The Official 450 Express Bridge Owners Club

First shake down cruise since purchase... Lots of questions and lots of answers. Good news is we made it back with no broken fiberglass or mechanical issues! Found a few minor squawks and discovered the master bellows and duckbills are good, just needed some exercise.. Runs about 10 seconds after a flush. Guest head, on the other hand, will require me to get my hands dirty.
One question for the group. The manual states that you should turn the engine solenoids off if you plan on being away for "extended periods". Any idea what extended means? 3 days? A month? We will sometimes go 2-3 weeks between outings. Thoughts?

BTW, to the new members... I just bought my 450 in Dec 2022.. two of the biggest reasons I selected this model. 1) walk thru bridge. 2) easily handled with short crew and 3) BONUS! The support on this board is FANTASTIC!

Happy New Year to all!
Like Kevin, I turn the keys off almost immediately after use. When the boat is in the slip, I leave the fridge on and I have a pancake dehumidifier in the engine room that I run full time. In the Summer when the boat is used every weekend, I will run a dehumidifier in the salon to keep the Admiral happy when we arrive.
 
Good info! I'll probably follow Jack's suggestion as we'll be couple of weeks between visits. Appreciate all the feedback. You guys are a wealth of info.

Next task on the list... get my 6'1" 230lb butt into a position to inspect/clean the sump.. I've already read all the horror stories about the starboard aft screw... Wish me luck!
You and I are about the same size, much larger than the Elf engineers at Sea Ray. With the sump, just remember to use your cell phone to take pictures of the sump to check your progress. You do most of the tasks by feel. Also, don't fret if you can't reach the aft, starboard side screw and wingnut. Either leave it off, or use a zip tie. It is impossible for me to reach. :confused:
 
Good luck, it is a TIGHT fit between the sea strainers.

I am actually thinking of going to a pure dehumidifier for colder months and when we are away.
Sump partially clean. There are approximately 137 sharp edges between the strainers and the transom that are not documented in the manual. I have documented them with cuts to my forearms and elbows if anyone wants a copy.

Guest head tank sprayed, filled with clean water to full and no flexed (omg its rank). I'm expecting miracles from that stuff for the price... trying to clean the stank before I start in on the bellows and duckbills.
 
Sump partially clean. There are approximately 137 sharp edges between the strainers and the transom that are not documented in the manual. I have documented them with cuts to my forearms and elbows if anyone wants a copy.

Guest head tank sprayed, filled with clean water to full and no flexed (omg its rank). I'm expecting miracles from that stuff for the price... trying to clean the stank before I start in on the bellows and duckbills.
Did you use NoFlex in your tank?
 
Did you use NoFlex in your tank?
yes... put it in directly after removing vent cap. Not sure what was being used (if anything) but it wasn't working. I knocked a lot of sludge off the sides of the tank with a hose nozzle. yeah... not fun.
 
yes... put it in directly after removing vent cap. Not sure what was being used (if anything) but it wasn't working. I knocked a lot of sludge off the sides of the tank with a hose nozzle. yeah... not fun.
I did both tanks, filling them full 3-4 times with fresh water and then pumping out from the dock. I then opened both and put 3 scoops directly into the tanks and filled them half way with fresh water and then let them sit for a week. After the week, I filled and pumped them out 2 more times and they were clean. I wanted to avoid having to scrub them.
 
I know it is another shitty job, but check your sewage lines under your battery tray where they connect to the macerator. I found some cracks in mine when I replaced the macerator not too long ago.
 
I did both tanks, filling them full 3-4 times with fresh water and then pumping out from the dock. I then opened both and put 3 scoops directly into the tanks and filled them half way with fresh water and then let them sit for a week. After the week, I filled and pumped them out 2 more times and they were clean. I wanted to avoid having to scrub them.
That's my plan. Will leave the guest tank full of water and noflex for a week, then pump out, refill with clean water, pump out again, and fill to 1/2 with more noflex.
Also took a look at the discharge lines. They looked ok to me, so I'm leaving them alone for now.
 
I know it is another shitty job, but check your sewage lines under your battery tray where they connect to the macerator. I found some cracks in mine when I replaced the macerator not too long ago.
Mine are cracked pretty bad.
 
Hi All,

If you are interested here are my oil samples from this year. Just under $200 from Blackstone for all 5 samples and they send the sample bottles for free with prepaid return mailers.

Going to pull two supplemental samples on the mains after 85 hours to check. I may have gotten more dirt (silicon) in them than I thought when I set the valves earlier this year. Have been thinking about bypass filtration since I bought the boat. Will see how they look at 85 hours on the new oil. If I am still dirty for no apparent reasons will set up bypass filtration.

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Hi All,

If you are interested here are my oil samples from this year. Just under $200 from Blackstone for all 5 samples and they send the sample bottles for free with prepaid return mailers.

Going to pull two supplemental samples on the mains after 85 hours to check. I may have gotten more dirt (silicon) in them than I thought when I set the valves earlier this year. Have been thinking about bypass filtration since I bought the boat. Will see how they look at 85 hours on the new oil. If I am still dirty for no apparent reasons will set up bypass filtration.

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The copper in the two engines would bother me especially with the low hours on these samples. I doubt bearings as the lead is low but aftercoolers might be something to look at. What is the historical trend on the copper on past samples?
This is the most recent on my stbd QSM11 at 110 hours FYI - the history tracks this except for a fuel injector problem I had and why I pulled the sample at 110 hours.
sample.jpg
 
The copper in the two engines would bother me especially with the low hours on these samples. I doubt bearings as the lead is low but aftercoolers might be something to look at. What is the historical trend on the copper on past samples?
This is the most recent on my stbd QSM11 at 110 hours FYI - the history tracks this except for a fuel injector problem I had and why I pulled the sample at 110 hours.
View attachment 138440

Copper was 17 and 18 at the purchase. That said, assuming there were fewer hours on the oil 8 months vs. 12 (last owners mechanic didn'tbother to note hours on invoices). I am in the process of pulling the aftercoolers for maintenance and having them pressure checked. Anything to look at specifically when I get them apart?

Of note, I had the ridiculous paper air filter in the starboard and a worn Walker air separator on the port for roughly 90 hours. I have replaced both with Seaboard Marine Envirovent systems.
 
Copper was 17 and 18 at the purchase. That said, assuming there were fewer hours on the oil 8 months vs. 12 (last owners mechanic didn'tbother to note hours on invoices). I am in the process of pulling the aftercoolers for maintenance and having them pressure checked. Anything to look at specifically when I get them apart?

Of note, I had the ridiculous paper air filter in the starboard and a worn Walker air separator on the port for roughly 90 hours. I have replaced both with Seaboard Marine Envirovent systems.
Inspect the external surfaces of the cooler cores for pitting and erosion. Salt laden air will erode the copper, however the sodium is low in the samples. If there is significant condensate in the air charge copper will be higher. I think engines that are not run loaded and boost is low or non-existant the air charge is cold and water will be more prominently condensed on the aftercooler core rather than remaining in the vapor state and being combusted thus increasing copper in the oil....
 
Inspect the external surfaces of the cooler cores for pitting and erosion. Salt laden air will erode the copper, however the sodium is low in the samples. If there is significant condensate in the air charge copper will be higher. I think engines that are not run loaded and boost is low or non-existant the air charge is cold and water will be more prominent on the aftercooler core rather than being combusted thus increasing copper in the oil....

I run on plane the majority of the time at 2100 RPMs, so plenty if boost and heat.

I will give them a good inspection for corrosion.

Thx!
 
Like Kevin, I turn the keys off almost immediately after use. When the boat is in the slip, I leave the fridge on and I have a pancake dehumidifier in the engine room that I run full time. In the Summer when the boat is used every weekend, I will run a dehumidifier in the salon to keep the Admiral happy when we arrive.
I’m glad you introduced this topic. I’m still trying to figure things out. We are fully winterized, but bring space heaters and stay on the boat about once a month during the winter (we’re here now). When I de-energize the solenoid in the salon panel, my port / house battery appears to discharge. When returning to the boat after a few weeks, it takes several hours before we can use the DC power. We are on shore power, but the battery charger doesn’t charge the batteries with solenoid off. Do you guys have a similar set-up? We left both solenoids energized the last time (Dec. 4th) and everything is working properly now after returning yesterday.

Keith
 
Sorry I can't help you Bill. I don't know the specs on my props.
Hey Bill,

I also have CAT 3126 420hp engines. We were pitched at 27” when we purchased the boat in July 2020, and only able to hit 2400 rpm @ WOT. Last year Cool Breeze Marine in Lake Ozark, MO (the best prop guy I have ever met!) repitched them to 23” and we immediately hit the proper spec of 2800 rpm at WOT. Here’s more info on my props: 23x23x2 bore, 4 blade, medium cup, nibral.

Keith
 
Mine are cracked pretty bad.
I have spent a lot of time researching, diagnosing, and fixing waste system issues. Surprising, because I can’t bear to clean a toilet at home! Here are a few things I have discovered & fixed, and suggestions:
- Pour and flush warm soapy water through the system before opening anything up. It really helps with the smell!
- Lay down some old towels everywhere. Liquid & @%$^& will drain out no matter how empty you think it is.
- A vacuum pressure gauge really helps to narrow things down, and to get an idea if you’re hitting the proper vacuum. This helped me determine I had a bad vacuum sensor switch. I had too much vacuum even though the pump kept running.
- I also had a bad elbow connection and was able to seal that.
- Yes, it’s a good idea to replace the bellows and duck bills it they are old. It’s messy, but not too difficult.
- We have been using NoFlex religiously for the last 2 years and it has really helped. No smells whatsoever. We also replace the vent filters each year.
- We also pour a gallon of dissolved NoFlex down all of our drains into the sump each time we leave during the summer. Reduces mold growth in the sump. We have switch on the sump pump so I can manually drain it all of the way down before and after our NoFlex treatment. Between this and the dehumidifier, the boat smells really good all year long!

Let me know if I can assist with anything else “down there”!

Keith
 

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