330 Express questions

[Stoneman]

Hello all. Recently stepped up to a 330- 2002 hull with 2012 Yam 300's and new Garmin 7610. I would greatly appreciate speaking to someone experienced on running this boat. I have a bunch of questions. I think too many to list here, but here's the 1st one- how do you access the wiring for the horn? Replaced it but one of the wires came undone and I will need to feed it up back through the hole. I couldn't find any access panel close to the area of the horn in the cabin.

Only 2 reef trips on it so far but I truly like the way this boat handles.

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[everwhom]

Congrats on your new boat!! I have a 2003 hull with the F250XCA's and I love it.

Have you downloaded the manual from gradywhite.com? In my manual it shows the horn going into a wiring run that also includes the windshield wiper wiring, but that may not be very helpful. I'm guessing you get to the wiring by taking down the head liner, but I haven't done that -- hopefully others have and can chime in.

 

[Stoneman]

Thanks. Taking that entire panel down seamed to be the only way but when I tried, it didn't pop easy and I did not want to break anything! Unless someone tells me exactly how, I guess I'll wait until the electronics guy comes to put on autopilot. For now the handheld horn will have to do. : )

 

[JoleGW33]

I would have to take a look when im back at the boat, did you try removing the wiper motor cover to see if you can access the cables? It is the odd looking box in the middle of the headliner.

Awesome boat, enjoy!

 

[jip40]

"Recently stepped up to a 330- 2002 hull with 2012 Yam 300's"

I have a 2002 with original F225's & just over 1,000 hours - don't know the condition of the internal oxidation & don't really want to find out. I plan on running it (with recommended maintenance) until one dies and then going with a repower. Did you have any insurance related issues with going over the 500 hp rating?

I came from a 22' Pursuit that I had for 25 years and have had the 330 for five years and absolutely love the boat, I'm sure that you are going to totally enjoy the ride.

 

[Stoneman]

So far so good. A shakedown trip to the middle grounds 40 miles out proved successful. New outriggers worked great. Definitely need to add more rod holders.

The insurance company did not even question the power. Are the 225's underpowered? I feel the 300's are just right for this boat.

Also need to add autopilot. Have a Garmin 7610 installed and was wondering if the EV-100 can be linked to it with a NMEA 2000? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jip40]

So far so good. A shakedown trip to the middle grounds 40 miles out proved successful. New outriggers worked great. Definitely need to add more rod holders.

The insurance company did not even question the power. Are the 225's underpowered? I feel the 300's are just right for this boat.

Also need to add autopilot. Have a Garmin 7610 installed and was wondering if the EV-100 can be linked to it with a NMEA 2000? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Glad to hear that the insurance company didn't question the hp rating. There have been some warnings posted on THT but it might be more related to the type of boat (go fast, etc)

I've had my boat for five years and in the year range that I was looking at original engines were limited to either 250's or 225's. I got the specs from the factory for both engines and the difference was minimal, in my estimation. The 250's are 3 mph faster at top end, I don't know about time to plane. I was more concerned about the condition of the boat and engines than the size of the engines.

I generally cruise at 4500 rpm and gps speed has me between 28 & 32 mph, depending on conditions. My fuel consumption ranges from .85 to 1.3 mpg with the greatest majority in the 1.1 to 1.2 range. As an example, we recently did a week in bimini, guys fishing trip, and put 880 miles on with a total fuel burn of 840 gal for 1.05 mpg. Widely varying conditions.

I'm fine with the performance of the 225's but that doesn't mean that I would go with them again if I repower.

 

[everwhom]

I also had to add an autopilot (being installed this week in fact) to go with my Garmin 7612xsv. I ended up going with the (very expensive) Garmin Reactor system with shadow drive, smart pump, etc. I had an older Raymarine AP in my old boat which worked well, but in the end I decided to go all-Garmin so that there would be zero issues integrating them. In theory, you can make the two units work together but it sounds like a bit of a pain -- have a look at the comments section of this thread: http://themarineinstallersrant.blogspot ... pilot.html