Official 280 Sundancer Thread

Favorite Upgrades or Modifications? After considering moving on from the 280 to the 410 I have finally settled in my own mind I cannot justify the cost for the amount of season we have here on Long island. So I have decided to make a few upgrades to my 280 to make a great boat perfect for the family. I just spent 3 hours pouring through this thread and saw a lot of great stuff. I am definitely adding some shelves, adding the weaver moto sto for the dinghy motor and really considering the teak inserts I saw they look awesome. just wonder if anyone can post descriptions/pics of some of their favorite modifications they don't mind someone stealing. Next year I am going to venture off on more extended cruises (4-7 days not just weekends). Also wondering if anyone has added a generator to the 280 that didn't have one, initial research show it will be very costly (more than 5K, true or false? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
scoflaw said:
Does everyone with the twin 5.0's, have an annoying, throbing, loud drone. between 850 and 1300 rpm? Just bought this boat, can't believe I have to deal with that. Read this whole thread, before I bought it, and no one mentioned it. 2006 280, not the boat in my sig
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Just so you know it's not just you, I can confirm the same issue with my 2005 280 with twin 5.0's and Bravo III's. I noticed it immediately after taking delivery of the boat earlier this year. My previous boat was a '99 290 DA with twin 5.7's and Alpha drives. It didn't have the drone at all. I suspect it might have something to do with the way the exhaust is routed throught the Bravos, but that's just a guess. The drone is only present from just above idle to just past 1000 RPM. It's a narrow range, but unfortunately it's exactly where you would want the throttles while moving through a no-wake zone. It is not related to the engines being out of sync, because you can't sync your way out of it. The only solution is to advance the throttles toward 1200 RPM or beyond or to back off to idle. The drone is not a particularly pleasant sound, and the engines sound just fine and as you would expect them to sound once they are out of that narrow RPM band. All I can tell you is that you will get used to it over time, and it will become less bothersome. At least that's been my experience.

While we're on the subject of odd behaviors that haven't been mentioned anywhere else in this otherwise comprehensive thread, I've got one I'd like to float to any who'd care to respond. Besides the aforementioned drone, I noticed two other issues that were in stark contrast to my 290. First, the 280 is considerably more tender than the 290 was. I've attributed this to the 6" narrower beam. The other issue though is quite bothersome, and I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned it. The power steering on this boat is quite light and heavily assisted. That in and of itself isn't such a bad thing, but in my 280 there is a starboard bias to the steering. Meaning, the steering has a tendency to drift to starboard if hands are removed from the wheel. I can reduce the effect by adjusting the trim of the drives individually and adjusting the trim tabs, but I can't remove it entirely. The bias is noticable anywhere from about 8 MPH and above. My 290 was dead neutral in its steering and would hold a course quite well on plane without having to constantly keep slight pressure on the wheel as my 280 requires. I've inquired about this to several mechanics, with no solutions offered. In a single engine Alpha installation, you would remove the bias by adjusting the trim tab on the drive leg. The Brovos don't have such a tab. Any one else notice this on their 280?

Russ
 
X2 on pulling starboard. Compared to the steering on my 245 weekender, I can live with it, but prefer not to. That, the drone, no deck storage, and the blow hole effect on the swim platform, that will blow water almost to the helm, makes me think I won't own this,newly purchased boat much longer. Anyone out there got a remedy for the blow hole issue? Ocean waves and strong winds are common here.
 
Lobrim said:
Favorite Upgrades or Modifications? After considering moving on from the 280 to the 410 I have finally settled in my own mind I cannot justify the cost for the amount of season we have here on Long island. So I have decided to make a few upgrades to my 280 to make a great boat perfect for the family. I just spent 3 hours pouring through this thread and saw a lot of great stuff. I am definitely adding some shelves, adding the weaver moto sto for the dinghy motor and really considering the teak inserts I saw they look awesome. just wonder if anyone can post descriptions/pics of some of their favorite modifications they don't mind someone stealing. Next year I am going to venture off on more extended cruises (4-7 days not just weekends). Also wondering if anyone has added a generator to the 280 that didn't have one, initial research show it will be very costly (more than 5K, true or false? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Re: Adding a generator, please see this post:

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/24768-Adding-a-generator-w-video

Have you found the secret storage compartment in the mid-birth yet?

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/21312-280-Sundancer-secret-storage-compartment
 
WATER HEATER ??
Yesterday we ran our generator for 20 minutes after a nice afternoon out on the Pacific. When I went to wash my hands, I noticed that I had very warm water in the galley sink. It was also hot in the head sink and at the transom shower. We had not turned on the water heater. We looked through the owners manual but couldn't find any explanantion of how to use the water heater. We have never turned on that breaker switch because of the warning label which states that you must be sure you have water in the water heater. Is having water in the boat, the same thing as having water in the water heater? Should we have hot water even when the water heater breaker is in the "off" position. (The warmth had not come from sitting in the warm California Sun because we actually had steam !) Any explanation of this system would be appreciated.
 
fiveaboard said:
WATER HEATER ??
Yesterday we ran our generator for 20 minutes after a nice afternoon out on the Pacific. When I went to wash my hands, I noticed that I had very warm water in the galley sink. It was also hot in the head sink and at the transom shower. We had not turned on the water heater. We looked through the owners manual but couldn't find any explanantion of how to use the water heater. We have never turned on that breaker switch because of the warning label which states that you must be sure you have water in the water heater. Is having water in the boat, the same thing as having water in the water heater? Should we have hot water even when the water heater breaker is in the "off" position. (The warmth had not come from sitting in the warm California Sun because we actually had steam !) Any explanation of this system would be appreciated.
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There is a line connecting the port engine and the water heater. If you run the engine you are also heating the water.

The water heater also has a electrical heating element so you can make hot water with out running the engine.
 
Noticed my port and stbd aft speakers are not working. Can't see a way to turn these on. Although it took me a week to figure out how to turn on the stereo. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
Could be this:

Your radio if it is a XMD3 model, has a setting that needs to be turned on to send power to the amp speakers for the cockpit. On page 14 of the manual it refers to setting the low pass filter. Factory setting is 120. That's where your problem is, cycle thru the options to "REAR" and your amp will now get the signal it needs.
 
Thanks for the reply Jetmart. It's a CMDA4. It has 6 speakers, don't see an amp, or anything in the manual about this issue or filters.
 
scoflaw said:
Thanks for the reply Jetmart. It's a CMDA4. It has 6 speakers, don't see an amp, or anything in the manual about this issue or filters.
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In the mid birth behind the mirror do you see a amp? This amp is for the cockpit speakers.

Are you getting any sound out of the cockpit speakers?

In the electrical panel in the cabin in the DC portion do you have the amp turned on?
 
Yes, amp is turned on. Yes the 2 forward cockpit speakers work. Ones in the v berth work as well. The stereo manual says its a 4 speaker unit. This boat has 6. I havn't pulled the aft speakers out yet to see if they are connected.
 
scoflaw said:
Yes, amp is turned on. Yes the 2 forward cockpit speakers work. Ones in the v berth work as well. The stereo manual says its a 4 speaker unit. This boat has 6. I havn't pulled the aft speakers out yet to see if they are connected.
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The speakers in the cabin by the v-berth are most likely powered by the internal amplifer of the head unit, rather than by an external amp. The four cockpit speakers are usually powered by a 4-channel external amp that gets its signal from the pre-amp out connection from the head unit. The fact that two of the cockpit speakers work means that the amp is getting an audio signal from the head unit. That means that the problem is likely a switch position on the amp. Two things would help to diagnose this. First, the make and model number of the external amp. Second, a brief description of how the amp is connected. Is there one or two sets of stereo RCA line cords connected to the input side of the amp? Are there 4 sets of speaker wires connected to the output side of the amp, and are they connected to separate output channels of the amp (fore and aft/channel 1 and 2) or are the fore and aft speaker wires connected to the same apeaker terminals, like they would be with a two channel amp. I'm guessing that you have a single set of input leads going into the amp and that the speakers are wired to all four channels on the amp. That's the way I'd do it. If so, there should be a switch on the amp that tells it to send the stereo input signal to all four channels. On my Clarion APX480M theere is a switch called "Source Select" that should be set to either 2CH Bass or 2CH but NOT 4CH for the above setup. In addtion, both the CH1/2 and CH3/4 Mode switches should be set to Stereo. Depending on how your system is set up your mileage may vary slightly. Mine has Sea Ray's Premium Cockpit Sound System, so I probably have different amplifiers than you. Get me the make and model of your amp and I can tell you how it should be set up.
 
russg said:
The speakers in the cabin by the v-berth are most likely powered by the internal amplifer of the head unit, rather than by an external amp. The four cockpit speakers are usually powered by a 4-channel external amp that gets its signal from the pre-amp out connection from the head unit.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the case in my boat. The forward cabin speakers are powered directly from the head unit and the amp circuit breaker does not need to be turned on. I actually traced the wires from the back of the stereo a couple of months ago when I was running a Sirius satellite radio antenna back behind there... I also added a switch to tun off the cabin speakers when I don't want them on down below (like when kids are watching TV).
 
Amp circuit breaker does nothing on my setup. The 4 speakers work without it being on. The amp I have is no bigger than your fist. I will take a closer look at it tommorrow for more info. Thanks for the help.
 
I forgot to mention that in addition to the "Source Select" and the "Mode" switches, you likely have "Filter" switches for CH 1/2 and Ch 3/4. Both of these should be set to "Off". The positioning of these switches and those mentioned in my previous post is important to get all four channels to output properly. In Summary:

1. "Source Select" should be set to "2CH Bass" or "2CH", not "4CH".

2. Both "Mode" switches should be set to "Stereo".

3. Both "Filter" switches should be set to "Off".

Russ
 
scoflaw said:
Amp circuit breaker does nothing on my setup. The 4 speakers work without it being on. The amp I have is no bigger than your fist. I will take a closer look at it tommorrow for more info. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

I have the same amp, it is a two channel amp that powers the cockpit speakers. There is a fuse on it you can check. If the fuse is good check the RCA cable both at the amp and at the head unit. Like the others said you have to set up the head unit to send the signal. I think it needs to be set to "rear". Otherwise your amp might be toast.
 
scoflaw said:
Amp circuit breaker does nothing on my setup. The 4 speakers work without it being on. The amp I have is no bigger than your fist. I will take a closer look at it tommorrow for more info. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

No bigger than your fist? That doesn't sound like a 4-channel amp to me. Sounds more like a 2-channel amp and not a very big one. Also means the information I previously supplied is not likely applicable. The 2006 parts manual specs two different amps for your boat depending on hull number. As requested earlier, the make and model of the amp would be helpful as well as a description of how the speaker wires are connected. It's probably a 2-channel amp with the fore and aft speaker sets both wired to the same speaker terminals, which makes it a bit of a mystery as to why the forward set works but the aft set doesn't. Maybe the wires for the aft set aren't connected at the amp or at the speakers? There should be a total of 8 speaker wires connected to the amp (four speakers +/-). Interesting problem. I don't believe it's a setting in the head unit, because the amp is obviously getting an audio signal, proven by the fact that the forward set of cockpit speakers work. More info needed.

Russ

Russ
 
scoflaw said:
If the amp was junk, wouldn't all 4 cockpit speakers be out?
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Which two cockpit speakers are working? The two port speakers are wired together to one channel and the two starboard speakers are wired together to the other channel. Perhaps the amp has a blown channel or one side of the RCAs is disconnected.
 
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