Official 280 Sundancer Thread

[Bucit]

Good luck. Take the door off and start there. It seems a little low.

I'm trying to remember since I re-did the cooling system last year and had to take the whole fridge apart. I think when the door opens it lowers (pivots) on the pins and raises up when closed. I'll look tonight but I do think there is something on the lower pin that makes it raise when you swing it closed.

 

[Bucit]

Here are a couple pics of the Hi Tek Manifolds installed. I've only run it once but I believe I've lowered my fuel usage by 1-1.5 GPH. I will be running her for hours this weekend and will get a better feel since I will be fully loaded. My freinds said they do sound quieter than the OEM's too.

 

[Gunn]

Wow, those are beauties! Would like to hear your fuel usage after you've run it a bit, sounds encouraging.

And thanks guys on the refrigerator door issue. Removing the door and inspecting what I have is a good idea.

Tom

 

[dfwlaw]

Henry,

I took my friend with me yesterday whom is quite handy and we found the source of the leak. It was 110% without a doubt the Nav Light that Marine Max serviced. There was a hole the size of a nickel in the fiberglass as well as a hairline crack leading to the hole, they did not seat the light assembly into the dome cover correctly so it was not flush in the fixture, this was causing it to not sit flat against the fiberglass, in addition to that, they did not replace the silicone. Now, we are left with thousands in upholstery ruined (we tried to remove the mildew stains...it's not coming out), I tried to locate the fabric (they don't make it anymore), soaked wood and vinyl, stained carpet. I called Marine Max and asked them, if it was possible there was a gasket, he said no, and why the tech did not put silicone, he said "if the factory didn't have it sealed the tech wouldn't have sealed it...unless there was already silicone in there"...which I told them, yes there was dried up old silicone that had been pulled up when the light was serviced and clearly not replaced...he said "I'll make it up to you and not charge you for the next PM". Really?........ :smt013

I did have the "opportunity" to clean my own boat yesterday and let the current cleaner go. We're going to start our own washing and maintenance. With awesome people like you on this forum, there is no reason we need to have incompetent people touching our boat. I really appreciate your assistance.

I'm looking at this like I did my pool. It was such a mystery to me when we had a pool service maintaining it, but surprisingly something was ALWAYS broken on it. I fired the pool guy last July and I've had ZERO problems with my pool since. Leslies Pool came over and gave me pool school and I pay them to clean my filters (cause I don't want to) and with the mystery removed, it is very simple. The boat although much more complicated, will be the same with help here and with my handy friend to help. More importantly, since a boat can leave you stranded in the middle of the water, it would be a good idea how to fix things.

We also located the switch for the windlass and got that put back in the locker, however when we first hit the windlass button and pressed the foot control it popped again. Then we reset and used the helm control and it worked. Maybe there is a short in the foot control?

Thanks again so very very much!

Sherry

 

[saopm]

I'm glad you found the leak. Once you get the bugs worked out you will really enjoy the boat. I had a few thing to sort out when I got mine. I cringe at the thought of hiring people to work on my boat so I do everything I can myself.

 

[scoflaw]

Anybody had any experience jacking the boat up high enough off the trailer to get some bottom paint on it? What kind off jacks and what loading points. Thanks

 

[Henry Boyd]

Anybody had any experience jacking the boat up high enough off the trailer to get some bottom paint on it? What kind off jacks and what loading points. Thanks

Mike,

Here is a picture showing the block placement for ours. Here is the stern:

I don't have a clear pic of the bow block. But it is right in line with the stand in the foreground and the AC cooling outlet. These points are holding the weight of the boat. The stands are just keeping the boat from tipping off the blocks. So those are the points you want to jack on. As you can see the actual contact is with a 2x4. You might want to go with a 4x4 block on the jack. The front 2x4 on ours is compressed into a distinct V.

I've taken some fairly good sized boats all the way off of trailers using stands and floor jacks. Nothing as big as a 280 though. If you have full tanks of gas and water, it is probably pushing 10,000 pounds, of which probably 2/3 is in the stern end. So you are going to need a 2.5 to 3 ton jack. I'd also recommend using boat stands as well to keep her from rocking to either side. It also goes without saying you probably want to keep the trailer attached to the tow vehicle. I've got spare stands I'm not using at the moment you can borrow if you want to visit the other Cape.

Henry

ps ignore the crappy bottom paint, the picture was taken before I blasted and barrier coated.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Sherry,

Here is a link to Flounder Pounder Marine. They buy unused new inventory from boat builders and have a pretty good supply of SR stuff. The website is pretty extensive, but if you don't see what you need, call them as many times they have stuff that is not on line.

On the windlass. You clearly have a problem. Call and talk to Imtra they can best diagnose it for you. The 280 came with the LoFrans Marlin windlass. I was shopping on their website the other day for other stuff and noticed that a replacement motor is now $ 840.00 and the control box is $ 185.00, so you want to make sure the problem is diagnosed correctly.

Henry.

 

[tony1b2000]

He folks,

Getting the boat ready to hit the water soon. Found that my steering was somewhat tight last year and the same this year with my twin mercs. I know the power steering is working (don't know how well). Just wondering is this is a normal "feature" :huh:with this model sundancer OR are their any lube points to check?

Thanks

 

[Jetmart]

Lower End Dive Trim Help!

My 2004 280 drive trim won't work after putting them down last fall. Not sure if it is finger problems on my part. Batteries are on, keys are on, I seem to have good power every where except drives won't go up with trim swathes on throttles or using the trailer mode switch. Any ideas???

Where is the breaker or fuse for the system?

Any help would be appreciated. I have to launch tomorrow morning.

 

[scoflaw]

Think my port shift cable may need to be replaced. What kind of PITA am I lookin at there, with the twin 5.s. Don't want to hear" pull the manifold" Thanks for any insight.

 

[Jetmart]

Lower End Dive Trim Help!

My 2004 280 drive trim won't work after putting them down last fall. Not sure if it is finger problems on my part. Batteries are on, keys are on, I seem to have good power every where except drives won't go up with trim swathes on throttles or using the trailer mode switch. Any ideas???

Where is the breaker or fuse for the system?




Any help would be appreciated. I have to launch tomorrow morning.

Found the problem. The wiring harness to the port trim pump was loose. this prevented the starboard pump from working as well. Easy fix with two people. One worked the switch and the other wiggled wires.

 

[Gunn]

Think my port shift cable may need to be replaced. What kind of PITA am I lookin at there, with the twin 5.s. Don't want to hear" pull the manifold" Thanks for any insight.

I've done it twice on my 175 with Alpha I Gen II's. Not too bad. You'll have to remove the lower unit. The hard part will be guiding in the new shift cable through the shift cable bellows in the outdrive and then through the transom and into the ER behind the engine. Takes a bit of patience and then some twisting and contorting to get at the shift cable behind the engine.

The last time I did it, I had to replace the shift cable bellows due to a crack and did the shift cable since I had to remove it anyway. Took about 4hrs. start to finish. You'll need help to guide the cable through the transom.

EDIT: I should mention that if you mean the cable from the shifter, then all what I said doesn't apply. That's much easier yet and no real issues.

Tom

 

[aquaaddiction]

New (to me) 280

I was going to wait till I had legal ownership before posting, but too excited and it is all done except the final money exchange; I have just purchased a 2001 280 :grin:

It needs a few odd jobs (I actually enjoy doing work on my boats), but has AC and generator, and twin 4.3 EFIs, and I am happy with the survey and mechanical inspection, and I got it at a good price (I think / hope...)

Only downside is that the boat is in NC, and I am in Australia so it will be a few months before I get to see it! For those of you that think this is crazy please let me explain that 1) boats cost less than half the price in the US than they do here, 2) In the US right now I could find pages of 280s for sale, and the cost to transport them across the US is reasonable; only one 280 has come up for sale in Western Australia in the last year (maybe it is the only one here) and that was too new / expensive for me, one is currently for sale on the East coast but thats over 3000 miles away and the transport costs combined with its high price makes that a no go too, so its what we have to do to try to get what we want. Fingers crossed it all arrives safe and well.

I have read this thread from start to end, not to mention the Searay manuals and even the parts diagrams (I knew about the secret compartment long ago, its not a secret, it shown in the parts manual for anyone sad enough like me who looks :lol, but am sure I will have some questions as my mind goes into overdrive in anticipation.

Thanks to all the previous posters on this thread, I have learned so much from it already.

Anthony

 

[Henry Boyd]

Tony,

Congrats on the new 280, welcome to the club. How are you having it shipped? Good thing winter is just starting in your part of the world. Since you seem to have the qualifications, what will it take to convert your new boat to 220? Can it be done without a wholesale appliance replacement?

Henry

 

[aquaaddiction]

How are you having it shipped?

I am having a company called Marine Point in SC collect it, drop the arch, clean and wrap it, build a cradle, and ship it as RoRo freight. Yes its coming into winter here but it doesn't make me want it here tomorrow instead of 3 months time any less :smt089

How are you having it shipped?
Since you seem to have the qualifications, what will it take to convert your new boat to 220? Can it be done without a wholesale appliance replacement?

Unfortunately here in Australia my qualifications and several years running my own marine electronics business back in England don’t count for squat, and I am not allowed by work as a marine electrician here unless I do a 3 year apprenticeship first. But I should be able to do the work then pay to just have it inspected. The boat wont be in a dock (rare here, boats with a dock space are worth more), I am on a swing mooring, but thats ok as I like sitting out on the water in the river enjoying the open view. Anyway the point is I will be off shore power and on on generator so it doesn't matter too much if it is still 110v for now.

Battery charger and microwave are pretty cheap to just swap out for new ones, the water heater unit is a bit rusted out and probably due replacement anyway, if not I can probably just swap the electric element out of it for a 240v one. The generator can be changed relatively easily to produce 240v; the aircon has 2 key 110v components, the water pump and the blower motor, they can be replaced by their 240v equivalents as spare parts but they are not cheap, will check if the blower motor at least is a rebranded generic one that can be more easily obtained, or maybe even have it rewound to 240v. I should be able to rig the generator to produce both 110V and 240v feeds simultaneously, but the fact that the US electricity is 60Hz instead of 50Hz for the rest of the world is just as much an issue in trying to convert as the generator can only do one at a time regardless of what voltage/s its running at. 60Hz would damage 240v 50Hz equipment, so would have to drop it down to 50Hz if run both voltages, then if the aircon is run on the 110v feed at 50hz it will have a 20% performance drop. Cabling and sockets are easy to swap out. So bottom line I am not sure exactly what I am going to do with it all yet until I can go over it in more detail and check the costs and availability of parts; but plan (A) of leaving as is for now is ok, main thing to be able charge batts and have aircon and hot water. Hmmm maybe I should import a cheap 110v kettle and toaster with it to begin with, I hadn't thought about that until now, hmm thats a good idea...

Anyway I am sure thats more than most people want or need to know about converting electrical systems!

Anthony

 

[rmassey73]

just had boat put back in the water from winter, now I was flushing out water lines and I seem to be getting alot of air and sporadic water from pump, any ideas?

 

[saopm]

....Battery charger and microwave are pretty cheap to just swap out for new ones, the water heater unit is a bit rusted out and probably due replacement anyway, if not I can probably just swap the electric element out of it for a 240v one.

Wow, that is an electrical problem. I think your best bet is to just run the Gen and keep the 110V system. Doesn't sound like you would plug in often anyway.

 

[saopm]

just had boat put back in the water from winter, now I was flushing out water lines and I seem to be getting alot of air and sporadic water from pump, any ideas?

Sounds like you have loose connection on the suction side of the water pump. Does the pump run constantly? Check the connections between the water tank and pump. This is assuming the water tank if full.

 

[aquaaddiction]

Wow, that is an electrical problem. I think your best bet is to just run the Gen and keep the 110V system. Doesn't sound like you would plug in often anyway.

I had thought about it but it means we cant run any locally sourced items such as tools etc, and also when somthing like the microwave dies one day its going to be pretty expensive to ship a 110v one over from the US; it will affect resale value when I one day part with her in the distant future. I think it will be fine to begin with but something to work on over time.

I have always enjoyed working on my boats, its part of the fun of having them for me (I actually think I would be lost with a new boat with nothing to fix or improve on it), but doing it professionaly spoiled that so I am glad I dont fix other peoples for a living any more and can just toy with mine as and when I want with no deadlines or people asking when it is going to be finished (except maybe SWMBO of course... :smt018).


Anthony