300 Sundancer questions.

[BrianR]

I agree. Thanks for sharing your work Bill including posting the pictures.

I was trolling on here a little over a month ago asking questions about the 300. Well, I went ahead with the purchase and love the boat. (2006 with 5 liter Bravos)

Twenty hours added already :smt001

Some of you gave me advice on what to look for including the door tracks mentioned above and although a little tempermental, I've noticed as long as I place a hand on the handle on top and the latch it slides open with no problems.

I have a few other observations and questions if you all don't mind!

I did have water in the bilge outside the head and the dealer fixed this. He never did say what the problem was, I'm thinking bilge pump issue? It has been bone dry since.

Question 1: How much deeper is your draft when getting up on a plane? It seems like a steep angle initially, but quickly gets out of the hole. Also, do you go WOT until it's out of the hole?

2: What is the switch forward of the remote controls on the Starbord side. It is just above "acc 2" and has a square with two arrows pointing inward and what looks like a wave in the middle?

3: If you have dead batteries, how do you jump start without access to the batteries? I saw something on here about using an aftermarket add on to the fuse panel under the steering wheel to lift the engine compartment cover. Does anyone know where I can get that add on?

Other than that (for now) I really like the 300. I went from a single screw to a twin and it just feels so much more stable. I'm sure the wider beam helps too.

One other observation I noticed is the boat appears to be aft heavey. Have you all experienced the same?

I was out this weekend and ran at 3500 rpm, and got about 29 mph. Is that about normal range?

Anyway, thanks for all the info you guys have placed on here. I've read half way through the 300 thread, so I apologise if I'm asking questions that have already been answered.

Brian

 

[JimFromMD]

I was trolling on here a little over a month ago asking questions about the 300. Well, I went ahead with the purchase and love the boat. (2006 with 5 liter Bravos)

Welcome Brian! Did you get Bravo 2 drives or Bravo 3 drives?

Question 1: How much deeper is your draft when getting up on a plane? It seems like a steep angle initially, but quickly gets out of the hole. Also, do you go WOT until it's out of the hole?

I run close to WOT to get out of the hole and then back off as she starts to plane off / level out. Cruse 3500-3600 RPM.

2: What is the switch forward of the remote controls on the Starbord side. It is just above "acc 2" and has a square with two arrows pointing inward and what looks like a wave in the middle?

Cant help you on that one, since the boats wrapped and memory is foggy!

3: If you have dead batteries, how do you jump start without access to the batteries? I saw something on here about using an aftermarket add on to the fuse panel under the steering wheel to lift the engine compartment cover. Does anyone know where I can get that add on?

From your question I'm picking up two possible themes. 1. To lift the hatch with batteries disconnected you can use a jump pack and an accessory cable with 12v accessory (cigarette lighter) ends on both ends of the cable. Plug one into the jump pack, and the other into the 12v accessory outlet on the under side of the helm below the wheel.

2. If you mean that your batteries are connected and run down, and you want to tie them all together, there is a "emergency start" feature using the right-most rocker switch at the helm where the ignition rocker switches are. That switch ties (if not modified by a previous owner) all of your batteries together to give a boost to start the motors.

One other observation I noticed is the boat appears to be aft heavey. Have you all experienced the same?

My boat sits suprisingly level both bow/stern and port starboard.

I was out this weekend and ran at 3500 rpm, and got about 29 mph. Is that about normal range?

That sounds about right under my configuration.

 

[ZZ13]

James got you good answers. The switch you mentioned has what I believe is a general purpose "electronics" symbol on it. These pads were used for many different boat models so some switches aren't used on all boats (for example, on some other models that switch is hooked up to the fresh water pump). That switch is one that is not utilized in the factory installation on our 300DA. My slip neighbor has a '05 320 and he has the exact same pad and that switch isn't used on his boat either.

Regarding riding level versus aft down - I often use the trim tabs to bring the bow down when I am at cruising speed. Especially when I have a crowd sitting aft and full tanks of fuel and water. I never trim the drives - does nothing on my boat but start prop cavitation almost right away.

And welcome and congratulations, Brian.

 

[BrianR]

Welcome Brian! Did you get Bravo 2 drives or Bravo 3 drives?

Thanks Jim,
Bravo 3's

 

[BrianR]

Thanks for the quick response Jim.
Yes, the 12V accesory is what I was referring to.
Do you know where to get these? And what is the process to get the compartment to open with dead batteries?

 

[BrianR]

Thanks Bill.
My delaer was not familiar with that switch also.
On the aft heavy piece, it seems that way while on the hook.
It might be an optical illusion because of the lines of the boat and I'm just getting used to it. Not sure.

 

[ZZ13]

Thanks for the quick response Jim.
Yes, the 12V accesory is what I was referring to.
Do you know where to get these? And what is the process to get the compartment to open with dead batteries?

I posted a picture of it somewhere back in this thread. But its just a standard 12V plug with two wires coming out of it that. You could make one real easy. After you make it just take any 12V auto battery, connect the two wires to the posts and then plug the plug end into the 12V socket at the helm. That loads up your boat's 12V circuit with juice. Then just open the engine hatch with the switch on the helm as you normally would.

Found the picture: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/458-300-Sundancer-questions?p=559167#post559167

 

[jkim1990]

Thanks Jim,
Bravo 3's

Welcome Brian! This thread will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars and most importantly hours of beating your head on a wall! Congrats and send us some pictures!

 

[BrianR]

Aha. I remember seeing it now.
Thanks a bunch. That is currently my biggest concern, aside from the price of gas :grin:

 

[BrianR]

Tried posting a couple of pics. Somehow one picture is exceeding the limit!
i need to research how to do that and will post a few.
thanks for the welcome.

 

[jkim1990]

Hhh

I agree. Thanks for sharing your work Bill including posting the pictures.

I was trolling on here a little over a month ago asking questions about the 300. Well, I went ahead with the purchase and love the boat. (2006 with 5 liter Bravos)

Twenty hours added already :smt001

Some of you gave me advice on what to look for including the door tracks mentioned above and although a little tempermental, I've noticed as long as I place a hand on the handle on top and the latch it slides open with no problems.

I have a few other observations and questions if you all don't mind!

I did have water in the bilge outside the head and the dealer fixed this. He never did say what the problem was, I'm thinking bilge pump issue? It has been bone dry since.

I have water in my bildge all the time. Does not seem like enough to kick on bildge regularly but is never dry

Question 1: How much deeper is your draft when getting up on a plane? It seems like a steep angle initially, but quickly gets out of the hole. Also, do you go WOT until it's out of the hole?

I never run WOT, just doesn't feel right to beat on it. Unless fully loaded (heaviest was 11 people and full gas, even then I didn't WOT), I just ease on throttle until on plane and then back off slightly. When fully loaded, drop tabs down u til on plane, will help a lot

2: What is the switch forward of the remote controls on the Starbord side. It is just above "acc 2" and has a square with two arrows pointing inward and what looks like a wave in the middle?

None of the ACC seem to do anything on my boat.

3: If you have dead batteries, how do you jump start without access to the batteries? I saw something on here about using an aftermarket add on to the fuse panel under the steering wheel to lift the engine compartment cover. Does anyone know where I can get that add on?

I followed Bill's advice and built 12v adapter with alligator clips. When I pulled batteries for winter, I plugged it in under helm and clamped on battery, helm panel had power and dropped hatch.

Other than that (for now) I really like the 300. I went from a single screw to a twin and it just feels so much more stable. I'm sure the wider beam helps too.

One other observation I noticed is the boat appears to be aft heavey. Have you all experienced the same?

Many people do think aft heavy, especially with gennie. Mine came with all chain rode which adds couple hundred pounds and keeps bow down.

I was out this weekend and ran at 3500 rpm, and got about 29 mph. Is that about normal range?

That is just about what I run, 3500-3700, never more and she does not seem to like to run less, starts to sink in unless tabs deployed.

Anyway, thanks for all the info you guys have placed on here. I've read half way through the 300 thread, so I apologise if I'm asking questions that have already been answered.

Brian

Good luck and enjoy! Got to be honest, little jealous and wish I was in Florida on the boat. Mine is in the backyard,wrapped and on blocks.... :smt021

 

[ZZ13]

Thanks for the quick response Jim.
Yes, the 12V accesory is what I was referring to.
Do you know where to get these? And what is the process to get the compartment to open with dead batteries?

Brian, I forgot that you can lift the hatch manually as well. Remove the round screw plug on the forward center of the hatch. Reach in and pull the pin out that attaches the lifting rod to the bracket on the underside of the hatch. Then you can act like Lou Ferrigno and lift the hatch by hand. Obviously bring something to brace it open (2x4, maybe). I have never done this but I've been told this is what that access hole is for.

 

[ZZ13]

Happy New Year everyone. I thought I'd pass on something I learned. I have a area of my cabin headliner where about a 1 foot diameter of the vinyl (that part you see and touch above your head) has de-laminated from the foam it is glued to (its not visually noticeable, but I can feel it and don't want it to get bigger). I contacted Sea Ray to understand the construction/installation of the headliner to figure out how to repair this. They were great as usual and let me know that the headliner consists of 1/2" foam-backed vinyl glued directly to the underside of the top deck. So all those sections we have in our ceiling aren't removable panels. The best option to re-glue any de-lamination (either the vinyl from the foam or the foam from the deck) is probably to just cut a large enough slit to get a tube attached to a spray nozzle in there and then carefully align it so that the slit is as invisible as possible while the glue dries. In my particular case the vinyl to foam de-lamination is close enough to the window hatch that I can take its frame off and access the sag from an area that will then be covered when I re-attach the shade frame.

Update (1/20/2013): After further analysis the headliner appears to only be directly glued to the decking under the bow in front of the windshield (the curved headliner above the v-berth bed). The headliner sections below the helm from the windshield back appear to be separate panels.

 

[JimFromMD]

Happy New Year everyone. I thought I'd pass on something I learned. I have a area of my cabin headliner where about a 1 foot diameter of the vinyl (that part you see and touch above your head) has de-laminated from the foam it is glued to (its not visually noticeable, but I can feel it and don't want it to get bigger). I contacted Sea Ray to understand the construction/installation of the headliner to figure out how to repair this. They were great as usual and let me know that the headliner consists of 1/2" foam-backed vinyl glued directly to the underside of the top deck. So all those sections we have in our ceiling aren't removable panels. The best option to re-glue any de-lamination (either the vinyl from the foam or the foam from the deck) is probably to just cut a large enough slit to get a tube attached to a spray nozzle in there and then carefully align it so that the slit is as invisible as possible while the glue dries. In my particular case the vinyl to foam de-lamination is close enough to the window hatch that I can take its frame off and access the sag from an area that will then be covered when I re-attach the shade frame.

Good info Bill. I helped a friend with a 36' Rinker fish some wiring, and in his boat, the headliner panels and "seams" worked as you had imagined. You had to drop one, then slide the others out in sequence. Good to know that's not the case with ours. Sounds like a double edged sword though. The removable panel system would allow for a cleaner fix, but I will say that at least in the Rinker's case... It was truly a pain in the butt to get everything put back into place properly, and with just the required amount of pressure to get all the screws and screw holes to line up again. Definitley a 2 person job.

 

[ZZ13]

More on LED bulbs: After trying several BA15D LED bulbs in my 3 floor cockpit fixtures, I ended up with part number 74545 from ledlight.com. These only come in white and warm white (I bought warm white) so if you are a colors person, these aren't for you. For the two cabin overhead G4 lights (the ones in the same fixture as the AC bulb, I went with the G4 15 bulb tower from LEDwholesalers.com. They are a little shorter than the 18 LED tower from superbrightleds.com so they fit just fine sticking straight down. They seem to be a tad less bright than the stock 10w halogen but they light up just fine. They are about half the price of the 18 LED tower from superbrightleds, so I put them in my 6 swivel fixtures as well. I installed in the swivels by popping off the clear plastic "lens" and then snapping it back in. On one of my swivels the clear plastic wouldn't stay back in on one edge so I had to put a tiny tab of crazy glue on the peak of one of the curves. Its a small enough dab that I will be able to pull that lens back off if I need to. Only one I have left to do is the overhead bulb in the head and I haven't figure out how to get at that bulb yet. Anyone know how to remove that fixture (just pull straight down?)? I also put LEDs in the two nav lights in the Perko nav/anchor fixture on the arch, got them from marinebeam.com.

So now, if I am not running the genny I have low power LEDs in every bulb I would want to keep on for a while: cockpit floor lights, arch lights, cabin reading/swivel lights, cabin overhead lights, anchor lights. I don't plan to do the two cabin floor lights (I seem to never use those) or the two cabin AC bulbs or the bow and stern nav lights (I actually bought a stern LED light once but dropped it in the river while installing, duh) since I only have then on when the engine is running.

 

[BrianR]

I agree it is much easier if you only have to replace the trucks. I had all my trucks off over the weekend to inspect them and then put them all back on in short order. However, I have to replace the upper track. Its a mess. The vertical sides are broken off in various places all along its length. If I just replace the trucks, then there will continue to be lateral movement of the upper trucks as they won't be locked in to a single plane path, because there isn't a rigid sidewall on the track. Over time this lateral movement will fatigue the axles and break the wheels off prematurely again.

Hey Bill,
li think I'm in the same situation as you were.
i noticed the tracks coming apart over the weekend and the door hitting something that was preventing it from closing.
I really appreciate you pasting the pictures you did.
Where did you end up getting the trucks and tracks from? Did you go with Aluminum tracks?
Is there any chance you could share the PowerPoint form SR with me?
how long from start to finish? I think it will be just me tackling it..

 

[ZZ13]

Hey Bill,
li think I'm in the same situation as you were.
i noticed the tracks coming apart over the weekend and the door hitting something that was preventing it from closing.
I really appreciate you pasting the pictures you did.
Where did you end up getting the trucks and tracks from? Did you go with Aluminum tracks?
Is there any chance you could share the PowerPoint form SR with me?
how long from start to finish? I think it will be just me tackling it..

I bought the aluminum track/truck kit from Flounder Pounder (searay-parts.com). It was $275 total I think. Best thing to do is call them up and they will work out the length of the track with you. They are a great outfit. PM me you email address and I will send you the instructions (can't get it to you until Thursday night as I am out of town right now). Its really quite easy to take everything out once you get up the nerve to just start. But just take your time. When you are all done, the last tricky thing is figuring out how to re-caulk the tan dash seam. I haven't recaulked mine yet, but I think I found a good enough match right off the shelf at HD in OSI Quad Beige. Other option is just go clear caulk.

Took me about 2 hours to take everything out. Then I took the old tracks home and drilled the holes in the new aluminum ones that night. Then about 2 hours the next day installing it and figuring how to get it to roll cleanly, then about 1 hour to put everything back together, including reconnecting the fridge wiring. By the way, the blower for the head and stove vents is right behind the fridge. That's the one discovery I made throughout the process.

 

[jkim1990]

For the two cabin overhead G4 lights (the ones in the same fixture as the AC bulb, I went with the G4 15 bulb tower from LEDwholesalers.com. They are a little shorter than the 18 LED tower from superbrightleds.com so they fit just fine sticking straight down. They seem to be a tad less bright than the stock 10w halogen but they light up just fine. They are about half the price of the 18 LED tower from superbrightleds, so I put them in my 6 swivel fixtures as well. .

Hi Bill - Great find... 8 bulbs at half the price is big savings. Before I order all of them, can you confirm this is right model please?

Thanks for feedback as always.

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=437

 

[ZZ13]

Hi Bill - Great find... 8 bulbs at half the price is big savings. Before I order all of them, can you confirm this is right model please?

Thanks for feedback as always.

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=437

That's the one. But I actually ended up only putting it in the 6 swivel lamps. I ended up switching to this one for the two overhead lights because it was brighter and directed all the light straight down. I thought it might be too wide of a diameter to fit next to the AC bulb, but it wasn't:

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=426

 

[rcon]

Is there anyone else with a '93 300DA?