I was running a Kiase 1000W power inverter. New last year, very light use. I went to use it this AM and the cooling fan will not come on. I bought it from West Marine. I am thinking of moving up to a 2000 or 3000 watt unit. I have already run 00 cables so I have the pat heavy enough. What are you guys running. It will be an independent unit, not hooked into the power panel.

Hi all!

I am looking to get the large aft cabin box I see on lots of Carver 356 aft cabins. Does anyone have one for sale? I also need a blue granite style galley table as well.

Please PM me or post here and let me know.

Thank you!

Thought I would post on here how impressed we have been with Carver since the purchase of our new boat. Prior to us picking up the new boat the dealer noticed that the vinyl on the interior seating had some wrinkles developing in it (I didnt even notice them when I looked at the boat) after we signed the contract they said they were going to have Carver replace that with new as they have had some bad batches of Vinyl that didnt hold up from the sun. Now mind you I didnt even ask them to do this. Carver was supposed to come to the dealer in New Jersey to replace it in April prior to our orientation, then Covid happened. The boat was delivered to us in Erie PA and we were told Carver would come to us to fix it when things opened up a little. I really hadnt checked in about it as we were enjoying the boat and were happy to be just out on it. Well Carver called this month and scheduled to have two guys fly in to fix it. The two gentlement that came were great made me feel even better about Carver as a company, and they did an absolute amazing job. I had been expecting to have some issues or even have the work not look like it did from the factory and to my amazement It was better than I expected. This small experience along with how much we love the boat really cements our view that we made a good decision and looking forward to many years on the boat!

Hello Captains,
It's been a few months, 7 to be exact, and we finally have the keys to our first Carver... a 2004 356 with 8.1L Gi Pentas. We looked at several brands (non-Carvers) and models over those months but narrowed it down to a 355 or 356 once we realized this was what we wanted. We made an offer on a 1998 355 and a 2003 356 but couldn't come to an agreement with those owners. And finally, in our own back yard (our boating lake), we found the dream we were looking for all those months. Patience paid off big time for us. We couldn't be happier. We have spent one weekend on her so far and I've been all over her like a cheap $5, ah, car wash.
We all know a boat is a trade off of something and mine was a tight engine room. Or in this case let's just call it a space. Wholly crap, seriously, if I gain a pound I'll never get down in the engine space again. But... otherwise the Admiral and I can't smile enough
So before I sign off on my first post as a new owner I'll leave one question for you all... WHAT is with the battery set up on this boat? The manual shows a battery switch with on/off/1/2 but that's not we have. We have what seems to be the diesel set up, i.e. on/off under the step and then 3 other on/off (one for each engine and genny). I'd show you my pics but can't figure that out for now. Anyway, anyone one to comments on that specific set up please do. And finally, for more interesting facts, it comes with 4 (yes, four) deep cycle batteries. And that's listed in the original paperwork sa well.
I look forward to all our upcoming conversations.
All the best Captains,
Poppy Tortuga

Well, I finally took on a project to address the shower sumps. I have two, one for the fwd head and one for the aft. The original equipment was still working but it is loud and the fittings on the reservoir were starting to leak at the aft cabin so I decided to pull the unit out. Also figured I would service the pump, as it's been at least a decade since I last cleaned it out. I figured I might put new grommets on the mounting bolts, as the pump is pretty noisy and I thought it might help isolate better. All the equipment is original to the boat (1983) and until recently was running perfect.

Here's a pic of the fwd sump, but it's basically identical to the original aft sump before I pulled it out.

After getting it out and starting to price some parts (the reservoir needed new 'thru-hulls'), I decided just to replace the whole thing with an assembly. I can't believe how much some of the vendors are getting for these. I ended up buying a knock-off and putting it in. All the new ones have regular impeller-type pumps in them, so they all leave a level of water in the reservoir. My old pumps are diaphragm pumps and could suck the entire reservoir dry, but they did have a float so the float would shutoff before they were completely dry. I had debated for several years to add a push-button manual switch in parallel with the float, so you could run the pump for a few seconds to clear out that remaining water, but never did that.

Here is a pic of the install. Figured while I had it out I took out the mounting below the reservoir and cleaned and painted the whole compartment. After putting it in I realized it had to also replace the bolt that you use to pull the hatch, as it was too long and would hit the lid of the reservoir and not go flush to the floor. The old reservoir had no lid. The new pump is MUCH, MUCH quieter than the originals.

Hey guys and gals!
Have any of you replaced a motor? If so, any specific place or suggestions on where to buy one? I would love a drop in.

Where is the sump pump for the aft cabin shower? The panel breaker is tripped and will not reset.

Returning from an outing in a no wake zone at idle i lost control of the port drive. Motor ran fine, just no drive. Opened engine bay and found trans fluid all over the bilge. Boat dealer put a quart of trans fluid in the drive, tested and it worked fine. Have not been able to test and watch for leaks. Dealer is thinking it's the lower shaft seal.

Has anyone dealt with this? Can the seal be replaced while the boat is in the water? Is it a v-drive re-build situation?

Thanks in advance for any help...

My 1994 Carver 390CPMY has a Marine Air unit for the forward and also a digital panel, which I believe is the ECU (Now called they FX-Maxx) control. The inside temp is way off, by about 8 degrees. I have scoured the web for programming or an owners manual, but so far nothing. Does anyone have any documentation on this control?

I have 8.1 Volvo's with 600 hours in a 2003, 360 SS. The port engine runs hotter than It should. At one point it ran up to 240 on the gauge. I have replaced the raw water pump, flushed the raw water side with dock water, removed the end caps from the heat exchanger and flushed it. It still runs warmer than the starboard side. I understand the gauges aren't really calibrated on these and only show 100 and 240 on them. Just looking for more suggestions. It cools down once it the RPM is up over about 1,200. That can be tough in no wake zones!

Thanks