340 SUNDANCER THREAD

jim696 said:
I thought it was time that we start up a 340DA thread...Me and the wife started boating 3 years ago and fell in love with it. We where planning on moving up from our 23ft bowrider to a 340 last season but we had to hold off. We are planning to move up this season. We are looking at the 340 with the 8.1's, radar/chartplotter, spot light, front sun pad with s/s runners, under swim platform lighting and the fixed soft top. I'm on the fence with getting the generator. Any suggestions or comments would be great.
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No question that you need and want the generator. All the comments in this thread to that effect are right on the money.

Bountylb3.jpg
 
Anyone with the 2003 or newer model, know how long the front berth is? Can two people close to 6 ft, sleep on the front berth and our feet not hang off? I am just beginning to think about the next boat...
 
It's long enough. I was lying in the berth yesterday evening - sideways, just for fun. It was more than 6 feet wide, and it's a little longer than wide.

I've read on this forum that the berth in the 340 is bigger than the 320 and 360, and about the same as the 380.
 
I know it's longer than the 320 - I am 6-1 and comfortable in my 320 - the 340 would be perfect - the 07' have memory foam and are quite comfortable.
 
I'm 6'4", Judy is 5'11" & we fit fine....I know my feet don't hang off because we tuck the sheet & blanket in at the foot. I seconded the addition of memory foam to the factory mattress for a better night's sleep.

The only design flaw we're found in 2 yrs is the V berth reading lights but the dealer was able to rewire around the main switch near the AC control panel. Oh, add the wimpy ass horn to the design flaw list.
 
How did you rewire your lights? That drives us insane on the 320. Did you just add another switch on the circuit for the bulkhead lights?
 
What I believe the tech did was remove the V berth reading lights' power wire from the cold side of the PRIMARY switch (located at the foot of the bed below the AC panel. It controls the overhead lights at the foot of the bed & powers the reading light) & attach it to the hot side of the PRIMARY switch so the reading lights have power anytime the MASTER switch at the doorway is ON.
 
I love my 340, its the perfect boat these are some mods I made to make it even better.

had dealer wire head light to switch independently so you don't have to turn main light to go at night.

switched cockpit fridge door (its reversible) to open same direction as cabinet door it cuts beer retrieval time in half :grin:

Also added memory foam to v berth.

Anybody have any other mods they have done to improve their 340? always looking for new ideas.
 
I was thinking of putting the two lights above the aft bulkhead wall on another switch so you could leave the main on, all switches off, and turn on the head or forward switches when desired. But, the reading lights could only go on with the other forward lights.

Does the Raymarine Chartplotter allow you to zoom in on a channel when you're already at the highest detail chart setting? Example: The channel you're in is only on the 3NM chart, but is only 1/4" wide on the chart. Can you get any closer? My 10 year old Garmin allows it. The Raymarine Chartplotter at West Marine allows it.

My 2005 on my 340 doesn't seem to allow it.
 
Is it just me? You can't turn these overhead lights off with the main light switch on, can you? Am I missing a switch somewhere?
 
Hampton, you are correct -- if you don't have the large screen tv. I had the dealer add a switch to turn off the lights above the electrical panel. Prior to the change, the only way those lights would go off was to turn off the main cabin switch by the door (which killed the power to all the lights). I also had them modify the power supply to the front berth reading lights.
 
Performance

I have the 8.1's in my 340 DA and wonder what is everyone's optimum cruise speed (MPH) and what fuel economy (lack of) are you experiencing.

I also have the smartcraft digital display that gives me info and I can not really get her to go above .6 mpg on the instant readout unless I am off plane and practically trolling.
 
Bingo,

I have the same issue with the smartcraft. The spinning wheel that measures the speed under the hull is very primitive, and waaaayyy under-estimates the actual speed.

My best efficiency (at cruise) appears to be between 3250 and 3500 RPM which yields between 20.5 and 22.5 knots. The mileage works out to be around .90 - .95 MPG. At 3800 RPM I get about 26 knots and .85 MPG.

I can get over 1 MPG by backing off of plane and cruising along at about 1200 RPM. That yields over 6 knots, and is quite efficient. Anything over 1500 RPM just creates more wake.
 
Question... why do we care about mpg... Its gph that everyone tracks....

My 03 340 cruised at 3400- 3450 @ 30mph ( sorry no knots here )

My original props were terrible ... I had spares made up using my rpm @ mph on a graph... I saw no speed change above 3600 rpm... so we changed the props and huge difference..

Rob
 
What happened to us

We were out overnight this past weekend and went to start the engines in the morning and all 4 batteries were dead. Very unusual since the boat is only one season old.

Tried the emergency start switch when i discovered the first battery inop. Then I went below decks to fire up the generator figuring I could charge the starter batteries, but that was dead too. Very strange.

Luckily we were with friends and I used their a/c to plug into my shore power and was able to start her up.

Will advise when the dealer determines the cause and subsequent remedy.
 
Re: What happened to us

Bingo Boyz said:
We were out overnight this past weekend and went to start the engines in the morning and all 4 batteries were dead. Very unusual since the boat is only one season old.

Tried the emergency start switch when i discovered the first battery inop. Then I went below decks to fire up the generator figuring I could charge the starter batteries, but that was dead too. Very strange.

Luckily we were with friends and I used their a/c to plug into my shore power and was able to start her up.

Will advise when the dealer determines the cause and subsequent remedy.
Click to expand...

What kind of battery setup does your boat have?
 
Which engine did you try to start - or both?
 
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