300 Sundancer questions.

wakeup 19 said:
I got 1992 300 sundancer it is in pretty good shape and I am thinking about adding AC.
Got a quote for 6 k hoping I can do a little better but I was wondering if anyone has done a similar install and where how did you route wires and vents ?
My boat has kitchen on stbd and couch on port..
Thanks Rob
Click to expand...
If you can wait until next Spring, I can get some pictures of mine as it has a heat pump in it. PM me around March of next year, and I'll see what I can do for you.
 
Phil S said:
Hi Jim

Just curious why you blow out the lines and still run the pink through afterwards? I was planning to run AF through the sink drains, gen and engines this year but I wanted to try compressed air through the water supply lines. Last year after the pink sat in the freshwater tank and lines, I had to treat the tank several times to clear that up. I couldn't really tell but the wife and kids (and some day guests) were complaining. I'd like to avoid that next spring :eek:
Click to expand...


Im always surprised how much clear water comes through after we blow out the lines, as the pink comes through the system. We bypass the hot water heater, and pull pink directly from the bottle (vs fresh water tank) so it really takes 6 gallons of pink or less. Cheap insurance and haven't had issues.

Here is the valve you put in line before the FW pump, which allows the pump to pull from the pink bottle. That way you dont get antifreeze in your FW tank which is hard to get rid of smell/taste in the spring.

As long as you pump the FW tank pretty much dry till the faucets are only spurting, there will be plenty of room for expansion in the FW for the tiny bit that is left should there be a freeze.


https://www.westmarine.com/buy/camc...UU9szdi94WcJS1E0d_I-nXIQTN4LwVchoCyiYQAvD_BwE
 
Last edited:
I took a look at the hot water heater today -- which has been broken since I bought the boat and it came up in the survey. I was waiting until it's time to do the risers and manifolds to replace it since we never need hot water.

But for winterizing this year, I wanted to make sure I could access the heater hoses that loop into the hw heater. I couldn't find them.

Looking at the hw heater, the bottom two ports are open with no hoses. And it looks like they either rotted or maybe were cut off. This is a new one to show what I mean, where there are no hoses connected to either of these on mine:

upload_2021-10-23_9-53-17.png


So assuming the PO just removed the heater hoses to the engine. Where would those have been?

This is what mine looks like:

upload_2021-10-23_9-55-6.png
 
Phil S said:
I took a look at the hot water heater today -- which has been broken since I bought the boat and it came up in the survey. I was waiting until it's time to do the risers and manifolds to replace it since we never need hot water.

But for winterizing this year, I wanted to make sure I could access the heater hoses that loop into the hw heater. I couldn't find them.

Looking at the hw heater, the bottom two ports are open with no hoses. And it looks like they either rotted or maybe were cut off. This is a new one to show what I mean, where there are no hoses connected to either of these on mine:

View attachment 114235

So assuming the PO just removed the heater hoses to the engine. Where would those have been?

This is what mine looks like:

View attachment 114236
Click to expand...

Ya - those rot easily - the hoses run from the intake manifold (near the thermostat housing) and the circulating pump (what would be called the water pump in an automotive application) - The PO either looped a hose between the two points, or removed the fittings and put pipe plugs in their place. In addition to this heat exchanger, the unit also has a 110v ac element - often, the only thing that goes wrong is the thermostat/sensor - its behind the cover with the hand on it - when it is left on with no water in it the sensor "melts".......It is a very cheap part and commonly used on RVs as well - remove it and take it to an RV place or search online - I bet that gets it up and running - people are quick to replace the heater "because its old" but that $6 sensor is the culprit most of the time....
 
Ididntdoit said:
Ya - those rot easily - the hoses run from the intake manifold (near the thermostat housing) and the circulating pump (what would be called the water pump in an automotive application) - The PO either looped a hose between the two points, or removed the fittings and put pipe plugs in their place. In addition to this heat exchanger, the unit also has a 110v ac element - often, the only thing that goes wrong is the thermostat/sensor - its behind the cover with the hand on it - when it is left on with no water in it the sensor "melts".......It is a very cheap part and commonly used on RVs as well - remove it and take it to an RV place or search online - I bet that gets it up and running - people are quick to replace the heater "because its old" but that $6 sensor is the culprit most of the time....
Click to expand...

Great, thanks! Both intake manifolds just have pipe plugs, no looped hoses or take-offs or anything like that. I'll check the sensor too -- if I can get some HW for another season that would be awesome.
 
Ididntdoit said:
Ya - those rot easily - the hoses run from the intake manifold (near the thermostat housing) and the circulating pump (what would be called the water pump in an automotive application) - The PO either looped a hose between the two points, or removed the fittings and put pipe plugs in their place. In addition to this heat exchanger, the unit also has a 110v ac element - often, the only thing that goes wrong is the thermostat/sensor - its behind the cover with the hand on it - when it is left on with no water in it the sensor "melts".......It is a very cheap part and commonly used on RVs as well - remove it and take it to an RV place or search online - I bet that gets it up and running - people are quick to replace the heater "because its old" but that $6 sensor is the culprit most of the time....
Click to expand...
‘Most’ of the time, then there was mine….
C09A684D-282A-4A65-9F14-028F89F3F8FC.jpeg
 
JimFromMD said:
Im always surprised how much clear water comes through after we blow out the lines, as the pink comes through the system. We bypass the hot water heater, and pull pink directly from the bottle (vs fresh water tank) so it really takes 6 gallons of pink or less. Cheap insurance and haven't had issues.

Here is the valve you put in line before the FW pump, which allows the pump to pull from the pink bottle. That way you dont get antifreeze in your FW tank which is hard to get rid of smell/taste in the spring.

As long as you pump the FW tank pretty much dry till the faucets are only spurting, there will be plenty of room for expansion in the FW for the tiny bit that is left should there be a freeze.


https://www.westmarine.com/buy/camc...UU9szdi94WcJS1E0d_I-nXIQTN4LwVchoCyiYQAvD_BwE
Click to expand...
After the first few years of that pink sweet taste in the water, i just flush all lines with a compressor, leave all faucets and drains open to allow for expansion. Never had a problem. The only thing gets the pink is the macerator cause I ain’t drink out of that system. At least I hope I don’t get that drunk.
 
Pirate Lady said:
After the first few years of that pink sweet taste in the water, i just flush all lines with a compressor, leave all faucets and drains open to allow for expansion. Never had a problem. The only thing gets the pink is the macerator cause I ain’t drink out of that system. At least I hope I don’t get that drunk.
Click to expand...

Good call!

I just bought the parts to hook a 5-gallon bucket up to the water pump so I can fill all the lines with pink AF but not put any into the FW tank.

Like you I planned to blow out all the lines with my compressor, using the city water inlet. But there is already a quick-disconnect fitting on there for hooking up a water hose. And that SOB is not coming loose, even after a few different shots of PB Blaster.

So I'm okay with pumping pink through the lines.
 
I know this won't be popular with many of you (or any :eek:) but I blame @Ididntdoit who said I needed to remove the helm seat to get access to the wiring that goes to the radar arch.

Well I took out the seat, and I always stand when running the boat. That's when I realized I don't need the helm seat for now. So I got a piece of Sea Dek to fit the space, which matches the kit I got for the swim platform. Now I can jump out to the bow easy enough when I'm running solo or we have a bunch of guests standing in the way. It would only take 10 mins to reverse.

upload_2021-10-23_11-4-26.png
 
Pirate Lady said:
‘Most’ of the time, then there was mine….View attachment 114241
Click to expand...
What did you have to do to get the HW heater out? Mine is still running fine on electricity but the raw water circulating connection on one side rotted out. Of course, it went bad the season AFTER I did my risers and manifolds.
 
Phil S said:
I know this won't be popular with many of you (or any :eek:) but I blame @Ididntdoit who said I needed to remove the helm seat to get access to the wiring that goes to the radar arch.

Well I took out the seat, and I always stand when running the boat. That's when I realized I don't need the helm seat for now. So I got a piece of Sea Dek to fit the space, which matches the kit I got for the swim platform. Now I can jump out to the bow easy enough when I'm running solo or we have a bunch of guests standing in the way. It would only take 10 mins to reverse.

View attachment 114250
Click to expand...
I'm always standing too. I'm going to swap out the bench seat for a Captains Seat. Nice to see what it looks like without the seat.
 
For my fellow 300-bros (2nd gen) ...

I just got my OEM canvas camper top from GLBT (through KevinC). I am replacing an aftermarket canvas with this OEM one (which is awesome by the way).

There's a couple differences so I just wanted to confirm.

The new one has an Isinglass rear window on the camper back, but my old one had a window plus a zipper door (above the transom door).

And this new one has zipper panels on the side with screens AND isinglass whereas the old one just has isinglass on the sides.

Is this normal?
 
I know this is off the canvas subject, but I often go back a few to see what I may have missed. On the subject of HW/ FW tanks, I have a 5 or 6 gal Electric HW tank a 40 gal FW tank on my 86 300 Dancer. I often read something that says "make sure there is water in the HW tank before turning it on". Having never had HW on any previous boats, this is new to me. Doesn't the water in the FW tank automatically refill the HW? I Just bought the boat last fall and have not had a lot of time to learn. The prior owner (a boat club member) passed away and his wife knew nothing about the boats function. When winterizing this fall, I opened the drain valve at the bottom of the HW tank, OPENED ALL FAUCETS, then poured in about 6 gal of pink, opened faucets until pink flowed.
 
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