Proud new 280DA owner - a couple of questions

B

bsteven43

New Member
Jul 30, 2007
51
Hi guys. My wife and I just took delivery of a 2003 280 Sundancer. She's black and gold with black canvas - a real beauty. Also has twin 305/260Hps with Bravo III outdrives and a generator. We couldn't be happier. I have no boating experience though so I'm a little uncertain about some things. We are docked on a tributary to Lake Erie. I have a few questions that I'll list and hope for whatever good feedback I can get ... thanks guys.

1. Are the trim tabs commonly used to get the boat to flatten out at low speeds? My wife gets nervous if I go over 15mph or so and I feel like we're always way bow up.

2. Generator (Kohler 5KW) runs for about 3 minutes then begins to idle rough and then quits. Start it up again, and then three minutes later it quits again. Fuel? Plugs?

3. Fresh water pump power. The manual says its in the main panel along with a level indicator ... but its' not there. I've been looking for three days and can't find how to get the water turned on.

4. I washed the boat deck and a good bit of water drained into the well that also serves as the first step to below deck. It seemed slow to drain and then when we were out running, water seemed to "back up" there and pool in that little well. I thought that would drain overboard?

Thanks a ton guys .... I"m sure I'll have more. Brad
 
Welcome to CSR and congratulations on the 280. I can't help you with your questions but I am sure others will chime in. You will want to put your boat information (year, model, motor, etc) in your signature to assist in questions. Also you will notice that we have a virtual marina where you can post pictures of your boat. Again welcome to the board!!!

Wesley
 
Congrats and welcome!

Some feedback regarding your questions (which are all very good questions, btw). This boat doesn't like 14MPH to 22MPH. You'll learn to stay out of that zone as the bow will be high, big wake and terrible fuel usage. Trim tabs won't help unless you get onto plane (which ocurs around 3000RPM or so).

The Kohler is a finicky piece of equipment. Seems like most problems are either the plugs or the choke. I actually had the first problem with mine last weekend - the choke assy got stuck in the closed position and would not start until a gave it a little tap. Might be your water/fuel filter too. If it were my boat, I would replace the filter and plugs first and see what that does. Then check the choke while the unit is running. Always make sure you have good water coming out the port side exhaust exit.

THe water system is energized by pressing one of the buttons on the bottom, right of the helm controls. The button looks like a rectangle with a squiigly line through the middle of it. Took me a month to figure that one out. Do it with the engine hatch open and you should hear the pump kick on. Make sure you are not connected to city water.

You shouldn't have much if any water pooled in the step drain. There is probably some gunk stuck in there. Put a shop vac to both sides of the drain line - should clear it out for you. You may also try a blast from the water hose into the line as well as the vac if it is really stuck in there.

One last tip, keep your cabin door tracks clean and lubricated. Search for other posts on this.
 
One more point about the fresh water, there is no tank level indicator on a 280DA. There is however a water pump breaker on the 12v side of the distribution panel in the cabin. The panel is divided into two sections, the 110vac breakers have white lettering and the 12vdc breakers have red lettering. Don't forget to fill the fresh water tank and open faucets to purge air.

As for the tabs, primarily they're used to control listing due to weight distribution or wind while on plane. Some use them to help the boat plane more quickly. By the way, your boat does not plane at 15mph, so something has to give. Pick a calm day with light boat traffic, and show your wife how smoothly the boat runs at speed. It will be a long summer puttering around at 5mph.
 
I've been able to get a slow comfortable ride at about 20mph by putting both tabs down and tucking the engines in. But like it's been said, you're burning more fuel and throwing a big wake. Your wife will get used to the speed and before you know it she'll be telling you to go faster.
 
1. Are the trim tabs commonly used to get the boat to flatten out at low speeds? My wife gets nervous if I go over 15mph or so and I feel like we're always way bow up. At 15mph you are in the worst are for speed and fuel econ. Not on plane and pushing a lot of water. Tabs affect the angle at any speed except idle, but you should run the boat at 2000 rpm or below or then at 3000 plus rpm to avoid the 2000 to 3000 rpm area where the hull is trying to climb over it's own bow wave and get on plane.
2. Generator (Kohler 5KW) runs for about 3 minutes then begins to idle rough and then quits. Start it up again, and then three minutes later it quits again. Fuel? Plugs? As said its a finnicky genny. I would recommend to run it with heavy load, maybe need to change the plugs. Also, running a strong fuel detergent, such as Gumout Regane has been a great improvement for engines and genny for me. Stabi has also the same effect and I have it in every tank.
3. Fresh water pump power. The manual says its in the main panel along with a level indicator ... but its' not there. I've been looking for three days and can't find how to get the water turned on. SOme 280 guy needs to answer this

4. I washed the boat deck and a good bit of water drained into the well that also serves as the first step to below deck. It seemed slow to drain and then when we were out running, water seemed to "back up" there and pool in that little well. I thought that would drain overboard? It should. maybe some strong clearner and a garden hose to flush can open the drain up. Or taking a drain snake to help it if that doesn't work. maybe old leaves in thee.
 
Thanks a lot for the responses guys ... they've been very helpful. I'm going to go down to the boat tonight and try to get the water going and work on that deck drain. It's supposed to be a beautiful night too so I'll see if I can get my wife out there and comortable with a little higher speed. Thanks again .... Brad
 
Welcome! I had the same boat and loved it. Regarding the Kohler 5E generator I would do the following:

1) clean the sea strainer
2) make sure sea cock is open fully
3) replace the impeller
4) replace the spark plugs
5) replace the oil and filter
6) replace the raw water zinc
7) inspect the engine coolant, top off if needed, replace if needed

You can buy a servicing kit for around $80 for this generator and it comes with everything you need plus extra fuses and such in a water tight carry case you can use for storing all your boats spare parts.

http://www.kohlerpower.com/marine/detail.htm?sectionNumber=13461&categoryNumber=12561&prodnum=72861
 
Another question just came to mind that I meant to include in the first post ... the engine control handles (what are they called actually?) at the helm are very stiff. In fact, the port engine is stiffer than the starboard, particularly get it into reverse. Makes docking a little bit more of a challenge than I'd like. Is the tension adjustable? If so, is the adjustment at the helm or at the outdrive? Is there other maintenance that can be done to make sure the shifting is smooth? Thanks again guys .. Brad
 
I have the same issue, a wife who likes to putt. I put both trim tabs all the way down and run at 2000 rpm. It is about 10mph. You will burn a ton of fuel but its cheaper than the divorce. After a half hour of that I have her convinced we need to run at 3400 rpm to "clean things out". So, give the admiral a short sightseeing trip and then get about getting to your destination. Remember, if mama aint happy, no one is happy.
 
Idaho spud said:
I have the same issue, a wife who likes to putt. I put both trim tabs all the way down and run at 2000 rpm. It is about 10mph. You will burn a ton of fuel but its cheaper than the divorce. After a half hour of that I have her convinced we need to run at 3400 rpm to "clean things out". So, give the admiral a short sightseeing trip and then get about getting to your destination. Remember, if mama aint happy, no one is happy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info ... forgive the ignorance but trim tabs down would be "bow up" or "bow down" on the dash?
 
Brad

The trim angle on your outdrives is also an important thing to understand. I don't know if you are aware of this or not since you say this is your first boat. When you first take off the drives should be trimmed all the way down and as you gain speed, you will want to trim them up a bit to maximize speed. Maybe some of the 280DA guys can comment about trimming the outdrives on the 280. I know my 260DA takes a lot of trim but I can't speak first hand about the 280DA.

Do you keep your boat on the Grand River? (I grew up in greater Cleveland and have lived in Mentor, Kirtland, and Chardon up in your neck of the woods.)
 
Dave S said:
Brad

The trim angle on your outdrives is also an important thing to understand. I don't know if you are aware of this or not since you say this is your first boat. When you first take off the drives should be trimmed all the way down and as you gain speed, you will want to trim them up a bit to maximize speed. Maybe some of the 280DA guys can comment about trimming the outdrives on the 280. I know my 260DA takes a lot of trim but I can't speak first hand about the 280DA.

Do you keep your boat on the Grand River? (I grew up in greater Cleveland and have lived in Mentor, Kirtland, and Chardon up in your neck of the woods.)
Click to expand...

Hi Dave - yes, we are currently docked at Grand River Marine by Pickle Bills. May move next year to MHYC or Mentor Lagoons - not sure. So far, we like being at Grand River Marine.

I do understand the basics of outdrive trim. So far, I'm more interested in making the boat ride smooth, stable and level at low speeds than I am in maximizing fuel economy or speed.

When you say your boat "takes a lot of trim" does that mean that you have to trim it up a lot after get some speed going? How do you know when you've trimmed it up too much? Can you ever get where the props come out of the water?

I'm still not sure I understand the role the trim tabs play in relation to outdrive trim. I'll get on to it everntually. Thanks for the note.
 
If you want to go slow and smooth, keep the drives down, don't trim them up. on the 280, you really can't start to trim the drives up until you are hitting about 27ish mph. below that speed and the drives will start to cavitate and you'll see your rpms rise quickly and the boat will feel like it's stalling. I would tuck the drives, push down the trim tabs (bow down) and do a nice slow cruise. You'll burn fuel but it's a pretty nice slow ride. I think the slowest I could hold it like that was about 17mph.
 
Operating the tabs and trimming the outdrive serve two differnt functions.

You keep the outdrive down all the way to get a good start on your way up to planing speeds or if you are going to run at slower speeds. If you get up to planing speeds, you trim the drives a bit which tends to lift the bow out of the water thereby reducing the amount of the hull in the water, increasing your speed without increasing the throttle, and decreasing fuel consumption.

The tabs are typically used at low speeds just to keep the bow down if you are running constantly at below planing speeds. At planing speeds the tabs are only used to balance a load side to side if the boat is leaning.
 
This is my first summer with the 280. I normally don't have to use the tabs out of the hole unless I have a heavy load, normally it's just me and the skipper. Once planed out I like to cruise at 3400-3600 rpms's or about 28-30 mph. Make for a real nice ride and you can play with the tabs to level her out if needed.


We have a westerbeke and really enjoy this brand/model. It had 8 hours on it when we purchased it now we have approx. 80 hours. i had to replace the impellar and flushed the cooling system and added a new mixture.

Enjoy your new boat!
 
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