Official 280 Sundancer Thread

Does anyone know how to get at the cockpit sink faucet to replace it. Seems impossible to get to. Thanks
 
Does anyone know how to get at the cockpit sink faucet to replace it. Seems impossible to get to. Thanks
The hose runs to a plastic sea tech connector underneath the wet bar. You have to crawl into the closet space the connection is in the upper aft corner closest to the gunwale.

On ours the faucet was metric and rather than screw around I just bought the same faucet and unscrewed the new handle and reused the old hose.
 
Bilge pump install was a success. If anyone here plans to upgrade to the Rule 27DA pumps (stock pumps are Rule 27D), then you're probably going to have to move the primary pump towards port in order to get the hose to fit on the included nozzle which extends about 2 in beyond the original pump. Decided not to use the back flow valve that comes standard with the new pumps. Can follow along here: http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...bilge-pump-mounting-plate.98930/#post-1144826

Also all seacocks are now working! Loosened the square nut 3 turns, then I put a pvc pipe over the levers and got them free. I sprayed the AC seacock with liquid wrench and let that sit but the generator seacock freed up without any penetrating fluids. At the end, I just snugged the square nuts up and still have free movement on the seacocks.

On a different note, does anyone here know what the original dipsticks look like for the 4.3 Mercruisers? Mine have a plastic loop on the top. Reason I'm asking is because I went to check the oil level (dipstick was dried off before reinserting) and couldn't get an accurate reading. The dipstick is made out of a very flexible cable (acts like a wet noodle) and has a metal cylinder on the end. When I go to check the level, the oil is about 3 inches above the top of the metal cylinder (which I'm assuming indicates full). This can't possibly be right. It's also incredibly difficult to see where the oil is on the dipstick due to the cable material. A flat metal strip would be much easier to use. Any ideas?
 
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Hi gents and gals!
I have a 2005 280 with twin 5.0 mpi b3 with SS props. I’m wondering what rpm and mph are you guys seeing it WOT with the drives tucked in all the way. I’m getting around 4100-4200 rpm and 34knots with the drives tucked in all the way. I had half a tank with 4 adults. Just an FYI, I did plugs, wires, distributors and rotors plus new fuel coolers. I’m I missing something? It seems that these boats should be getting around 45-50 mph. I wonder why is it not getting 4800-5000 rpm and 45-50 mph. Thank You!
 
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Hi gents and gals!
I have a 2005 280 with twin 5.0 mpi b3 with SS props. I’m wondering what rpm and mph are you guys seeing it WOT with the drives tucked in all the way. I’m getting around 4100-4200 rpm and 34knots with the drives tucked in all the way. I had half a tank with 4 adults. Just an FYI, I did plugs, wires, distributors and rotors plus new fuel coolers. I’m I missing something? It seems that these boats should be getting around 45-50 mph. I wonder why is it not getting 4800-5000 rpm and 45-50 mph. Thank You!
 
I had a similar issue and changed the props to a lower pitch and it made a big difference

Interesting! Is your set up the same as my 5.0 mpi with b3 drives turning 24pitch props? What pitch did you go to? What mph and rpm are you seeing now?
 
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Hi gents and gals!
I have a 2005 280 with twin 5.0 mpi b3 with SS props. I’m wondering what rpm and mph are you guys seeing it WOT with the drives tucked in all the way. I’m getting around 4100-4200 rpm and 34knots with the drives tucked in all the way. I had half a tank with 4 adults. Just an FYI, I did plugs, wires, distributors and rotors plus new fuel coolers. I’m I missing something? It seems that these boats should be getting around 45-50 mph. I wonder why is it not getting 4800-5000 rpm and 45-50 mph. Thank You!
You may be new to owning/running boats with drives that you can control, but to get your top speed you have to trim up. Tucked all the way in keeps too much hull in the water. As Scofflaw said, then you will get the proper speed and RPM.
 
You may be new to owning/running boats with drives that you can control, but to get your top speed you have to trim up. Tucked all the way in keeps too much hull in the water. As Scofflaw said, then you will get the proper speed and RPM.

Thank You! I will try it.
 
Interesting! Is your set up the same as my 5.0 mpi with b3 drives turning 24pitch props? What pitch did you go to? What mph and rpm are you seeing now?
I went to 22 pitch and get around 4800 almost tp 5000 with it trimmed all the way in
 
Absolutely! I couldn’t be happier with the sound. I am thinking of making a canvas cover for it though b/c I’m not sure how it will handle the elements in the long term. I just replaced my cockpit cover so I now have plenty of material to make custom covers for any topside equipment I want to protect.
I just installed that horn, based on your recommendation. Definite upgrade from the game show buzzer.....
 
Is it possible to retrofit Digital Throttle and Shift (DTS) onto a boat with throttle cables? I'm in the process of buying an '04 280DA with 4.3MPIs, and just curious if this is possible. It's not a dealbreaker or anything. My guess would be no.

Also, has anyone added the MercMonitor or VesselView Mobile to their boat? If so, how do you generally use it and was it worth the expense to you?
 
Is it possible to retrofit Digital Throttle and Shift (DTS) onto a boat with throttle cables? I'm in the process of buying an '04 280DA with 4.3MPIs, and just curious if this is possible. It's not a dealbreaker or anything. My guess would be no.

Also, has anyone added the MercMonitor or VesselView Mobile to their boat? If so, how do you generally use it and was it worth the expense to you?
Don't know about the throttle question. But I have Vessel view mobile. My gauges are not very good. So I bought a 10 inch android tablet and I display vvm on it, and I like it. I don't miss my gauges at all.
 
Is it possible to retrofit Digital Throttle and Shift (DTS) onto a boat with throttle cables? I'm in the process of buying an '04 280DA with 4.3MPIs, and just curious if this is possible. It's not a dealbreaker or anything. My guess would be no.

Also, has anyone added the MercMonitor or VesselView Mobile to their boat? If so, how do you generally use it and was it worth the expense to you?

The answer to your question is technologically? - yes, but economically practical? - probably not, even as a diy. Besides the controls and other expensive components, you need to have the engines equipped with Smartcraft rigging. Smartcraft is Mercury’s implementation of CANBuss the current automotive standard for engine management and control. You would also need Smartcraft to add the Merc monitor and or vesselview in any permutation.

Smartcraft was introduced in 00, but sea ray did not start implementing it until later. The “later” depended on engine package and model. My interpretation of the reason being that initially not all power packages supported Smartcraft and Sea Ray decided to hold off launching a new gauge line uniformly across boat models.

Although a boat can be upgraded to Smartcraft if the engines are compatible (I did it on our 02 2), I wouldn’t recommend doing it now, just because there are plenty of boats that already have it. I also would not recommend buying a Sea Ray without it. The reason being Smartcraft provides so much more Useful engine data and gives you an easy upgrade implementation of nmea2000.

To determine if your proposed 280 has Smartcraft, look at the tachometers. If the boat is Smartcraft equipped, the tachs will have buttons. The speedo may also have buttons. If the boat has Smartcraft, adding the displays is simply a matter of finding sufficient real estate for it on the helm.
 
Thanks Henry and Pete. FWIW, the boat I'm involved in buying is an '04 with Smartcraft gauges already. My guess, as yours was, Henry, is that the hardware involved in switching over to electronic throttles is probably prohibitively expensive if the switch is even physically possible. I might have to talk to a Mercury tech to find out the details. If it was less than a couple of thousand, I might consider it.

edit: This video about a different system suggests it might be possible. Again, no info on price though.
 
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FJ,

Checking with Merc is good. Be sure to mention you will be adding a vesselview type device as this may also be needed for a DTS upgrade to configure and adjust the DTS. If it isn’t needed for DTS you will need additional physical capacity in the harness junction box to plug into.

you may also need a new speedo and tachs to support DTS.
 
I just took delivery of my new (to me) 2011 280 Sundancer. The carpeting in the cockpit area is old and looking a little rough. A friend suggested I might look at some of the fake teak looking stick-down flooring. I think it has some give or padding to it.

Has anyone here used this? If so, what are your thoughts?
 
I just took delivery of my new (to me) 2011 280 Sundancer. The carpeting in the cockpit area is old and looking a little rough. A friend suggested I might look at some of the fake teak looking stick-down flooring. I think it has some give or padding to it.

Has anyone here used this? If so, what are your thoughts?

This is carpet from Snapin carpet. It’s more of a poly fiber woven Matt. Is is quite comfy on the feet. The faux teak material is more in concept to linoleum.

250E6A06-9004-4B85-89BD-50C6FEB71317.jpeg
 

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