40 sedan bridge forum

techmitch said:
Hey Bill, do you mean vacuum gauge? They can be found just about anywhere. Or are you actually pressurizing the system to check for leaks? Shopping and learning, thanks.
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It's a vacuum gauge with a stopper on the end of it the size of the toilet bowl opening. You flip open the toilet ball valve, stick the stopper in the bottom of the toilet, then turn on the pump to pressurize the system. If pressure holds, then the leak is in the ball valve/bowl seal assembly. If the gauge starts dropping then the leak is at the vacuum generator.
 
Steve S said:
Does anyone know how the antennae cable for the master berth is routed? I am thinking about replacing it with an HDMI cable to connect to my entertainment system in the salon.
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Yes, it starts at a splitter inside the compartment behind the drop down sofa and runs forward along the port side, along the guest head inner wall
 
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ZZ13 said:
Yes, it starts at a splitter inside the compartment behind the drop down sofa and runs forward along the port side, along the guest head inner wall
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Bill,

Is it easy to swap out?
 
ZZ13 said:
We completely overhauled a fellow 400DB owners vacuflush that wouldnt hold pressure, last year. First, the pump burned out as it ran constantly when he wasn't on the boat for a long stretch. After replacing the pump, we changed the bowl seal. Didn't fix it. Then we changed the duckbills. Didn't fix it. Then we changed the bellows. Didn't fix it. Then we replaced the hose insert collar on top of the tank. Didn't fix it. Then we ran new hose from toilet to vacuum generator. Didn't fix it. Then we bought a pressure guage from Sealand and isolated that the leak was before the toilet hose (gee, I guess we should have done that first). Then we replace the flush valve assembly. That fixed it.

Moral of the story. It's almost never the pressure switch. And buy one of those pressure guage testers. They are great to have around. We figure we spent 50% more in replace parts that the cost of a complete new unit. Ha!
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Interesting. I do NOT want to replace any hoses! The flush valve is an interesting thought. I did replace the toilet bowl gaskets already and don't appear to have any loss of water there. I cleaned the toilet ball valve, too. No signs of pitting or corrosion. But I have heard of people replacing the water value on the pedal (I assume that's what you're calling the flush valve?). That's a whole lot easier to access than anything below! Might be worth checking out before I tear apart anything else.

Too bad the Sealand pump costs $100 while a vacuum tester for fuel pumps at Harbor Freight runs $15. Wish that could be retrofit to work! Instead, I might try the old fashioned method of just covering the hold from the toilet to the "down below" with a rubber stopper and then engaging the system to see if it holds. If it does, then same answer: probably the flush/water valve. If it doesn't, it's downstream in the vacuum/pressure generator.
 
The flush valve has a couple of tiny O rings on it that will leak by.

shopping


The old style was a plastic part, and the new one is brass. Air will leak past the seals once they have a few years on them.

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-3853...=B003WOIT04&psc=1&refRID=JAXS41YY7PF6RKAE1HM4
 
CaptRonn said:
The flush valve has a couple of tiny O rings on it that will leak by.

shopping


The old style was a plastic part, and the new one is brass. Air will leak past the seals once they have a few years on them.

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-3853...=B003WOIT04&psc=1&refRID=JAXS41YY7PF6RKAE1HM4
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Playing devils advocate: why couldn’t I just disassemble what I have and replace the O-rings? I have a whole box of multiple size o-rings that I picked up from Harbor freight a while back. It seems like a great time to use that.
 
scooper321 said:
Playing devils advocate: why couldn’t I just disassemble what I have and replace the O-rings? I have a whole box of multiple size o-rings that I picked up from Harbor freight a while back. It seems like a great time to use that.
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You can certainly try, however if you have the plastic shaft (which you probably do) more than likely you will break it disassembling the unit. The brass shaft is much more desirable, IMO.
 
CaptRonn said:
You can certainly try, however if you have the plastic shaft (which you probably do) more than likely you will break it disassembling the unit. The brass shaft is much more desirable, IMO.
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Lol. Love the vote of confidence! Or the voice of experience? Either way, thanks!
 
scooper321 said:
Lol. Love the vote of confidence! Or the voice of experience? Either way, thanks!
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Voice of experience. I changed mine out last year, and the plastic shaft was brittle and immediately broke. I suspect this is why the change was made to brass. I had the same idea as you, but I'm glad I had the kit on hand to fix it.

Plus with the kit you get a new ball. The old balls get grooved over time and this also contributes to leakage.

Best of luck with it.
 
So is there a trick to running the blender? Got it locked in but it doesn’t turn on. Outlet somewhere?
 
Probably a long shot as there don’t seem to be too many around us, but after much debate the wife and I are narrowing our sights at a 400DB vs the DA. We have a 290DA now, and a 1 year old, and the salon/glass doors/extra space of a bridge just makes so much sense. We love the Sundancer, but working from the cave for me and entertaining the baby down there just isn’t fun.

So, anyone in upstate/western NY with a 400 DB willing to give me and the wife a 10 minute tour sometime? I’d do the traveling to see them before we buy but I’d like to get her on one first before we get too serious.
 
The one thing I do not like about the DB' and one reason I favored the DA was exactly what you say you prefer.

Let me ask you to mentally move ahead 2-3 years to the point where your child/children are past the rug monkey stage and are crawling, walking and running.........it is just way to hard to keep up with little ones on a bridge boat because of the number of places they can "hide" or just bout of sight of those who are responsible for their safety.

Then, about the time our grandkids were old enough to be trustworthy on a bigger boat, we find ourselves at the age where we do not want to climb up ladders several times a day to go boating. I get enough of that on the boats I run for other people so walking on one level and fire up the engines on my DA just makes me smile all over again.
 
Strecker25 said:
Probably a long shot as there don’t seem to be too many around us, but after much debate the wife and I are narrowing our sights at a 400DB vs the DA. We have a 290DA now, and a 1 year old, and the salon/glass doors/extra space of a bridge just makes so much sense. We love the Sundancer, but working from the cave for me and entertaining the baby down there just isn’t fun.

So, anyone in upstate/western NY with a 400 DB willing to give me and the wife a 10 minute tour sometime? I’d do the traveling to see them before we buy but I’d like to get her on one first before we get too serious.
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Go to a local dealer and look at ones that are for sale. The bridge is awesome for kids on a 400 over the DA in that you can also close the hatch. You don’t have a ladder as the previous poster had replied, so navigating up with things in your hands is easily accomplished. Also put a cheap little slider lock on the sliding door and your kiddos have a much larger room to romp in.
 
Thanks all. Good perspective.

Frank, there’s a boat just like yours for sale around here. 97 450 with 3126’s, tnt platform, Lake Ontario boat it’s whole life. We’re also going to take a look at that one. He’s asking 89
 
Does anyone know the weight capacity of the swim platform on the 98? Just picked up a Walker Bay center console with 20hp that comes in just under 400 lbs.
 
PSA - Spare parts to add to the bag. Quick Connect Tee (22MM x 15MM x 22MM)

I was out this weekend and sprung a fresh water leak (quick fitting broke) off the main feed to the galley (under the bunk in the mid stateroom...buy spares now!
 
Strecker25 said:
Probably a long shot as there don’t seem to be too many around us, but after much debate the wife and I are narrowing our sights at a 400DB vs the DA. We have a 290DA now, and a 1 year old, and the salon/glass doors/extra space of a bridge just makes so much sense. We love the Sundancer, but working from the cave for me and entertaining the baby down there just isn’t fun.

So, anyone in upstate/western NY with a 400 DB willing to give me and the wife a 10 minute tour sometime? I’d do the traveling to see them before we buy but I’d like to get her on one first before we get too serious.
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Sure, we're in Buffalo.
 
Found a 98 near me that is listed for only 62k (gas engines, 500 hours), however, I can tell from the pictures that a ton of work is needed to get it looking good again. Can someone give me a rough estimate of the cost to replace all canvas/enclosures and all carpet? Also, what do you think it would cost to replace all upholstery in the salon and on the bridge?

I realize these things can vary greatly depending on the level of quality, but I'm really just looking for a very rough idea, so I can decide if it is even worth spending half a day to go look at the boat.

Thanks in advance!
 
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