Sea Ray 36 Sedan Bridge vs Meridian 341

mjarosch

New Member
Jun 1, 2020
1
Boat Info
Chris Craft 210 1999
Engines
Volvo Penta
Hello, we are looking to upgrade from our current bow rider to a "cabin on the river" boat. We are currently looking at a 2006 Meridian 341 and a 2007 Sea Ray 36 Sedan Bridge. Both are gas engines. We are on the St Croix river (MN/WI) and will probably spend most of the time anchored letting our two kids play and swim off the back, but would be interested in doing some long weekends or even a week long trip down the Mississippi River to the southern MN/WI area. The Meridian is about 20k cheaper, which seems about right for these two models.

Opinions on these two boats from those who have experienced or looked at both? Is the Sea Ray worth the extra money? Or are the sedan bridges in this size of boats a bad idea and would we be better to look at something like a 320 or 340 Sundancer?
 
Please understand this is only an opinion with some facts interjected....Aesthetically, the SR36DB is 100% better looking than the Meridian 341 to me. However, the Meridian is 100 times more dependable, electrically, than the SR. I have both on my dock and know both very well. The weak link in the 36DB is the Eplex electrical system. If the boat has been rewired with mechanical circuit breakers, it will be good to go. I am aware of one SR36 that caught on fire and the one on my dock had constant issues. Finally, the owner had it rewired and all good now. The Meridian likely has 6.2s vs 8.1s in the SR. Fuel cost will be considerably less in the Meridian.

The cockpits on both are terribly small. There is more overall living area due to the bridge on both over a DA. The decision between the DB and DA comes down to how you see yourself using the boat and what serves you and your family’s style the best. Were it my money in your current situation, I would be all over a 340DA.

Others will chime in, and remember, only my opinion except for the electrical (E-plex) system on the 36DB. You can do your own research around the system and see for yourself.

Bennett
 
+1 on the EPLEX system being a nightmare. A friend and I looked over a Repo boat he was considering in Annapolis and after pricing out multiple BAMs (battery auctioner modules) a new “clock” unit (the brain of it all in the galley) it was going to be close to $$$$$+ in parts and labor even if we did it. With the current state of the EPLEX system we had no way to even tell if any of the DC side systems (head, water pump, nav lights, nav systems, on and on) would work because we couldn’t bypass the failed unit(s) to bring them up like the manual stated. Nothing would respond. I can’t imagine getting all that back up then turning on the FW pump to find that it wasn’t winterized correctly to find water spraying everywhere.

Forgot to mention all of the current parts on the boat he was looking at are obsolete so a bunch of adapter harnesses were required if you were going to redo it with OEM touch screens and BAMs.

I think it’s a repo boat because the price tag to fix all that would be crazy. The boat has been sitting owned by the bank for 2yrs.
 
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Since the OP hasn’t been here after his post I’ll just say our 36 had an issue with the bathroom Eplex module I never could fix I had to leave it unplugged just a tad to get it to work I was relieved to see her go I have to say.
 
My wife and I do all of our boating on the St.Crois/Mississippi rivers. We currently slip out of afton marina but have been in bayport and sunnyside.

Many factors can be involved in DB vs DA and depending on your budget. We might know the boats you are looking at as we have been on the river for the past 8 seasons.

As others have mentioned the aft cockpit it either one is terrible small. We moved from a 40 sundancer to a 47 sedan bridge and felt the aft cockpit was to small on the sedan bridge for how we boat. We moved to a 48 sundancer as we enjoy the large open cockpit.

More information on your boating situation will let folks on here provide more guidance. i.e are additional staterooms more important than outdoor space?
 
Hi All,

We are currently under contract on a 2007 36SR Sedan Bridge. Upon survey, we have found out that both the FW and Waste tanks are showing empty on the E-Plex system. The owner told us that a sensor went bad in the FW tank and he had to put a separate gauge for it. When we met the mechanic the following day for the compression checks on the engines, he told us that the owner had trouble with the system and "the whole system had to be hard re-booted".

After reading the posts above I'm not sure what to think.... do we turn and run? Can the system be completely replaced if we buy the boat for the right price? I love the boat's size and layout but don't want to take on someone else's nightmare either.....
 
Hi All,

We are currently under contract on a 2007 36SR Sedan Bridge. Upon survey, we have found out that both the FW and Waste tanks are showing empty on the E-Plex system. The owner told us that a sensor went bad in the FW tank and he had to put a separate gauge for it. When we met the mechanic the following day for the compression checks on the engines, he told us that the owner had trouble with the system and "the whole system had to be hard re-booted".

After reading the posts above I'm not sure what to think.... do we turn and run? Can the system be completely replaced if we buy the boat for the right price? I love the boat's size and layout but don't want to take on someone else's nightmare either.....

After owning the same model for a few seasons I always worried about the Eplex system I was told back then if the main panel went bad it was $10k just to replace that. I had trouble with a head sensor and couldn’t get it to work properly
We did a hard reboot a few times with no luck. It would be a small fortune and not worth the money to me to replace the entire system you may be able to get away with a module here and there but the system was buggy from day 1
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I was glad mine sold and I went back to a boat with breakers. Welcome to CSR
 
I looked into this for a friend a few years ago. If you can get someone interested, I don't think it is that big of a deal to rewire with real breakers. However that said, I would run....why go through the pain?

Bennett
 
Hi All,

We are currently under contract on a 2007 36SR Sedan Bridge. Upon survey, we have found out that both the FW and Waste tanks are showing empty on the E-Plex system. The owner told us that a sensor went bad in the FW tank and he had to put a separate gauge for it. When we met the mechanic the following day for the compression checks on the engines, he told us that the owner had trouble with the system and "the whole system had to be hard re-booted".

After reading the posts above I'm not sure what to think.... do we turn and run? Can the system be completely replaced if we buy the boat for the right price? I love the boat's size and layout but don't want to take on someone else's nightmare either.....

WOW - difficult spot to be in.
When we were looking, I did find a couple boats that I looked at that had an E plex. I struck each of them due to the threat of the E plex failure rates.
Between boats having E plex and those with Zeus pods, there are many low hour boats that the owners just weren't able to enjoy
 
We bought a 09 55 dancer with the E plex early this year. The problems it had were mostly from how it was wired from sea ray and people working on it that didn't understand how it worked. After bringing a tech in and going through the system everything works fine, New modules are available, And they set ours up so they can remote in and trouble shoot if necessary. There are a lot of boats and campers being built using these systems, Its just a different technology.
 
I just love these threads that begin with legitimate questions and concerns around an interesting topic, some great information is shared by members with experience, and the OP never returns to see the very relevant and (IMO) valuable answers to their query. Why bother starting the thread?

Regardless I got some very good info as I’ve considered the 36DB as a next boat option and will likely pass on it after reading this. So ..thanks OP for raising the topic, and to everyone else who responded. :)
 
I just love these threads that begin with legitimate questions and concerns around an interesting topic, some great information is shared by members with experience, and the OP never returns to see the very relevant and (IMO) valuable answers to their query. Why bother starting the thread?

Regardless I got some very good info as I’ve considered the 36DB as a next boat option and will likely pass on it after reading this. So ..thanks OP for raising the topic, and to everyone else who responded. :)
Same here. Great info!
 
I just love these threads that begin with legitimate questions and concerns around an interesting topic, some great information is shared by members with experience, and the OP never returns to see the very relevant and (IMO) valuable answers to their query. Why bother starting the thread?

Regardless I got some very good info as I’ve considered the 36DB as a next boat option and will likely pass on it after reading this. So ..thanks OP for raising the topic, and to everyone else who responded. :)

Actually he was back the next day. Original post was on June 1st and he was last seen on June 2nd. He probably read Bennett’s post and ran. It would be interesting to know if he went thru with a purchase and what his findings are today.
 
Actually he was back the next day. Original post was on June 1st and he was last seen on June 2nd. He probably read Bennett’s post and ran. It would be interesting to know if he went thru with a purchase and what his findings are today.

I saw that ...just that there was a lot more info given after Bennett's post as well. So far as running, you're probably right!
 
I responded for the new member that asked a question today and I see that the op never responded as well all we can do is try.
 
I responded for the new member that asked a question today and I see that the op never responded as well all we can do is try.
She also cross posted on Facebook in the Searay Sedan Bridge Owners group...

upload_2020-12-14_16-11-44.png
 
We bought a 09 55 dancer with the E plex early this year. The problems it had were mostly from how it was wired from sea ray and people working on it that didn't understand how it worked. After bringing a tech in and going through the system everything works fine, New modules are available, And they set ours up so they can remote in and trouble shoot if necessary. There are a lot of boats and campers being built using these systems, Its just a different technology.
Good to know.
 
We bought a 09 55 dancer with the E plex early this year. The problems it had were mostly from how it was wired from sea ray and people working on it that didn't understand how it worked. After bringing a tech in and going through the system everything works fine, New modules are available, And they set ours up so they can remote in and trouble shoot if necessary. There are a lot of boats and campers being built using these systems, Its just a different technology.

That's really good feedback and great news, glad to see that there is a workable solution for these systems
 
I know nothing of either boat. Based at looking a hulls for both at boat shows the SeaRay is deeper. If you do nor expect to be in rough water it is not a concern.
 

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