420AC Thread

Sounds like a great idea. We've had Gimme Time our since August 2007 and love the boat. Bought the boat and kept her in the Ft Lauderdale area till April 2008 to get comfortable with her and learn all we could before we headed North to the Chesapeake Bay area which is certainly one of the best cruising grounds along the coast. Upgraded all the electronics to Ray marine E120 & E80 HDs with new radar. We added a Infrared camera to the Ray Marine system and monitor the engine room video while under way on the E80 or the E120. The camera is mounted looking back so you can see the engines and the bilge pump area. Gives you another comfort level to be able to see whats going on down there. With the infrared you don't need any lights on and since the engines are painted white and the hull is painted gray it not hard to see that on the camera even with a color camera ever thing is some shade of Grey.

Replaced and changed all the canvas & isinglass over to White before we left FL as you can get anything you ever wanted done down there. The light tan or dirty brown didn't suite the boat very well and the white certainly lighten the boat up and made it look more modern in our opinion.

Change the black sun screen from the Salon forward windows over to white as well which decreases the cooling loads on the air conditioning system. Seldom do we need the rear or forward AC on since cool air falls and the salon system cools the entire boat easily. Have considered adding AC to the Bridge but with a rag top unless you put 30,000BTUs+ up there you are pi--ing in the wind. Have seen where someone added a console AC unit to the back patio area but do not know how well it works. Since cool air falls I'm sure you can't cool the upper bridge under way with any unit on the rear lower deck. I have a small blower mounted just under the steering wheel on the floor which blows air across the Capitan's chair for those hot times when docking which is the only time you really need it much.

Replaced the Salon carpet and had an engine room access flap cut into the carpet to improve the engine room access. The original carpet with the heavy foam padding was a pain in the a-- to pull out from under everything and fold back to gain access was not vary user friendly and the engine room should have good quick access so you are more likely to perform checks as should be done often.


We run Prop Speed on all the underwater gear and have continued to use it since and feel it was worth it then and even more so now days with the ever increasing fuel prices. We cruise 18-21 knots in the 2300-2400 RPM range burning roughly 30 gph with the gen set running. Allot of boaters use their boat less and less because of the increased fuel cost but the way I look at it another $1,000 in fuel cost while IAPITA it's still one of the least expensive parts of owning a boat.

Have replaced the Starboard raw water pump this Spring and have the Port side to do this fall. Frank recommended replacing both when you do one and I concur as it keeps everything on the same schedule hour/year wise.

Guess it's time to put a cork in it and sit back and see what others have or are doing to their 420AC which is a great boat with more usable square footage to the foot then any other type of boat that I am aware of. Please list your improvements so we can each see what others are doing.

John
 
Let me start with some content:

My new to me 1996 (hull no 5) has a failed aft-head power vent. I haven't found the vent inlet, let alone figured out where the blower itself is. I expect I will find the blower if I take off all the covers in shelves and cupboards but can someone shorten the experience and help me out?
 
If it is similar to the 380AC, the vent may be behind the head (based on my ear). To access it you need to open the large access panel aft under the vanity. This gives you access to all things aft of the cabin.
 
I'm in!
My aft cabin vent is also frozen up. You need to remove the cabinet above the head to acess it. We never really used it and I figured it would only freeze up again so I never fixed it. There ai also an in-line fuse for it located behind the electrical panel. I'd check that 1st(much easier)
 
Thanks guys. I noticed that the cabinet over the head was removable but thought it just gave access to the Vacuuflush unit. Now I know! I will check for power at the switch before I remove everything.
 
So glad us "Little Cousins" are welcome. We're in our first season with our new to us 1998 370 AC Cat 3116T Diesels ( And yes, we have had no problems with them as they are in their 650 ish Hours) and in impeccable condition. We purchased her in Maryland from people we actually knew from our home town who couldn't sell her for 2 years, so they moved her south. The AC's apparently are not popular in our area. This has been our dream for quite some time and we sold our 33' Sundancer 3 weeks ago. She was up for sale since September of 2010 and we sold her in February of this year. We love our dealer Hyannis Marina and have nothing but nice things to say about them. We have had an issue with the aft cabin kick out hatch leaking. We have purchased from Taylor Products a new gasket ; replaced it and it is still leaking. Any thoughts?? This was obviously a problem for the PO as there was caulking in place. And yes I am a woman but know my way around the engine room as well as the galley!
 
Hi Cindi. Similar story for us. Bought the boat in Ft Myers area last October and sailed her back over the last few weeks to Ontario, Canada. Our dream as well so we named her Dream Weaver. The kick-out panel leaks on ours too. I plan to insert a gasket (thinking of using fly screen cord) into the top section. If it works I will post here.
 
I'm an old 1989 380 AC and have been salivating over the newer 420 AC, Specially the 2001 models with the Captains Station to the port side of the bridge. I have been spooked a bit for the crosstalk about the hull construction. Is there any validity to any of this?
 
420AC has a cored hull bottom. If you are considering one, just be sure to have a good hull survey done. Still a great boat!
 
Next question:

I installed a new TV antenna to replace the Glomex which mysteriously lost the top half under the carefull stewardship of the PO. The new one requires I fish a 12V source into the hard top. The nearest source is not in the hard top! How do you fish a wire into the hard top? I probed all the existing runs with my fish but came to an abrupt halt from top or bottom at the hard top joint with the side walls. Is there a way to access the joint? Thanks in advance.
 
that a hard one but on the side by the steps going up to bridge remove that panel with speaker in it and there is a tube that will go in to the hard top mine had a pull wire left in it ran my cable up there for tv sat thru it if you haft to go in cabin it is also in there 2" tube that sticks up about 4" above the floor on bridge below the speaker and runs behind the ac vent above the cabinet with the tv cable and switch in it
 
I tried that location on both sides. I know that is the only route between hard top and below but I cannot get a fish to go through. In mine, the "tube" is that split plastic cable tidy stuff. My fish finds a way out of it before it gets to the corner.
 
did you try to go thru the panel in the harid top I had a split plastic but also had a hard tube too I ran 2 cable tv wires for raymarine 45stv and a cable for a rear cam changing lights in hard top in a day are too will take another look then and get back to you
 
I am trying to go between either of the speaker openings and the opening left after removing the plastic panel.
 
ocean springs.jpg spent the 4 of july in Biloxi Mississippi nice ride and great time marina only $1 foot For 3 Days Then 50 c A foot could not beat it and nice 6 dollars foot for the month
 
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We are thinking about an aft cabin. We have researched Mainship, Carver and Sea Ray. We like the Sea Ray 42 and the 38. Both have the features we like from interior appointments to the exterior styling. We would only consider a diesel powered boat. We have never been on either boat. However, we have seen them in marinas.
What are your experiences with these boats as far as livability and handling? Can two people cruise these boats? How well do they cruise at “trawler speeds”?
Concerns are the cored bottoms on the 42. Is this a big deal? Does the 38 have a cored bottom?
Thanks, Vince
 

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