The Official 450 Express Bridge Owners Club

[techmitch]

Is that center area just open for phones and such?

Looks like it is. https://thegripmate.com/choose-your-gripmate/

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Welcome to the 450 EB thread Jack! I see that your boat is a 2002 with a hardtop that you bought in June of 2020. Do you know if your boat was formerly used at Disney World for their VIP guests? It seems like a lot of the factory hardtops were sent there. Were you able to find replacement vents for your engine room?

Still searching for bilge vent covers (Sea Ray calls them inserts). Someone offered up that the molds were sold and then that molder was bought out. I wouldnt mind having them fabricated if I had a blueprint. Sea Ray wasn't helpful for that. Previous owners worked at Disney, kept the boat in Cocoa, FL, where we purchased it. He was a launch ferry operator in the park, she, in the media dept. Possibly could have been used for VIP's, don't really know. The "hardtop" is actually a 1st owner add-on to replace bimini. Has very robust SS supports and Stamoid top/Stamoid & Eisenglass surround. Love this boat!

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Hi @Jack O'Brien, welcome!

Would love to see pics of your flooring! I want to get mine done as I still have the outdoor carpet, but have some other projects higher up on the list.

Some pics of the new flooring. Very happy with it. Bridge deck has a compass rose feature in front of the helm. Don't have an image except the design template attached.

 

[Forrestkk]

Had a good weekend, lots of dolphins, but the alarm on the port engine sounded last evening right as we were pulling into a bayou to swim, chill, and have dinner. Because the previous owner had his mechanic bypass the entire Sea Ray warning system, all it does is sound a warning horn. So, you have to cross check guages to figure it out. You cant even tell which engine is causing the alarm. I have to fix that, especially after yesterday.

I checked guages and behind me for tell tale stuff and nothing was wrong. Begin the rapid guessing game. We were going slow and clear from obstruction so I cut the starboard engine, still sounding; restarted starboard and cut port and the horn went off. Had my son take the wheel and keep us away from the edge of the bayou and start heading back to the bay for what might have been a 3 hour slog home on the starboard. Grabbed my ear muffs, head lamp, IR temp gun and got into the ER.

Guess what I found? NOTHING. Fluid levels all good, no leaks, no smells, temps on fluids congruent with starboard engine. I checked that the wires were still connected to the warning switches and hadn't grounded out causing a false alarm.

Cranked up the port engine and checked physical guages and all temp/pressure matched helm guages and in operating range (horn still going). So, I disconnected the horn and drove home and hawk eyed the guages...no issues.

Assuming either a wire chaffed through to ground or a warning switch failed. Will be getting out the meter and figuring that out this week.

On the way home, we managed to pick up a group of dolphins. Slowed down to pump up the wave and they stayed with us for 15 mins. I eventually figure out I need to zoom in about a 1/3 into the vid.

 

[Forrestkk]

Some pics of the new flooring. Very happy with it. Bridge deck has a compass rose feature in front of the helm. Don't have an image except the design template attached.

Wow, those floors look GREAT!

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Had a good weekend, lots of dolphins, but the alarm on the port engine sounded last evening right as we were pulling into a bayou to swim, chill, and have dinner. Because the previous owner had his mechanic bypass the entire Sea Ray warning system, all it does is sound a warning horn. So, you have to cross check guages to figure it out. You cant even tell which engine is. I have to fix that, especially after yesterday.

I checked guages and behind me for tell tale stuff and nothing was wrong. Begin the rapid guessing game. We were going slow and clear from obstruction so I cut the starboard engine, still sounding; restarted starboard and cut port and the horn went off. Had my son take the wheel and keep us away from the edge of the bayou and start heading back to the bay for what might have been a 3 hour slog home on the starboard. Grabbed my ear muffs, head lamp, IR temp gun and got into the ER.

Guess what I found? NOTHING. Fluid levels all good, no leaks, no smells, temps on fluids congruent with starboard engine. I checked that the wires were still connected to the warning switches and hadn't grounded out causing a false alarm.

Cranked up the port engine and checked physical guages and all temp/pressure matched helm guages and in operating range (horn still going). So, I disconnected the horn and drove home and hawk eyed the guages...no issues.

Assuming either a wire chaffed through to ground or a warning switch failed. Will be getting out the meter and figuring that out this week.

On the way home, we managed to pick up a group of dolphins. Slowed down to pump up the wave and they stayed with us for 15 mins. I eventually figure out I need to zoom in about a 1/3 into the vid.

Great video. We see dolphins in our wake frequently at San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound on West Coast of FL. Most recent had a huge one so close to the boat. Couldn't catch a video quick enough. Next time...

 

[Forrestkk]

Great video. We see dolphins in our wake frequently at San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound on West Coast of FL. Most recent had a huge one so close to the boat. Couldn't catch a video quick enough. Next time...

Thx! This is the first time they have stayed with us long enough for me to get my phone going. We have lots of them the wake spuriously that breach and move on, but I have been playing with different speeds and I think 11 knots is the magic number...too slow and they go away, too fast and they go away.

 

[Forrestkk]

Still searching for bilge vent covers (Sea Ray calls them inserts). Someone offered up that the molds were sold and then that molder was bought out. I wouldnt mind having them fabricated if I had a blueprint. Sea Ray wasn't helpful for that. Previous owners worked at Disney, kept the boat in Cocoa, FL, where we purchased it. He was a launch ferry operator in the park, she, in the media dept. Possibly could have been used for VIP's, don't really know. The "hardtop" is actually a 1st owner add-on to replace bimini. Has very robust SS supports and Stamoid top/Stamoid & Eisenglass surround. Love this boat!

Just had mine out for 2 weeks...wish I had known. Think you could have them laser scanned and then 3d printed? There is a heck of biz idea, start scanning and printing boat parts. Anyone want to go in on that? There is a boat graveyard between Jacksonville and Orlando, could spend weeks there scanning.

 

[SR450EB Captain]

Is that center area just open for phones and such?

yes just kind of a catch all space in the middle

 

[Shoyrtt]

…I have been playing with different speeds and I think 11 knots is the magic number...too slow and they go away, too fast and they go away.

We have been really lucky to see dolphins on almost every trip we take to Catalina and the Admiral will demand we change course just to get close. I agree the sweet spot is around 12-13 knots where they like swim around the bow and surf & jump the wakes. We have seen pilot whales and even a large 70’ Blue Whale that crossed our bow. It looked like a huge bus!
Hopefully you get this electrical gremlin figured out.

 

[Shoyrtt]

yes just kind of a catch all space in the middle

Tony, I don’t remember, do you have a 2 or 3 stateroom model? Next time you are at the boat, post a picture of your HIN # so we can decode it.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Just had mine out for 2 weeks...wish I had known. Think you could have them laser scanned and then 3d printed? There is a heck of biz idea, start scanning and printing boat parts. Anyone want to go in on that? There is a boat graveyard between Jacksonville and Orlando, could spend weeks there scanning.

Laser scanned & 3D printed! Wow, what an idea. Where to start a whole nother matter. But, a nearby same model has these same vents & covers (inserts). Glued in place they are .

 

[Shoyrtt]

Laser scanned & 3D printed! Wow, what an idea. Where to start a whole nother matter. But, a nearby same model has these same vents & covers (inserts). Glued in place they are .

Jack,
Normally the vents are held in with 8-10 screws and caulking. Maybe check with neighbor boat to confirm caulking vs. glue.
I am pulling my boat this winter, probably in January or February for bottom paint, underwater lights and to repair a small leak with the trim tabs. I can pull my vents then and see if can have them 3D scanned for you if you haven’t found a replacement by then.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

I also have

That table looks GREAT! Assuming you have some of finish on the table I doubt you could cover with epoxy. Most likely would have to take it back down to raw wood and then start the epoxy pours, even the slightest residual from previous finish could be problematic. Epoxy coat is labor intense, 3-4 pours total, with sanding between each pour then full compound, polish, buff and wax on the final coat.

Regarding A/C. My 3 sr 2002 model has 3 A/C units. Salon does only have 2 vents at TV cabinet but cools it fast & cold in So. FL. I use dehumidify feature, salon only, while away. On arrival, crank up salon & fwd sr, cools quickly. 15 mos ago on purchase I had A/C systems descale performed. Was very necessary. Was told a 1/2 hockey puck pool chlorine tablet dropped into the strainer helps. Been remiss some on that but so far so good.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Jack,
Normally the vents are held in with 8-10 screws and caulking. Maybe check with neighbor boat to confirm caulking vs. glue.
I am pulling my boat this winter, probably in January or February for bottom paint, underwater lights and to repair a small leak with the trim tabs. I can pull my vents then and see if can have them 3D scanned for you if you haven’t found a replacement by then.

Omg, that's awesome. Don't know a darn thing about laser scan or 3d printing. On taking pics I couldn't see any screws and earlier learned they are glued on, a pretty flawed connection to cut fiberglass. If you didn't see earlier post images, here are three.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

To be clear, my boat does have the vents and screwed in place. It's the covers (Sea Ray calls them inserts) that fit over the large opening. Not sure I have a decent image of my missing covers but will look.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

To be clear, my boat does have the vents and screwed in place. It's the covers (Sea Ray calls them inserts) that fit over the large opening. Not sure I have a decent image of my missing covers but will look.

. Found one!

 

[Forrestkk]

. Found one!

I unknowingly noticed this on mine. I had to touch-up the glue (I used 4200) in a few places as mine seemed like the original adhesive was failing. I didn't realize they fully came apart. Mine were coming apart at the bottom where the two pieces only have about two inches of contact. Mine also came out as one piece.

3d printing seems even easier if the two come apart.

 

[SR450EB Captain]

Jim......lol you don't miss a thing, yes these are speaker pods on the front of my boat. My son and I designed and printed on his 3D printer.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

I unknowingly noticed this on mine. I had to touch-up the glue (I used 4200) in a few places as mine seemed like the original adhesive was failing. I didn't realize they fully came apart. Mine were coming apart at the bottom where the two pieces only have about two inches of contact. Mine also came out as one piece.

3d printing seems even easier if the two come apart.

Now wonder if a handheld laser scan is possible of this part in place. I couldn't even figure out what it looked like till found exact model with the vent covers intact and took pics attached earlier thread. Boat is on a lake in GA where I live. My boat is in Ft. Meyers.