Official 280 Sundancer Thread

That fence is 25 years old, and yes its tired. Back when they made them more substantial than they do now.
 
A few tips on sanding and painting the bottom while on a trailer: 1) Remove the fenders from the trailer before doing any work, as they are in the way, and will slow everything down. 2) Back the trailer on to a few lengths of stacked up 2"x6" so you can more easily move under the axles when sanding/painting. 3) get some of inter-lockable foam pads to lay on, otherwise all that dirt on your shirt will stick to the fresh bottom paint..... 4) Better yet write a check and let the boat yard do the work. Actually glad I did it myself, as it had excessive paint build up and was unbelievably rough from all the roller coats, which an extensive sanding evened things out pretty nice. I used a brush to paint the bottom, in an effort to smooth things out even more. Kept telling myself it'll run faster as a motivating factor to get through the hours it took. Hopefully the state gets the floats put in at the ramp and I can launch next week. Website said should be in by the 15th, their still plugging away regardless of Covid so that people can enjoy the out doors. I have a plan B if floats not in, which I might make my plan A. My concern is gas, our club just ripped the fuel tanks out due to age a couple weeks back. Options appear to be limited on where to buy. Timing could not be worse, as fueling at the club was pretty much a social distancing activity already.
 
Henry Boyd said:
Could you post some pics of the Quick water heater? It will help if others need to do the same thing.
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I will take some after photos of the water heater to post next time I get down to the boat. The install was fairly simple. The pump mounting was a challenge but I purchased two very large hose clamps that went around the unit and clamped the pump on top. It fit perfect, I didn’t have to change any of the plumbing to the pump.
 
Seems like a lot for a single engine and a tandem axle trailer. I'll let the others with more knowledge as to the newer models speak. Go for the bigger boat, I looked at the 260 and almost bought one, I am so glad I did not buy it, as its too small.
 
Heracles said:
Hey guys

What are your thoughts on this listing?

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2010/sea-ray-280-sundancer-3570597/

for the same money I can go with a newer 2015/16 260... with same or less hours ...
but was wanting for a weekend get away use so roomier cabin and overall space was in mind
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That's actually not the 280DA that this particular thread is about. It's smaller. It roughly replaced the pre-2010 260DA. Go and take a look at the specs on Sea Ray's website over the course of say, the mid-2000's to 2010 - look at the various versions of the 280DA and 260DA and you'll see what I mean.

BUT... you can get the larger 280DA (this thread), just a year to a couple years older, for less money than the one you linked to. However, the one you linked to is in Utah and you're in PA - maybe that's the going rate for those boats out West, I don't know. Location does play a big factor in pricing.

Second part to this - and it may limit what you can buy - will you be trailering? If so, with what? And what's your experience with trailering?
 
Trailering is the X factor I wouldn’t worry bout it and just have it stored at marina if choice during season and worst case get it shipped home off season and covered up. I won’t be hauling it around
 
Heracles said:
Trailering is the X factor I wouldn’t worry bout it and just have it stored at marina if choice during season and worst case get it shipped home off season and covered up. I won’t be hauling it around
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Thats a clean looking boat I'm sure you would have a lot of fun with. I'm with others, go for the largest you can afford because soon you will want a bigger boat. I have an '02 280DA that is a little bigger then than the new models, handles just fine with one engine so I wouldn't be worried about that and less maintenance.
 
it has the 8.1, i tried looking up reviews/ testing for it specifically but couldn't find anything

I really like it has one engine, and even if its closer to the older 260 size, its still a 28 length boat yes? Andim sure the cabin is larger than the 260?
 
Heracles said:
it has the 8.1, i tried looking up reviews/ testing for it specifically but couldn't find anything

I really like it has one engine, and even if its closer to the older 260 size, its still a 28 length boat yes? Andim sure the cabin is larger than the 260?
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The 260 that it replaces was 28' long. Check the specs on Sea Ray's website and you can compare all of the specs. While not ideal, you can compare the interior/exterior pics, too.

It's really not much larger, at all. There are certainly reasons why someone might want the 280 over the 260, but size increase is not one of them. However, the pre-2010 280 - yes that one offers a noticeable size difference.
 
Henry Boyd said:
Could you post some pics of the Quick water heater? It will help if others need to do the same thing.
Click to expand...
Hey all, here are some pics of the 7.9 Gallon Quick water heater I installed. I made some plumbing modifications, mainly I added "T" fittings to the hot and cold side. I did it on the hot side to install the pressure relief valve. I used the valve from the old water heater, the Quick valve is a POS. It has a very small connection point for the relief valve, and not even barbed so a hose would just slide off. I attached a photo of that valve as well. On the cold side I added a drain valve since the tank does not have one. For the pump, I was able to use two very large hose clamps and clamp the pump directly to the water heater, which allowed it to line back up with the fittings from its original location so I didn't have to make any plumbing changes there. I did end up having to move the port trim motor over just a bit. Heater works well and gets hot relatively quickly for a 120v.
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Josh28161 said:
Hey all, here are some pics of the 7.9 Gallon Quick water heater I installed. I made some plumbing modifications, mainly I added "T" fittings to the hot and cold side. I did it on the hot side to install the pressure relief valve. I used the valve from the old water heater, the Quick valve is a POS. It has a very small connection point for the relief valve, and not even barbed so a hose would just slide off. I attached a photo of that valve as well. On the cold side I added a drain valve since the tank does not have one. For the pump, I was able to use two very large hose clamps and clamp the pump directly to the water heater, which allowed it to line back up with the fittings from its original location so I didn't have to make any plumbing changes there. I did end up having to move the port trim motor over just a bit. Heater works well and gets hot relatively quickly for a 120v.
View attachment 82696 View attachment 82697 View attachment 82698
View attachment 82699 View attachment 82700
Click to expand...

Looks good. A couple of thoughts. The thermostat is under the black cover as is the heater core. The thermostat fits through the electrical heater mount and is not in direct contact with the water because it’s encapsulated in a sealed tube. That’s good if you need to change it as it literally just plugs into the core. The bad news is that the thermostat is really measuring the core temperature because of the pickup’s proximity to the heating element. The offset is that there is an adjustment on the thermostat for moving the electrical heater core set point up or down.

Our boat is also set up with a water mixing valve on the hot water outlet. That requires a cold water feed and check valve so there’s no hot water back flow. If you find you can’t get a safe water temperature it’s something to consider. Although we have the 40 liter model the heater elements are the same and we’ve found these things make water hot fast, so there is a real risk of scalding.
 
Has anyone tried to change out the fuel fill and vent hoses? I believe one of mine is deteriorating to the point of allowing a slight fuel odor under the step. I opened the access in the aft berth to the sending unit and that is tight and sealed so only other options must be the hoses. The manual shows the two run together do I might as well do both. Has anyone done this yet and if so do I have to start pulling panels or is it all accessible from the engine compartment?
 
Does anyone know what the mercruiser part number is for the in line fuel filters? As usual they gave me the wrong ones, the thread size is off. Maybe better yet, where can I find PN's for this boat, as all the materials I have don't have PN's?
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Seldom Right said:
Does anyone know what the mercruiser part number is for the in line fuel filters? As usual they gave me the wrong ones, the thread size is off. Maybe better yet, where can I find PN's for this boat, as all the materials I have don't have PN's?View attachment 82830
Click to expand...

Is that filter for the generator? Possibly retro-fit?

I have factory installed water separating spin-ons for both mains and the generator on my 2001.
 
No, they are in line, prior to the fuel water separators, for each engine. Not sure where the photo went. Try again.
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