300 Sundancer questions.

[Cocktail Time]

Did a sea trial on the 1995 300DA yesterday that went mostly well, the only thing I found "bad" was that the steering as VERY tight. This particular vessel has V-drive inboards. The mechanic that did the compression test said the boat didn't have power steering. Could this be the case in a 1995 model year? His suggestion was to grease the shafts. Anybody have any thoughts? Aside from that, the trial and survey went well, and I'll likely be the proud owner soon.

My '95 was hard to turn at slow speed, was great as it went faster.

 

[Brian48080]

My '95 was hard to turn at slow speed, was great as it went faster.

Thanks for that reply. Any thoughts on the "no power steering"? I just can't really believe that, and I'd like to know where to investigate.

 

[Cocktail Time]

Thanks for that reply. Any thoughts on the "no power steering"? I just can't really believe that, and I'd like to know where to investigate.

I don't think mine had power steering either.

 

[Harry Harris]

Did a sea trial on the 1995 300DA yesterday that went mostly well, the only thing I found "bad" was that the steering as VERY tight. This particular vessel has V-drive inboards. The mechanic that did the compression test said the boat didn't have power steering, which I find fairly odd and hard to believe, but I don't really have any experience with inboards and how they specifically work. His suggestion was to grease the shafts. Anybody have any thoughts? Aside from that, the trial and survey went well, and I'll likely be the proud owner soon.

What did the surveyor say about the steering?

 

[Brian48080]

As its turning out the surveyor was likely a fraud. Claimed to be SAMS, not listed on their roster. Put a call into them this morning, they have never heard of him. That's probably a separate thread all together

 

[cpt-cortez]

Does anyone else experience uneven fuel consumption from port to starboard engines?
My starboard side always runs itself down quicker than port. I understand that the generator is plumbed off this tank so there should be a bit more consumption on this side - but what i am seeing is significant.

Last fill up the starboard side took around 60L (16gal) more fuel than the port. For reference I had somewhere around 6-8 hours of genset run time between fill ups. Both engines always run equal hours, run very smoothly and no notable differences, the port engine consumes a tiny bit of oil whereas the starboard engine it is negligible which seems the opposite of what you might expect.

Is it possible that the genset is consuming this much fuel? Seems to me that it must be something more.

The unequal fuel gauges annoy my OCD !

 

[Mugmarine66]

My 94 300da just has a cable from the helm to rudders. I replaced mine and was fairly difficult. A lot better now and very glad I replaced.

 

[Brian48080]

My 94 300da just has a cable from the helm to rudders. I replaced mine and was fairly difficult. A lot better now and very glad I replaced.

Thanks for that info. Do you happen to have the part number for the cable or any lessons learned from your installation that would make mine go smoother?

I'm a bit more nervous now as looking in the parts manual it calls out P/N 126920 "Steering Rack / Cable Assy 18 5" I'm assuming its 18-1/2' long. Nobody seems to make that anymore, only 18' and 19'.

 

[RumIsTheReason]

Any guesses as to the wattage of the air conditioner?

Our onboard generator won’t start and our marina is 3-4 weeks behind on repairs. I want to buy a small portable generator to use and want to get the right size. We’ll be using the A/C and some lights, maybe the battery charger, nothing else.

 

[Mugmarine66]

I installed a 19 ft cable in mine and rerouted it for easier install. Its still a difficult replacement.

 

[Bridog]

Any guesses as to the wattage of the air conditioner?

Our onboard generator won’t start and our marina is 3-4 weeks behind on repairs. I want to buy a small portable generator to use and want to get the right size. We’ll be using the A/C and some lights, maybe the battery charger, nothing else.

I’m sure you know the dangers already in portables, but I’ll post some friendly reminders from member fwebster

Carbon Monoxide
Is simple to grasp, breath it in a confined space and you don’t wake up. Permanently mounted marine generators have their exhausts plumbed to exit at or very near the waterline and away from closed occupied spaces.


Uncontained Fuel System Vents
The fuel systems on Honda and other portable generators are vented to the atmosphere and their carburetors have a bowl drain that releases fuel inside the generator case. That means where you run it, store it or put it under way will have gasoline fumes released in the area and if the bowl drain leaks, you have raw fuel spilled and an explosive liquid in the compartment with the generator.


Lack of ignition protection on electrical devices
The electrical components on portables are not ignition protected like marine generator electrical components are. This means you could easily have an arc or spark anytime contact opens or closes or whenever something is plugged in to disconnected.


Lack of Continuous Grounding
Portable generators pose an additional shock hazard since the portable is not grounded to the boat or to a shore side ground. Likely not a problem with a drill or power tool, but if you connect it to your boat's AC system, you have essentially disconnected the green wire.


Here are some other facts worth noting:

The USCG governs only boat manufacturers and the manufacturers voluntarily subscribe to ABYC guidelines, so there is no "law" against using portable generators on boats. However, both the USCG and ABYC say using portable generators on boat is a bad idea and regularly caution boaters against it.

In spite of the fact that Honda’s advertising says that boating is a popular use of their generators, They have not addressed the grounding, gas fume and ignition protection issues and those concerns still exist.



While accidents may be rare, you do substantially increase your risk of becoming a "statistic" when using a portable generator on a boat.......you put your family at unnecessary risk when you do.

Because some of you have used portable generators and have not yet blown your ass off or asphyxiated your families does not make me wrong, idiotic, stupid or corny any more than it makes you right.
I am also concerned enough about those risks that I would never agree with their use on a boat because of the potential liability. When we are made technical contributors to the site, I believe we would be remiss in failing to point out the whole picture when the arguments posted only address CO.

Frank

 

[RumIsTheReason]

I’m sure you know the dangers already in portables, but I’ll post some friendly reminders from member fwebster

Carbon Monoxide
Is simple to grasp, breath it in a confined space and you don’t wake up. Permanently mounted marine generators have their exhausts plumbed to exit at or very near the waterline and away from closed occupied spaces.


Uncontained Fuel System Vents
The fuel systems on Honda and other portable generators are vented to the atmosphere and their carburetors have a bowl drain that releases fuel inside the generator case. That means where you run it, store it or put it under way will have gasoline fumes released in the area and if the bowl drain leaks, you have raw fuel spilled and an explosive liquid in the compartment with the generator.


Lack of ignition protection on electrical devices
The electrical components on portables are not ignition protected like marine generator electrical components are. This means you could easily have an arc or spark anytime contact opens or closes or whenever something is plugged in to disconnected.


Lack of Continuous Grounding
Portable generators pose an additional shock hazard since the portable is not grounded to the boat or to a shore side ground. Likely not a problem with a drill or power tool, but if you connect it to your boat's AC system, you have essentially disconnected the green wire.

While accidents may be rare, you do substantially increase your risk of becoming a "statistic" when using a portable generator on a boat.......you put your family at unnecessary risk when you do.

Frank

Hey Frank, thanks for the response. I'm not judging your post. I'm super risk averse. I didn't follow some of the points you made, can you help me understand?

The scene is, boat is anchored in a bay, portable generator is on the swim platform connected to our 30a circuit. We have the A/C and some lights in the cabin in the cabin going. (And by the way, we do this with our onboard generator.)

1. I think I got your point on the CO. 30 feet needed, well ventilated area needed. Our CO detector goes crazy while we're getting under way now, so I keep everyone top side for a bit, and worry about CO generally.

2. Unconstrained fuel system: could you play out the scenario for me? What could happen? Is the risk when restarting the generator after the carburetor has leaked some gas into the plastic housing?

3. Lack of ignition protection: I didn't follow that at all. Why would plugging something in when running off the onboard generator be different from plugging something in while running off the portable generator?

4. Lack of continuous grounding: Is this a concern about portable generators in general, or is there something specific to using a portable generator on a boat that I'm missing?

What does becoming a static mean specifically when talking about using a generator on a boat? Is that concern related to fumes and a spark, or something else?

Thanks!

 

[Bridog]

Sorry to be confusing but I’m not Frank (he’s got a much nicer boat but he’s a technical contributor here on CSR and knows his Sh..t! I just quoted this from another thread. I’ll tag him and see if he can answer your questions. Good luck!

 

[Bridog]

In the meantime search portable generators under user name fwebster. Many topics about this here on CSR.

 

[ZZ13]

Any guesses as to the wattage of the air conditioner?

Our onboard generator won’t start and our marina is 3-4 weeks behind on repairs. I want to buy a small portable generator to use and want to get the right size. We’ll be using the A/C and some lights, maybe the battery charger, nothing else.

To answer your question it's about 1Kw for a 12,000 BTU Cruisair. It draws about 8-9 amps when the compressor is on. I don't remember the size of it on my 2004 300 DA, but I think 12,000 is in the ballpark.

 

[Deak]

New to the forum here... just purchased my first Sea Ray, a 2007 300DA.
Already looking ahead to possible upgrades and tweaks. Current chartplotter is a Raymarine C70 with the known intermittent screen issue. I have removed the unit and will attempt a repair, but thinking ahead to a new Axiom 9 with the adapter plate. Has anyone had any luck installing anything larger, Axiom 12 or 9 pro?

 

[Vgomezp]

Hello everyone,
I have been reading a lot, since looking at a 2008 300DA. This would be my 5th boat first 2 were bow riders, then striper 2100, then a Maxum 2500, and now hopefully the 300DA.

My main concern is now we are a family of 4, and would love to spend weekends out. How the space cockpit works out for you guy with 4 family members?

Also I live in the Caribbean, how does the vessel handles in chop? It can get pretty messy here, and I’ve seen most of the guys said the boat doesn’t like going slow...

What Genny is recommended? The one I’m looking doesn’t have one. And also why is it a lot of owners just go genny less? I have seen a lot of 300DA w/o it.

I know this is a very tricky questions but any recommendation for inboards always wet in a slip? What should I look at?

I have uploaded 4 pics of the boat I’m checking to see if you can point me to specifics areas I should be looking at.

Sorry my English
Asking price is 60k...

 

[Drifter22ft]

I didn’t have a gen in my 88 300 so I bought a Westinghouse 2500 a little to small to start it but will run it so bought another one to start but can maintain it on just one I put them on my swim deck exhaust pointing away from the cabin and a co detector inside never gone off

 

[Harry Harris]

Hello everyone,
I have been reading a lot, since looking at a 2008 300DA. This would be my 5th boat first 2 were bow riders, then striper 2100, then a Maxum 2500, and now hopefully the 300DA.

My main concern is now we are a family of 4, and would love to spend weekends out. How the space cockpit works out for you guy with 4 family members?

Also I live in the Caribbean, how does the vessel handles in chop? It can get pretty messy here, and I’ve seen most of the guys said the boat doesn’t like going slow...

What Genny is recommended? The one I’m looking doesn’t have one. And also why is it a lot of owners just go genny less? I have seen a lot of 300DA w/o it.

I know this is a very tricky questions but any recommendation for inboards always wet in a slip? What should I look at?

I have uploaded 4 pics of the boat I’m checking to see if you can point me to specifics areas I should be looking at.

Sorry my English
Asking price is 60k...

I have an 06 300 DA in Australia. We are a family of 4 with adult children, there is plenty of space in the cockpit. We run out in the ocean regularly with 2m swells & it eats it up, it’s way better in rough water than I expected. It is true that they don’t like to hold a plane very slow which I’m working on improving with weight forward/larger tabs.

 

[Snapshot]

Does anyone have an explanation what might cause oil or lower unit oil to drip out the prop? Boat is due for a service this week and noticed this am oil or lower unit oil dripping out the prop. Thanks