Carver Owners Forum

Just de winterized the fresh water system on our new to us 1996 370 Voyager and discovered pink antifreeze in the forward bilge. In reviewing the owners guide it appears there is no through hull drain for the head sink, which I assume is because the sink drain is bellow the water line, but why drain it to the bilge for the bilge pump to pump out and not the shower sump? Was this how Carver intended the system to work? or has a previous owner taken a shortcut?

I'm inclined to plumb the sink drain to the shower sump if possible as I'd like to have a dry bilge.

TIA

Ken

I am thinking that should go to the shower sump....have a good look down there maybe something is not connected right etc.

Both my head sinks go to shower sumps so this must be common on Carvers.

If the shower sump is bad as in no power, defective pump or switch, the sump will overflow into the bilge. Shower sumps do need to be maintained/serviced on an annual basis especially if showers are taken regularly. There is a lot of standing water in there that tends to grow stuff not to mention buildup of soap scum and hair which will foul the system.

Before end of season haul out when I do my oil/filter changes I remove the sump cover and activate the float switch manually to remove as much water as possible. I used my wash down hose which conveniently reaches the shower sump and spray/rinse to get most of the yuck out. I then spray in a fair quantity of degreaser and go at her with a small brush/tooth brush. Rinse and repeat until it looks almost like new. This way I know I will have a trouble free season next year, shower sump wise that is.

Ya draining a sink into the bilge is not by design. Either a previous owner modified something, or you're not seeing a thru-hull discharge for the sink or the drain line going to a shower sump. You should also determine whether you have a fresh water system leak.

As mentioned above, a shower sump will overflow if not operating properly. Also consider that if you winterized systems on land and have now launched, the hull is likely sitting at a different angle, any antifreeze you spilled in the bilge during winterizing on land that hid under areas you couldn't get to and clean, will migrate to areas you had previously cleaned up. I see this all the time.

Evacuate the contents of the shower sump, dry out the area of the bilge that collected antifreeze, then pour a couple of cups of water down the sink. If it's hooked up to the sump, you should now see water in there, if not, check the bilge again. If there's water in the bilge, you'll need to find why the sink drained there. Maybe the drain hose is disconnected, or has a tear in it. Also check all the ports on the shower sump, sometimes they snap off.

Keep us posted o what you find.

My 1998 has a sump in the bilge under the hatch right in front of the head and forward cabin door.

Thanks everyone for all the info!

I was able to get to the boat again today to double check everything... It appears I flooded the shower sump when running out the antifreeze, which overflowed into the bilge.

After we first purchase the boat, I noticed that half the tabs on the shower sump cover were broken and wouldn't seal, so I purchased a new sump box/kit and replaced the old cover with the new, thinking the box would be 'Sealed" to prevent overflow. I also figured I'd have the new box and pump as a spare. I didn't have the hatch open when I initially ran the water so never knew what was going on in the bilge, just the aftermath.....

Anyway, what I didn't realize until today, when I intentionally flooded the box to see where it might have leaked, I realized there is an 1/4" overflow outlet/tube just above the sump pump, which allows water to escape into the bilge rather than back up into the drains, or seep through the notches in the top of the box for the pump wiring.

Soooo all is good!... Everything is as it should be...... Then again, I suppose Caver could have labeled the breaker switch better than "Shower".... Maybe "Head Sump", or "Shower/Sink Sump" or "Do Not Turn Off Sump" or maybe just hard wired the damned thing like the forward and aft bilges

New to us boat, New to us lessons, New to us Adventures!

Cheers!

Chalk up another learning curve boating discovery. Those boxes cannot be sealed, if it were it would be like pouring water into a sealed pipe. A, it would not flow well and B, it would back up.

Thanks for posting the solution as these posts are extremely helpful to all.