Official 280 Sundancer Thread

28 mph sound slow for 3300rpm. What props ?

Pretty sure mine came stock with 24's
I think he was getting that 28mph with the drives still trimmed down - or at least that's how I read into what he said? But I agree - trimmed properly, that would be low.
 
Hi Guys, I'm a new member as well. I've been reading the posts on this forum on and off for about a year, and they are great. Hopefully I can contribute. Bought my 280DA last May, we love it, and have been running it everywhere. I do have a question for stg099, I have the same blue hull, not sure what the actual color is, its got a purple hue. The yard buffed it for me as I didn't have the time. It cleaned up pretty good, but by end of season it doesn't look so good. Before I shrink wrapped it I tried my orbital buffer on a small area and it cleaned up some. Can I ask what you use to buff, by that I mean the type of machine and the waxes and/or compounds? I've always had white hulls, for a reason, but this boat was the cleanest and best maintained that I found out of roughly the 30 boats I looked at. And, I got the black bottom paint as well. Was thinking it should be green, as blue boats typically have a green bottom. Why black?


Happy to expand a bit on my process. The dark hulls are like a black car, once you get them where you want them they are gorgeous, but they’re a pain in the butt to get there, hence the multiple steps. First, I use both a makita rotary polisher and a porter cable orbital polisher. The first step is with the makita rotary and a twisted wool cutting pad. I use shurhold buff magic compound with the rotary as it removes oxidation very well and is a diminishing abrasive compound, so it breaks down as you work it so it doesn’t leave large swirls or compounding marks. If your Hull is oxidized it may take you a couple of rounds of compounding per section to getter result you’re looking for. A tip is to put small pieces of tape at the rubrail in 2 foot sections to keep reference to your “working sections”. Make sure you use a pad spur or a screwdriver to clean the pad frequently, it will load up with blue gel coat and compound so it’s good to have a few pads on hand. After the compounding I follow with 3m finesse it on a wool polishing pad, this will remove the compounding marks and will leave you with a deep shine. This is where the colored hull gets annoying. I then follow this with the orbital polisher with a light foam polishing pad with finesse it again, this is solely to remove the buffer holograms that the rotary polisher leaves. Finally, I use Collinite fleet wax to protect all the work I just did. I generally break this job up into 3 trips to the boat. A day a compounding kicks my arse, and will have you sore all over, but the result is worth the work in my opinion, the boat gets a lot of surprised comments from folks ask what year it is.
 
At that speed the drives won't tolerate trimming they would ventilate. Trimming only helped after 4k on mine.
 
I think he was getting that 28mph with the drives still trimmed down - or at least that's how I read into what he said? But I agree - trimmed properly, that would be low.

my 2004 280 with twin 4.3s and alpha drives does 27-28 at 3500 rpm, this is in fresh water, drives down, tabs up.
 
Ok, about getting on plane, I never used the tabs until just recently experimenting. I believe that I should only need tabs to keep it level, port/starboard, not leaning into the wind. With that said I could get on plane loaded up with supplies, 5 adults, and two kids, no tabs, drives trimmed all the way down. But, I had to go slow, she would work her way up onto plane, once there I could roll on the throttle no problem. But punch it out of the hole and it ventilated, even with nothing on board. Prior boat was a 2007 Regal 2250 that flew, no tabs, just punch it and go. I have tried to trim the drives up once planned but it ventilates. I'll note that I typically don't run over 3800, as my runs are typically two hours (I'm in New Haven and we like the end of Long Island, Mystic, Newport, Vineyard, etc.), so I have to be fuel conscious due to small tank. The trim indicator on port drive stopped working shortly after taking delievery. So I need to figure out what is wrong with that. As far as trim, is it me or are the trim buttons stupid to work, I cant tell which way is up/down until its too late. And what is a celery stick? And yes, 28 3300 rpm, drives trimmed all the way down.
 

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Yeah speedometer stopped working too, GPS has the speed on it. Not sure size of props, their Merc's. I'll add that I looked at the drives and they are fully down. I did post a picture of it on the trailer on this thread, but I removed it after looking at the drives.
 
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stg099, thanks for the tips. I just went and bought a DeWalt rotary polisher, and have a good orbital already. I had forgotten about the spur tool, last time I used a rotary was 40 years ago as a kid working in a boat yard. I have the boat here in the yard, so I can break up the work load. Waiting for weather break and then I'm at it. Regarding taping it off, dumb question, how much do you over lap as you move your taped off sections down the hull?
 
I thought that getting a trailer was a good idea. Second thoughts after I pulled it out.
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Here it is before sea trail.
 

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Seldom...

Tab use: They are a good tool to know how to use. Practice. They will only make everything better... getting on plane faster, staying on plane at lower speeds (with the drives trimmed up bit for better efficiency), keeping the bow planted better through a chop. Everything. Granted, the boat does really well without them, but practice and use 'em! They only help.

Have you verified, yet, if the bottom and running gear is perfectly CLEAN and the props are damage free? All of those can affect ventilation, hole shot and top end speed. In the picture with it behind your truck, there's obvious growth (slime, anyways). It doesn't take much.

Trim up some to loosen the hull up and gain efficiency. Use the tabs to fine tune the attitude - both listing and pitch (and controlling the bow in a chop).

Boat speedo... 99% of the time, the pitot tube is clogged with junk. Should be your stbd drive - just above the front of the "torpeedo" (gear housing). Plenty of info on the net and this forum about that, but use a small drill bit, by hand, to clean it out.

Trim gauge: Most of the time it's a failed trim sender - one of the "pucks" on the side of the drive. Google for Mercruiser trim sender - you'll get more info than you want!
 
stg099, thanks for the tips. I just went and bought a DeWalt rotary polisher, and have a good orbital already. I had forgotten about the spur tool, last time I used a rotary was 40 years ago as a kid working in a boat yard. I have the boat here in the yard, so I can break up the work load. Waiting for weather break and then I'm at it. Regarding taping it off, dumb question, how much do you over lap as you move your taped off sections down the hull?

As far as overlap I'd say I'm usually ending up at least 6 inches into the next section or so. The aft of the boat is the most rewarding, as you can move relatively quickly and the surface area grows significantly as you move toward the bow. Then you get the pleasure of buffing nearly upside down at the rubrail and again nearer the bottom paint. The best advice I can give on the process is to make sure you're happy with the way the whole boat looks before wax. Then wax it for protection.
 
Yes, it was pretty nasty when I pulled it out, a lot of barnacles, slim, and other things I care not to know. A healthy sanding and a good coat of paint is in order, along with cleaning the props properly so I know what I am starting with. Thanks for the info on the speedo, trim, and my need to just get out and experiment with tabs and trim. I am thinking that trying to trim up at lower speeds with no tabs is the problem.
 
Yes, it was pretty nasty when I pulled it out, a lot of barnacles, slim, and other things I care not to know. A healthy sanding and a good coat of paint is in order, along with cleaning the props properly so I know what I am starting with. Thanks for the info on the speedo, trim, and my need to just get out and experiment with tabs and trim. I am thinking that trying to trim up at lower speeds with no tabs is the problem.

The trim tabs are stainless steel. Based on your pictures you should get a coat of bottom paint on them. The paint will do two things; 1) keep them clean, 2) cut down on the galvanic corrosion. Corrosion is not the friend of the Bravo Three.
 
Yes, it was pretty nasty when I pulled it out, a lot of barnacles, slim, and other things I care not to know. A healthy sanding and a good coat of paint is in order, along with cleaning the props properly so I know what I am starting with. Thanks for the info on the speedo, trim, and my need to just get out and experiment with tabs and trim. I am thinking that trying to trim up at lower speeds with no tabs is the problem.
Not necessarily. I wouldn't put too much thought into this until you have a clean bottom. Now that we know it was dirty, that's a pretty safe bet it was your issue with slow planing and ventilating since all of those "hitch hikers" are creating both drag and turbulence.
 
Regarding painting the trim tabs, they were caked with barnacles on the bottom side. Was surprised that they had not been painted by the previous owner or it appears by anyone. The boat has Interlux Micron CSC bottom paint, can I use this on the tabs or must I use a different paint? I want to paint the SS props too, as I found barnacles on them mid-season, which surprised me with all the use it gets.
 
Regarding painting the trim tabs, they were caked with barnacles on the bottom side. Was surprised that they had not been painted by the previous owner or it appears by anyone. The boat has Interlux Micron CSC bottom paint, can I use this on the tabs or must I use a different paint? I want to paint the SS props too, as I found barnacles on them mid-season, which surprised me with all the use it gets.

Get the tabs clean as a start and then use a primer for stainless. I always used the regular bottom paint. You don’t need corrosion protection for the tabs, just insulation to block galvanic circuit between water, steel and aluminum.

Painting the props is a similar insulation concept, however the surface forces on the prop from the water passage will scour normal paint right off. There are products for props, but they are pricey. Our new boat had a product called Velox on the props and pods that held up really well preventing barnacles. Velox is not as expensive and does not require industrial level painting facilities. However, the parts on our new boat are made from NiBrAl so I’m not sure if the paint chemistry will work with stainless.
 
Ok, I have another question. To get up on plane if I don't put the trim tabs down it cavitates. How far should I put them down? Should I keep them down when running and trim the drives up? I find that if I have the tabs up and attempt to trim the drives up it cavitates. So I've been leaving the drives in the down position, never trim it up, just bring the tabs back up. What am I doing wrong? It runs around 28 SOG at around 3300 rpm. Fuel burn is not bad, wish the fuel tank held another 20 gallons or so.
I hardly ever trim up the outdrives. Mine seems to do better all the way down. I also never use tabs unless I have 4 or more people on board. Its usually just me and the wife so we just leave it be.
 
Light bulb question: 2001 280DA. There is a screw-in light bulb fixture in a flush mount light directly above the cooktop in the galley. The light has a 12v DC bulb and what appears to be a 120v AC bulb. My 120v AC bulb is missing.

Does anyone have a bulb type/number so I can buy another one? Preferably a LED bulb because I just converted all the interior light bulbs to LED (except that one).

Thanks.
 

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