The Official 450 Express Bridge Owners Club

Forrestkk said:
That's a bummer.

Side note, what/how many underwater lights are you doing?

My starboard underwater light died. I found that my battery charger tends to pop-up to conditioning mode after switching back to shote power and that light DID not like it. It flickered for a bit and now it is toast. Mine were just white.l and only aft facing. Plan to haul Feb/Mar for bottom and a thru hull, rudder packing.

Thinking of adding two more side facing and going adjustable color. Probably not going with current brand.
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Last June while on the hard for prep, 2 coats bottom paint and running gear paint, I replaced both raw water engine seacocks. Rudders were also dropped to clean and reseal flanges (one leaked), not just repacking. My shaft alignment and cutlass bearings inspected as ok....for now. Next time might be another story. Labor & materials $10k for the weeklong work. Glad I did all that, all necessary, piece of mind, but very pricey.
 
Jack O'Brien said:
Last June while on the hard for prep, 2 coats bottom paint and running gear paint, I replaced both raw water engine seacocks. Rudders were also dropped to clean and reseal flanges (one leaked), not just repacking. My shaft alignment and cutlass bearings inspected as ok....for now. Next time might be another story. Labor & materials $10k for the weeklong work. Glad I did all that, all necessary, piece of mind, but very pricey.
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One of my "odds and ends" is the sea cock to the AC/Heater needs to be checked. The last time I cleaned the sea strainer it would not close all of the way. I'm figuring they will find other issues also. I know it will be pricey, but like you said, the piece of mind is worth all of the boat bucks that we all have to spend. :)
 
Shoyrtt said:
That's a great looking boat Jack!
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Thanks much! Made lots of improvements & maintenance to an idle and neglected dream boat. Decking, Chartplotter, radar, depth finder, all new engines hoses & coolers, new coolant, and more. I have a monthly boat cleaner, diver, and wax/buff every 6 months, plus an absent owner yacht manager (fixes stuff or knows who to get). Eisenglass on bridge holding up and I hope to get a few more years out of the bridge surround and cockpit cover. Acquired herJune 2020, this weekend will mark our 20th outing. Two trips to the Keys so far...burned plenty fuel. I enjoy this group and everyone's remarks and ideas!
 
Shoyrtt said:
View attachment 118834

After several recommendations here on CSR, I picked up 4 of the Lumitec SeaBlaze X2 units at West Marine. I wanted the multi color model, but the Admiral only wanted blue and white so we saved a little $. The plan is to mount all 4 on the stern. I thought about side facing lights, but after suffering the little pin hole leak with the trim tab, I don't want to worry about leak on the side behind the fuel tanks that I might not notice. I figure if I develop a leak in the stern, I can easily check and I have a bilge pump ready to go to work.
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I have two Lumitec Quatros, white only and 2000 lumens, and they were plenty for the aft area. Four of those X2s (6000 lumens) will be incredible.


This video is just one light working, mounted just inboard of the port trim tab.

 
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Forrestkk said:
I have two Lumitec Quatros, white only and 2000 lumens, and they were plenty for the aft area. Four of those X2s (6000 lumens) will be incredible.


This video is just one light working, mounted just inboard of the port trim tab.

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Very nice Kevin!
The Aquila that we chartered in the BVI had Lumitec lights all over it. The cool thing with that catamaran was there was a lot of room in the two hulls to mount aft, inside (between the two hulls) and outside lights. I wonder if you could just swap out the Quatros for a set of X2s?
BVI4.jpeg
 
Shoyrtt said:
Very nice Kevin!
The Aquila that we chartered in the BVI had Lumitec lights all over it. The cool thing with that catamaran was there was a lot of room in the two hulls to mount aft, inside (between the two hulls) and outside lights. I wonder if you could just swap out the Quatros for a set of X2s?
View attachment 118841
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Thx!

Cool shot of the catamaran!

I just looked at the x2s, need to look at the template and see if I can do it without new holes. Would go with the spectrum version. We normally just do a Red/White/Blue theme, but for Christmas parades, and other events, would be cool to have some options!

Could add a third in the middle and get some more color combo options.

Certainly won't be using Quatros again.
 
Shoyrtt said:
Interesting 450 EB for sale listed on Yachtworld. https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2001-sea-ray-450-express-bridge-8092692/

It is located in Curacao which may explain a few of the modifications. Check out the placement of the A/C vent(s) on the helm:
View attachment 118922
Also noteworthy is what appears to be a water maker mounted aft of the port engine.
View attachment 118923
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Would love to see where they mounted the A/C unit...putting bridge A/C and Heat is definitely on my list.

At least a little concerning the belt safety cover is missing...:eek:
 
Shoyrtt said:
Interesting 450 EB for sale listed on Yachtworld. https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2001-sea-ray-450-express-bridge-8092692/

It is located in Curacao which may explain a few of the modifications. Check out the placement of the A/C vent(s) on the helm:
View attachment 118922
Also noteworthy is what appears to be a water maker mounted aft of the port engine:
View attachment 118923
Twin Captain seats:
View attachment 118924
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Interesting, your two points. No tender, no decking, no radar, other electronics out of date, 1040 hrs, so, at $209k I'm encouraged. $209k is avg ask price of 10, 450EB's, 2000-2004 on market back in June 2021 analyzed by simple Google searching. Still feel very blessed with price I landed in June 2020.
 
Forrestkk said:
Would love to see where they mounted the A/C unit...putting bridge A/C and Heat is definitely on my list.

At least a little concerning the belt safety cover is missing...:eek:
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I thought you might like the A/C on the helm. Unfortunately there are no other pictures of the set up.

How about this 450 EB in Croatia. I wonder why they felt the need for three more cup holders? I guess the 5 stock ones were not enough? o_O
https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2000-sea-ray-450-express-bridge-7358814/
SeaRay450Helm5.jpg

SeaRay450Helm6.jpg
 
Shoyrtt said:
I thought you might like the A/C on the helm. Unfortunately there are no other pictures of the set up.

How about this 450 EB in Croatia. I wonder why they felt the need for three more cup holders? I guess the 5 stock ones were not enough? o_O
https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2000-sea-ray-450-express-bridge-7358814/
View attachment 118925
View attachment 118926
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LOL! Hey, now there's an idea! Use the space where my obsolete GPS (screen blank in middle..not fixable, redundant anyway to Chartplotter), and non-working autopilot (don't feel so needed anyway), and build a little fold out lunch tray with cup, reading glasses, phone holders! Brilliant use of this space. On the other hand was thinking of adding a gateway and engine instrumentation for added monitoring in this space. Examples could be all three cooler temps. Recently used an IR gun on about 5 points each engine & tranny underway just for interest in baselining temps. Not sure I'll follow thru any of these ideas but they are things I think about. Fuel pressure too. Fresh water flush system yet another. Of course mechanics I asked on thoughts of added temp monitoring locations and fresh water flush all say, "Well if you stick with proper engine hour preventative maintenance, you don't need any of this stuff."
 
My helm. Left to right, 2 VHF's (upper brand new), Sonar forward depth, Garmin 8612xsv, SiriusXM (behind steering wheel), new depth upper dash, bow thruster, GPS (screen damaged), Autopilot (not operable).
17B41C4861C149DEB831009D80A41603.jpg
 
Jack O'Brien said:
LOL! Hey, now there's an idea! Use the space where my obsolete GPS (screen blank in middle..not fixable, redundant anyway to Chartplotter), and non-working autopilot (don't feel so needed anyway), and build a little fold out lunch tray with cup, reading glasses, phone holders! Brilliant use of this space. On the other hand was thinking of adding a gateway and engine instrumentation for added monitoring in this space. Examples could be all three cooler temps. Recently used an IR gun on about 5 points each engine & tranny underway just for interest in baselining temps. Not sure I'll follow thru any of these ideas but they are things I think about. Fuel pressure too. Fresh water flush system yet another. Of course mechanics I asked on thoughts of added temp monitoring locations and fresh water flush all say, "Well if you stick with proper engine hour preventative maintenance, you don't need any of this stuff."
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Extra temp monitors, nice to have. Some of the guys on here do some pretty impressive stuff with a Maretron setup.

I can't agree with those mechanics on fresh water flushing not being a huge improvement.

I took photos of mine before and after barnacle buster flush this year, and will do the same next year to see if the difference in the before picture is apparent with regular fresh water flushing.

Here is a great article on the benefits of fresh water flushing from a mechanic who sells new coolers and cooler maintenance kits.

https://www.sbmar.com/articles/the-benefits-of-fresh-water-flushing-your-marine-diesel-engine/
 
Forrestkk said:
Like the TV cabinet, mine is sitting empty waiting for me to build the backing.

Looks like just a Webasto Self Contained A/C and the hot water heater.
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You are correct. I think my unit is to the left of the of the air handler.
 
Forrestkk said:
Extra temp monitors, nice to have. Some of the guys on here do some pretty impressive stuff with a Maretron setup.

I can't agree with those mechanics on fresh water flushing not being a huge improvement.

I took photos of mine before and after barnacle buster flush this year, and will do the same next year to see if the difference in the before picture is apparent with regular fresh water flushing.

Here is a great article on the benefits of fresh water flushing from a mechanic who sells new coolers and cooler maintenance kits.

https://www.sbmar.com/articles/the-benefits-of-fresh-water-flushing-your-marine-diesel-engine/
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Certainly thorough article. I like the Groco strainer top option best. Mine are easily accessible. So are the Genset and A/C strainers. All are mounted right next to the engine room floor. Seacocks on the other hand require a belly crawl under the ISO boost unit and Genset. That Groco unit is very pricey, but I've seen a plastic type after market under $100. That one makes me a tad nervous though.
 
Jack O'Brien said:
Certainly thorough article. I like the Groco strainer top option best. Mine are easily accessible. So are the Genset and A/C strainers. All are mounted right next to the engine room floor. Seacocks on the other hand require a belly crawl under the ISO boost unit and Genset. That Groco unit is very pricey, but I've seen a plastic type after market under $100. That one makes me a tad nervous though.
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Agree, the seacocks are tough. Would hate to need to close them for an emergency. I exercise them regularly so at least they are easy, and I keep Top Shelf's Seacock Helper right by the mains.

I did my own flushing caps. Bought a 3/4" drill and tap, four stainless valves. Drilled holes, threaded, and assembled. Did all 4 strainers for under $125.

Here are the mains.

20211111_150924.jpg
 
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Forrestkk said:
Agree, the seacocks are tough. Would hate to need to close them for an emergency. I exercise them regularly so at least they are easy, and I keep Top Shelf's Seacock Helper right by the mains.

I'd did my own flushing caps. Bought a 3/4" drill and tap, four stainless valves. Drilled holes, threaded, and assembled. Did all 4 strainers for under $125.

Here are the mains.

View attachment 118935
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THAT is simply awesome.
 
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