BigWill1985
New Member
- Feb 6, 2010
- 17
- Boat Info
- 1992 Celebrity 200 Cuddy Cabin
- Engines
- 260hp Chevrolet 350 with a Mercruiser outdrive
I am looking at purchasing a boat that a buddy of mine owns. It is a 1985 270 Sundancer that is in reasonably good shape. It is powered with the dual 190hp 3.7 liter inline 4-cylinders. The Port engine has 180 hours on it, and the Starboard engine has 800 hours on it. The motors run great, and it is in great shape overall. I have owned quite a few smaller boats, but never anything over 22 feet.
So, I have a couple of questions. First off, is the battery charger unit. The boat's owner ran the boat ~6 weeks ago on an off shore fishing trip and came back in pretty late. He claimed that the converter wasn't turned on which allowed the batteries to die. Another boat owner at the marina was arguing that the converter has nothing to do with charging the batteries, and I am honestly clueless. I understand that there is a trickle charger on board to maintain the batteries. It appeared that it remained energized whether the converter switch on the main circuit panel was on or off. How exactly are all of these wired? Also, the battery tender was registering only two batteries. Shouldn't it be wired up to all three batteries?
Next, I have a question about the freshwater system. The boat has a pressurized freshwater system. I seen that there were two different fill ports on the aft-port corner of the boat (one pressurized, one normal fill). The current boat owner was claiming that he never used the water system underway, and always just used the pressurized port. Does that port completely bypass the water pump? Where is the freshwater pump located? Or should the water pump still run when the pressurized port is used? Once he hooked up the pressurized water, it appeared that all faucets and the toilet (vac-u-flush) worked great.
Finally, I have a question about the Macerator pump. Right now, it appears that the macerator pump is hooked up directly to the tank, and can pump overboard just with the flip of 3 switches (can't remember their labels, but they were in the head). Isn't a Y valve required? Can the tank be pumped down at a pump-down station without a Y valve? Where should the valve be located? Shouldn't there be a discharge valve to open prior to pumping down the system? Where would that valve be located? Is it manually or electronically operated?
It just seems that the previous owner really had little knowledge of the boat. He didn't use it much aside from doing short trips out and back for fishing (and never used the head/freshwater/stove/fridge systems while underway). I'm just wanting to get my head wrapped around all this so I can have a clear vision of what I'm getting into before moving into the project. I understand that I can get a survey, but I don't feel one is necessary in this situation (I'm not paying much for the boat, and I know for a fact that there are no soft spots, gel coat blisters, motor damage, etc...). I am very mechanically minded and can repair most anything on the vessel once I get her.
Thank you guys in advance for any input!!
~Will Courtier~
So, I have a couple of questions. First off, is the battery charger unit. The boat's owner ran the boat ~6 weeks ago on an off shore fishing trip and came back in pretty late. He claimed that the converter wasn't turned on which allowed the batteries to die. Another boat owner at the marina was arguing that the converter has nothing to do with charging the batteries, and I am honestly clueless. I understand that there is a trickle charger on board to maintain the batteries. It appeared that it remained energized whether the converter switch on the main circuit panel was on or off. How exactly are all of these wired? Also, the battery tender was registering only two batteries. Shouldn't it be wired up to all three batteries?
Next, I have a question about the freshwater system. The boat has a pressurized freshwater system. I seen that there were two different fill ports on the aft-port corner of the boat (one pressurized, one normal fill). The current boat owner was claiming that he never used the water system underway, and always just used the pressurized port. Does that port completely bypass the water pump? Where is the freshwater pump located? Or should the water pump still run when the pressurized port is used? Once he hooked up the pressurized water, it appeared that all faucets and the toilet (vac-u-flush) worked great.
Finally, I have a question about the Macerator pump. Right now, it appears that the macerator pump is hooked up directly to the tank, and can pump overboard just with the flip of 3 switches (can't remember their labels, but they were in the head). Isn't a Y valve required? Can the tank be pumped down at a pump-down station without a Y valve? Where should the valve be located? Shouldn't there be a discharge valve to open prior to pumping down the system? Where would that valve be located? Is it manually or electronically operated?
It just seems that the previous owner really had little knowledge of the boat. He didn't use it much aside from doing short trips out and back for fishing (and never used the head/freshwater/stove/fridge systems while underway). I'm just wanting to get my head wrapped around all this so I can have a clear vision of what I'm getting into before moving into the project. I understand that I can get a survey, but I don't feel one is necessary in this situation (I'm not paying much for the boat, and I know for a fact that there are no soft spots, gel coat blisters, motor damage, etc...). I am very mechanically minded and can repair most anything on the vessel once I get her.
Thank you guys in advance for any input!!
~Will Courtier~
