Official 330 Sundancer Thread

Barneyridge said:
Nice Ian, my carpets and padded fabric areas + mattress have been done and was thinking next year of getting the cushions done. What did you go with fabric wise? Also being in the same area, can you PM me they guys that did it.

Cheers
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PM Sent...........And how about adding yourself on the Map, Wayne loaded up............I'm feeling lonely with the only pin in Oz!
 
New Sea Ray owner question, Hello all, Finally found and got my 1996 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer, I have a question, ( I'm sure more later ). Does the AC Converter breaker always need to be on for the Battery charger to work ? Thaks ahead for any information
 
Dave,
My recently purchased '97 is set up that way. I had the same question and saw the power light on the battery charger box in the engine room respond to the breaker turning on and off. I leave my AC converter breaker on when on I am on shore power.
 
Captain Dave T said:
Thanks Tim, I figured that's the way it worked. Do you also leave the AC converter when using the generator ?
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I leave my converter on while plugged into shore power to keep the batteries topped off, for a day or two after a weekend on the hook, and/or in preparation for a weekend on the hook. Otherwise I leave mine off while at the pier. (I'm on a lift, so no need for the bilge pumps to run should I spring a leak). While on the hook, everything runs off 12v so the converter isnt doing anything... Unless you fire up the generator, at which point you use the ac converter to charge the batteries off the generator. Otherwise your only source of re-charge is the engines, and in that scenario the alternators are doing the charging, not the converter.
 
Thanks for the info on the AC Converter, now on to my next question on the new to me boat. I haven't had a chance to look at the wire diagrams yet, so I would like to know if someone can help out with information as to how the Battery banks are set up. There seems to be two banks and each goes to a battery switch. Is one bank house and one just for crank ? If I leave both switches in the on position, will the house loads only draw down the house bank ? Which bank is which, they are labeled port/starboard on the panel ? I plan to anchor out this weekend and don't want to get stranded. Thanks for any help.
 
PM me if you would like an electronic copy of the wiring diagrams that I got from the SeaRay site and cleaned up for tablet/PC viewing.
 
Captain Dave T said:
Thanks for the info on the AC Converter, now on to my next question on the new to me boat. I haven't had a chance to look at the wire diagrams yet, so I would like to know if someone can help out with information as to how the Battery banks are set up. There seems to be two banks and each goes to a battery switch. Is one bank house and one just for crank ? If I leave both switches in the on position, will the house loads only draw down the house bank ? Which bank is which, they are labeled port/starboard on the panel ? I plan to anchor out this weekend and don't want to get stranded. Thanks for any help.
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Easiest way to tell is to turn one bank off and see what 12v things work and don't work, then reverse and test again. One bank is for house and one motor and the other is the other motor. They are completely separate banks. I think the ones under the seat are starboard and the ones in the bilge are port on your panel display.

The "emergency start" switch on your dash temporarily bridges the two banks if your house side is dead and allows you to start the motor wired to that side using the other side. I don't 100% trust a switch/relay to work, so I carry a set of jumper cables just in case I need to manually jump a dead battery side.

If you have a generator, there will be a battery in the bilge for just that and probably the other is your other motor. The generator one should actually be separate bank, so you may have 3 banks. I don't have a genny so I don't know if there is a third battery switch for it, but it will be wired separately from the other two banks.

I changed my bilge battery bank to a pair of high capacity 6v golf cart batteries wired in series and set up in a dedicated battery box. I think my house bank was switched at that time from being the ones under the seat to the bilge ones (you should check, but I think the OEM set up is that the house bank is the one under the seat and is also the starboard engine). My golf cart bank is now wired as the house and port motor bank.

My battery bank under the seat is now the starboard motor only (no longer the house) and I have two high capacity 12v batteries in there. Overkill for a single engine bank, but in case I run down the house/port to dead, I don't want any chances of not getting both engines started using the emergency start switch (or with battery jumper cables which I also keep on board)
 
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My interpretation of the wiring diagram and my boat:

I have two batteries and two battery switches under my seat. I also have two batteries in my engine room. Of the two batteries under my seat, one is for the generator and is not controlled by either battery switch. The other battery under my seat if for the starboard engine and is controlled by one of the switches. The switched functions of the starboard battery are the starboard engine start and the windlass. An un-switched function of the starboard engine battery is the emergency bilge pump.

The two batteries in the engine room are connected in parallel and are controlled by the other switch under the seat. These two batteries switched functions are port engine start and the rest of the boat accessories (house) except the windless. Un-switched functions of these batteries include the boats system monitor, the stereo memory, the bilge pump, and the sump pump.

I have not confirmed that the generator will start with both battery switches off.
 
Boatless-n-KC said:
....I'm looking at 97' 330DA and have read this entire thread. I compiled a page long list of things to check out the boat the next time I go to look at it.
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Finally got down to take a second look at the boat. All the common problems areas looked to okay. Before I make an offer I do have a couple more question:

Refreshing the cabin area. Wondering about cleaning the carpet…can we expect off the shelf spot cleaners to work pretty well? Can the “carpet protectors” be washed. What about the draperies, washed or dry cleaned? Lastly what about cleaning the vinyl.

Cruising speed? I think most of you have said your best cruise is 22 to 24 mph. We had a brief conversion with the current owner. He said he mostly cruised at 14 MPH. The boat can’t plane at the speed can it? Could that even be the best fuel economy speed?

Thanks,
Lew
 
A 14 MPH cruise has to be terribly inefficient and he certainly isn't planing.

We usually operate the boat at two different cruise speeds. The slow cruise speed is 1200 RPMs / 6.8-6.9 MPH / 4.4GPH. The fast cruise speed is 3400 RPMs / 24-26 MPH depending on sea conditions / ~31 GPH.
 
We'll 14mph is about 2200rpm for me with tab fully down.She is plowing through the water. Like LTD mentioned 1200 rpm or 3200 rpm for me yields 6-7 knots and 22-23 knots.

For your other questions.Yes carpet runners can be washed in the washer tumble dry low heat. You can also do the same for the divider curtains and window curtains. Ours came out just like new.

As for the interior We used the small shark steamer that my wife brought on them and they turned out fantastic. Ours has the big rectangular pad on it. Used the bissel little green machine on the carpets. Worked ok but 16 year old carpet what are you going to do.
 
TimTech said:
My interpretation of the wiring diagram and my boat:

I have two batteries and two battery switches under my seat. I also have two batteries in my engine room. Of the two batteries under my seat, one is for the generator and is not controlled by either battery switch. The other battery under my seat if for the starboard engine and is controlled by one of the switches. The switched functions of the starboard battery are the starboard engine start and the windlass. An un-switched function of the starboard engine battery is the emergency bilge pump.

The two batteries in the engine room are connected in parallel and are controlled by the other switch under the seat. These two batteries switched functions are port engine start and the rest of the boat accessories (house) except the windless. Un-switched functions of these batteries include the boats system monitor, the stereo memory, the bilge pump, and the sump pump.

I have not confirmed that the generator will start with both battery switches off.
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My 96 330DA is similar to the above. The generator was wired direct to one of the batteries under the seat. It did start and run without either batt switch being on. The battery charger (AC converter) is wired direct to the batteries so they charge with the batt switches off. I add a battery isolator switch for the generator for safety (see note below).

Apart from Tim's description the starboard bank also powers the distribution board behind the helm switch panel, so any navionics like the depth sounder and radios are often wired to here and thus run off the starboard bank.

Note: I have the Kohler 5CZ generator. The control box on these generators can flatten your generator battery if it fails to start and you do not press Stop after the failed attempts. Relays in the control box remain energized and are only released by pressing Stop. So, after trying to start and failing to do so, press stop to avoid getting a flat generator battery (having a battery isolator switch solves this too, as well as being safer for servicing).
 
Hello,

Just bought a 1992 330 Express. Have not found a thread dedicated to these boats , wondering if i can join this one. Have some questions and look forward to the discussions.

All the best ,

Paul
 
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Boatless-n-KC said:
Finally got down to take a second look at the boat. All the common problems areas looked to okay.
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Survey and sea trial yesterday. Found a few “repairable” issues. One that concerns me the most was the fact that one of the underwater exhaust ports(?) has been sheared off and never re-placed. Looks like someone caulked over the screws, but Survey found some moisture in the hull. He felt it was repairable. Is this problem deal killer?Tried to attach pic
 
Boatless-n-KC said:
Survey and sea trial yesterday. Found a few “repairable” issues. One that concerns me the most was the fact that one of the underwater exhaust ports(?) has been sheared off and never re-placed. Looks like someone caulked over the screws, but Survey found some moisture in the hull. He felt it was repairable. Is this problem a deal killer?
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Well I decided there were too many issues with this boat. Broker just listed a 96' 330 (Fresh water) which looks to be great shape. The only thing it is has 7.4L 600HP with Bravo 1 outdrives. I have to say the better fuel economy is appealing. But, I had really gotten in to the thought of V-drives and reported docking easy. I'd love to hear some thoughts from you folks. Is fuel economy really up to 30% better with the out drives? How bad will the docking be with them? Much different than my old 82DA? What about re-sell? Do most buyers want the V-drives?

Thanks again
Lew
 
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Another question about out-drives, does the engine placement effect ride or the time it takes to reach a plane. Any thoughts from owners with out-drives?
 
Hello KC,

I had a 1997 330 DA with Bravo I's for about 10 years. A friend down the dock had a 1995 330 DA with Bravo II's. We both loved the boats. Very efficient fuel burn. He and I would race with his boat beating me out of the hole slightly but not by much. They get on plane very well. 36 MPH at 3600 RPM, boat hauled A$$. Docking is not a problem and you can straighten out the wheel and treat it as an out drive boat. I in fact did this when we started to look at bigger boats. If you stay in fresh water I would have no worries about the drives.

We boat on Lake Michigan and cross the lake several times a year. I don't remember how many gallons of gas the boat held but crossing to Racine or Milwaukee we would burn less than half a tank on each side.

On time my friend above and I crossed together to Racine. We both topped off before we left. We crused together and then filled up in Racine. His Bravo II's used about 5 less gallons per side.

Hope this helps,
 
Gary - Thanks! That was just the kind of feedback I was look for. Unfortunately the boat is now under a pending contract from another buyer. The sales rep I was working with decided to go on vacation and did not tell me nor ask another rep to be in contact with us. Needless to say I’m more than just a little miffed.

All - I’m now working with a new dealer. They have 1999 330DA. I’m confused about the 99’ model year. I’m only finding info on 340DA’s at SeaRay.com in 99’. But, I find pricing for both the 330 and the 330 at NADA.COM. Did Sea Ray switch models mid-year? Would the 1998 330 specs be about the same as 1999 330? Any other in sight about two models would be great.

Lew
 
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