad news. There is no adjustment on the tracks. They work, or they don't.

I have been told the official fix is to remove the dash /helm assembly. This means as far as I can tell, removing the starboard windshield, and helm seat as well. I met another CSr member last fall who was thinking the 280 tracks could be replaced with the dash intact .I haven't heard how he made out. It may be time for an update.

Henry
 
My 2007 already has the water depth transducer as a standard option. There was no need to install the Garmin transducer.


Mine also has the factory transducer... Does it work with your plotter or do you just use the factory sounder? I want the depth to be seen on the plotter and I was told the factory one wouldn't work with this plotter and would have to install a transducer compatable with it for it to read depth. Since I boat on a river with many underwater obsticles rock dykes etc... I wanted the plotter to give me a more graphic display of the bottom vs. just a depth reading.
 
My 2004 has the Clarion with Sirius ready.
My question is if I install an antenna to the arch I assume it's relatively easy to run the wire down the port side of the arch. From there has anyone tried to run a wire from the arch to the stereo/electrical panel area? Any tips?

I installed the SRA-25 antenna and use the same sirius unit that I use in my truck. One less bill per month. I don't have any pics but I mounted it on the arch between the light and the glomex antenna. The cable is advertised as 25 ft but is only 15ft. I had to drill a small hole on the inside of the arch from the port side speaker and then ran it into the electrical panel. It worked great. A small 90 deg drill would work better than my ryobi. Ill try to get some pics over the 4th.
 
Mine also has the factory transducer... Does it work with your plotter or do you just use the factory sounder? I want the depth to be seen on the plotter and I was told the factory one wouldn't work with this plotter and would have to install a transducer compatable with it for it to read depth. Since I boat on a river with many underwater obsticles rock dykes etc... I wanted the plotter to give me a more graphic display of the bottom vs. just a depth reading.

No, I have not connected the factory transducer to my chartplotter. I just use the factory sounder. I didn't like the idea of drilling another hole in the boat!
 
J,
I have been told the official fix is to remove the dash /helm assembly. This means as far as I can tell, removing the starboard windshield, and helm seat as well. I met another CSr member last fall who was thinking the 280 tracks could be replaced with the dash intact .I haven't heard how he made out. It may be time for an update.

Henry

One of my punch list items was to replace the dash/helm as it had gel coat cracks in the textured area of the dash and the local dealership was unable to repair. The starboard windshield was removed in order to remove the dash/helm "pod". It sure would be tough to replace the track while the cabin door was in place.
 
A few 280 questions from a new owner. How many people can you have on the boat comfortably? Jimmy Buffet is playing in the Newport Folk Fest which you can watch from the boat and I now have a lot of new friends. LOL. For those with dinghy,s, how do you store your motor while cruising?. What is the most efficient cruising RPM with 4.3,s? Hopefully I will soon be able to answer questions instead of always asking.

Thanks, KV
 
How many folks you are comfortable with depends on your preferences... the size of the folks, etc. I have had up to 8 folks on board. I prefer to keep it to 4-6 when running around. Depending on conditions the 4.3's seem to run most efficient between 3000-3500. What year 280 do you have? If you have a later model... use smartcraft to determine your best burn rate. I am very close to getting a zodiac and a 2HP honda. The Honda looks to fit nicely under the rear cockpit seat and at 26lbs should not be tough to handle. It seems that you are able to lay the motor on a certain side without fluids leaking. I am planning to stow the inflated boat on the nose under a spider web type net (similar to those for truck beds). As we move from place to place while on the water. At the end of the trip.... the Zodiac (air floor) will be deflated. This is the plan. I will let you know how it works out in practice.
 
I was never happy with the UFO looking tv antenna (that didn't do much anyway) so I removed it and installed a XM antenna in that hole. I ran the new wire inside the arch on the port side to arch access panel. The arch is open on the bottom, but where it is attached to the boat required me to drill a hole. I removed the front port side speaker which gave me access to the bottom of arch area. Working from both the arch access and the speaker access, I used a rotary drill and drilled a hole connecting the arch to the area behind the speaker. The fiberglass was fairly thick and it's hard to see what you are dong, but I made it through. Make sure to keep the drill bit at the correct angle, up and down and side to side. Once that hole is made, it's an easy shot to the power panel-radio-CD cabinet.
 
I was never happy with the UFO looking TV antenna (it didn't do much anyway) so I removed it and installed a XM antenna in that hole. I ran the new wire inside the arch on the port side to arch access panel. The arch is open on the bottom, but where it is attached to the boat required me to drill a hole. I removed the front port side speaker which gave me access to the bottom of arch area. Working from both the arch access and the speaker access, I used a rotary drill and drilled a hole connecting the arch to the area behind the speaker. The fiberglass was fairly thick and it's hard to see what you are dong, but I made it through. Make sure to keep the drill bit at the correct angle, up and down and side to side. Once that hole is made, it's an easy shot to the power panel-radio-CD cabinet.
 
I have a 6.5' dinghy with a 2.5hp outboard. It fits nicely right on the swim platform. I leave the motor on the dinghy and strap it down to the D rings on the back. It leaves enough room to get on and off the boat without moving it. Once we get to where we are going, release the straps and push it off the platform. 2 minutes to pull it back up and strap it and we're off. Works pretty good.
 

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