The official '99-'04 260DA Sundancer thread

Ok, I'll see if I can get a prototype made up and post it here. It'll be a few weeks.
 
Todd, I have what looks like the same surface mount on the same place on my boat. The prior owner said he thought it was for the magma grill, but didn't have a rod for it (so we just ordered one). I wonder if it's really a flag pole holder now. Although mine is perfectly verticle, and not slanted rearwards.
 
Todd, I have what looks like the same surface mount on the same place on my boat. The prior owner said he thought it was for the magma grill, but didn't have a rod for it (so we just ordered one). I wonder if it's really a flag pole holder now. Although mine is perfectly verticle, and not slanted rearwards.

This is the Magma Surface mount: http://www.magmaproducts.com/Produc...s005_Mounting/Gas005_120/A10-121/a10-121.html

Does it look like that?

Todd - "Grandpa's flagstaff" - nice touch... very cool. :thumbsup:
 
Todd, I have what looks like the same surface mount on the same place on my boat. The prior owner said he thought it was for the magma grill, but didn't have a rod for it (so we just ordered one). I wonder if it's really a flag pole holder now. Although mine is perfectly verticle, and not slanted rearwards.
Yeah I had this old mount on my last boat.
A10-126-Flush-Deck-TN-1.jpg

........Todd - "Grandpa's flagstaff" - nice touch... very cool. :thumbsup:

Thanks. I like it.
 
Todd, it's more like the one you show... it doesn't have many holes in the base as the one in Dennis's picture (the currently selling version).
 
I don't see why one couldn't use that mount for a flagstaff, as well. If you can't find a staff that would fit right in (that would be awful lucky), just sand down a wooden staff till it fits. If there are no transverse holes in the base at all, drill a small one so you could screw in a small screw to keep the staff from coming out. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, drill all the way through and use a bimini retaining pin.

Depending on the diameter of the new staff, you may want to pre-drill a hole up through the staff (starting at the bottom) and then screw in a 3" or 4" screw for added strength. That way the staff would be less likely to break. This step may or may not be needed.

Another idea: Move the grill to another location (maybe use a different mount, if needed) and put the flagstaff mount in it's place.
 
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Thanks for suggestings on the flag mount.. I was really hoping to put my grill in that mount (and ordered the very last ... according to Magma... mouting rod that they had in stock for this old mount). We were using one of those clamp to your bimini support mounts, but i really hate it when something isn't stable and sways/moves... especially when that something is on fire!

A new question for the tinkerers.
I decided on, and purchased, a stereo replacement. The Fusion IP-600s with wired remote. I think I can fit it in the Clarion location with some fine tuning. I've removed the old stereo and the power panel and after a few seconds of being stunned by all of the wiring in there, I note that the old remote heads up to the upper left area and goes 'somewhere'. So I'm wondering how to get the new remote wire from the dash to the power panel. The old one is all wrapped and tied so I can't pull through.

Anyone done something like this; run a wire between those 2 places?
 
I think that old wire goes down into the bilge, then across and back up the other side. Take a look under the dash and see if you can tell which way the wire goes as it leaves the actual remote. Or, could it be the wire goes from the electrical panel and then behind the cabin panels and then behind the head?

I don't have the parts manual (has wiring diagrams in it) with me, right now. Maybe it'll give the wiring route for that.

Regardless, I guess the important thing is how to get the new one over to the helm. I haven't done it myself, so hopefully someone that actually has will chime in. But, if I were to do it, I'd probably try and go down through the bilge area.

Underneath the sink, there is a false wall against the hull side. There's actually about 6" or 8" between the wall and the false wall. The box under the sink and the walls all are simply screwed in. You just have to look and feel as the screw heads get hidden in the carpeting. Once you remove the aft wall, you'll easily be able to access all of those wires that come up from the bilge - from the forward-most, starboard side of the bilge.

Next would be to remove the cubby by the driver's right knee.

Just an FYI, when I re-installed the walls (under the sink), I left the sink box off and pushed that stbd side wall (the false one) all the way back as far as I could. Just gave me a little more clearance to keep our cooler under there, along with some odds and ends.

I hope this helps at least a little bit and doesn't confuse the matter even more!
 
Dennis,
you were confusing me until I figured out that you're talking about getting a wire from the back power panel to the dash. I was referring to the breaker panel in the closet next to the galley in the cabin. And getting a wire from there to the helm. The wires exit at the top and head towards the mid berth ceiling but can't see what happens to them. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

I have already gotten wires (Sonar) from the rear of the boat and it's just like you said (in fact you were the one who told me to remove the cubby and that helped the most).
 
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I haven't looked too close at the route for that (almost everything else) but I believe the route would be from the panel at the radio aft behind the removable panel that is behind the lounger up to the removable panel forward of the door and into the helm.
 
Dennis,
you were confusing me until I figured out that you're talking about getting a wire from the back power panel to the dash. I was referring to the breaker panel in the closet next to the galley in the cabin. And getting a wire from there to the helm. The wires exit at the top and head towards the mid berth ceiling but can't see what happens to them. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

I have already gotten wires (Sonar) from the rear of the boat and it's just like you said (in fact you were the one who told me to remove the cubby and that helped the most).

Nope - you were clear. I understood that's what you meant. I just wasn't communicating clear enough. If they're going towards the mid-berth ceiling (and don't make a turn and go down) then they must run behind the soft panels and underneath the step-down.... I think....

That's an awful lot of dismantling to run the new wire the same way. I think I'd still vote for going down into the bilge for running the new wire. Even if it means drilling a new hole in the bottom of the electrical panel closet.

Try looking at where the other wires go and see if it wouldn't be easier to follow them. Again, I haven't had my panel out, so I'm just hypothesizing here. That sounds better than "guessing", doesn't it? :smt001
 
Nope - you were clear. I understood that's what you meant. I just wasn't communicating clear enough. If they're going towards the mid-berth ceiling (and don't make a turn and go down) then they must run behind the soft panels and underneath the step-down.... I think....

That's an awful lot of dismantling to run the new wire the same way. I think I'd still vote for going down into the bilge for running the new wire. Even if it means drilling a new hole in the bottom of the electrical panel closet.

Try looking at where the other wires go and see if it wouldn't be easier to follow them. Again, I haven't had my panel out, so I'm just hypothesizing here. That sounds better than "guessing", doesn't it? :smt001

I think to run it the same way will teach you a lot about your boat. It's really not that big of a deal to pull all the panels and re-running it. I learned a ton about wire paths with the transducer, GPS and heater installations. During that though I had almost the entire mid-berth disassembled.
 
I think to run it the same way will teach you a lot about your boat. It's really not that big of a deal to pull all the panels and re-running it. I learned a ton about wire paths with the transducer, GPS and heater installations. During that though I had almost the entire mid-berth disassembled.

So it's not as big of a deal as I am envisioning? Time-wise, Todd, what do you think would take less time - into the bilge or behind the panels? You've had more of your boat apart than I have, so I trust your judgement. But, I do know that some things are near impossible to do the OEM way - since some things are done before the deck and hull are put together.

On edit: Or, I should say that some things would just take a lot longer to do the OEM way than just finding a new way.
 
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It's hard to say which will take longer, but when I decide to do it I will find the route and replicate it. I don't think either way is a big deal, but I'll use the factory path if replacement is necessary. Also, I'm not even sure you need to replace the cable as it may have the same connections.
 
Todd, Dennis, thank you for all the information. When you say 'removable panels' what panels do you refer to? I am not clear on which panels are easily removable without damaging them. I can tell you that the closet that the wiring is in, has no clear path to taking that apart easily. I can see down to the bilge at the step, but not clear where else I might find a path that gets down there. I will stare at it a lot tonight. I'm not affraid to take things apart, as long as it's non-destructive (screws and bolts) and does not require gluing or epoxying back together.
I'll let you know how this stereo works because there are few (zero on this updated model) on-line. There were a couple of reviews I found for it's predecessor (hull truth and cnet) that were helpful. This model seems to have fixed the shortcomings of the initial release. I guess I'll see how good the Engineers in New Zealand are.
 
Well Terri
The panels I have taken off are all of the ones in the mid-berth, but it also appears as if the panel on the inside of the lounger back(inside the cabin) would come off too. That is where I belive there are some wires routed. It would run up there and then accross the forward side of the sliding door trim. Again I'm only guessing at this point.
Dennis may be correct that they've dropped down in the engine bay and over to the loom running to the helm.
 
Well, I installed the head unit, works and sounds great! This is a really cool system. In any case.
Still trying to figure out how to get my remote wire across. I removed the panel on the rear of the lounger and the only wires there seem to be for the lights above the galley. I reached inside and the wires seem to go aft, and not down, at least as far as I could reach in (which isn't that far). So I'm thinking that the wires must go to at least the back of the berth. So maybe I do have to route them around.

I am wondering about the bilge route as well, but then not quite sure how to get it in there, and then once it's there, how to get it across..
Dennis...what were you thinking? Under the cabin, the only parts of the bilge I can see are the part where my bow thruster is (under table mount) and then the part where the sump is under the step. How do I get to other areas?

Thanks for all the suggestions, past and future. :)
 
Listening to what you're saying, Terri, about where the wires are headed out of the main panel, and taking a quick look at my boat... I would venture a pretty solid guess that the wires go behind the mid-berth mirror, into the bilge, along the mid-berth/bilge separating wall and then back to the helm on the starboard side.

Looking at wiring layouts in my owner's manual, it appears some wires do indeed go from port to stbd via between the headliner and the deck by the cabin door. But, I don't think the radio is one of them.

Take a look in your bilge. Let's assume you're looking forward from the engine's perspective. You'll be able to see the wall that separates the bilge from the mid-berth. At the top port and stbd corners, you'll see access holes - lot's of wires and lot's of goopy silicone. You get to the port side by removing the mid-berth mirror. You get to the stbd side by removing that cubby by the driver's right knee.

What I mentioned earlier about underneath the cockpit sink won't help. That's for access to the deck plates on the stbd side and, in my case, the main DC panel and battery switch in that aft, stbd side storage compartment. In my boat, no wires went forward in the boat when looking behind the rear wall of the sink storage (actually the stbd side wall).

More confused??? :smt001
 
Oh, by the way, I just got around to shortening that tensioner for the cockpit "laydown" seat. I cut the shaft to exactly 3" in length. Then used a 5/16"x18 die to re-cut the threads. If you cut it any shorter, the black knob will contact the seat. At least in my case.

Another way (thinking as I'm writing) might be to cut the black knob off completely and then cut threads on that end, as well. Cut the shaft short enough that it doesn't protrude at all past the seat. Then just double-nut the end to give you something to grab onto. Or, maybe sandwich something a big larger in diameter between the double-nuts so it's a bit easier on your fingers. A piece of 3/8" ply or starboard cut into a 1" or 1-1/2" disc might just do the trick.

Hmmmmm.... I think that's what I'm going to do. I'll cut the disc with a hole saw. That'll be the new "knob". Just have to make sure there's nothing under there that this new knob will interfere with.
 

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