Carver Owners Forum

Hi all

Had the boat for about a month now and have a couple of questions:

Four fuel tanks and four fuel tank filling ports so I assume I have to fuel at four locations? (this has to be a dumb question)

There is a place to connect a hose while at the dock in the port side stern. I assume this means I don't have to use my water tanks for fresh water while I'm at the dock? How do I bypass the tanks so I know I'm using the water coming from the hose?

Vacuum pump for toilets runs periodically, any common places to check for a leak?

Best way to clean a bilge? I assume just a light de-greaser, rags and some cool contortionist moves.

Do you use your various cockpit carpets? why? do you keep them down or store them and if you store where?

I never had a bow thruster before so beside moving the boat side to side, how else is it used? In conjunction with screws/throttle while turning? Underway?

When I run water in the bathroom of the master bedroom, where does it discharge? I can hear a pump run but don't see where the water leaves the boat or where the pump is located?

Thanks in advance for your help.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post
There is a place to connect a hose while at the dock in the port side stern. I assume this means I don't have to use my water tanks for fresh water while I'm at the dock? How do I bypass the tanks so I know I'm using the water coming from the hose?

Best way to clean a bilge? I assume just a light de-greaser, rags and some cool contortionist moves.

I never had a bow thruster before so beside moving the boat side to side, how else is it used? In conjunction with screws/throttle while turning? Underway?

I don't have a 44, but I can weigh in on these ones.

When you put city water in the boat, it **should be** at a greater pressure than the 'cut-on' pressure for your potable water pump, so your pump should not run and would not draw from the potable water tanks. You can make sure it doesn't by switching off the breaker to the potable water pump, but you should not have to do this. You can verify it's working correctly by leaving the pump breaker on, connect to city water and let one of the faucets run for a while, and check the level in the tank a couple times. You should not see the tank level drop.

Cleaning the bilge... get some misc brushes with longer handles. Some, like a toilet cleaner or others with just a long handle so you can reach farther into areas your arm won't fit. You might also have some tape and a stick to extend the reach too.

You should RARELY need the bow thruster and practice NOT using it. Use it when you really need to, such as to push against a beam wind to line yourself up to the slip, or to pull the bow into the wharf if you're approaching into a breeze. See too many people rely on them just to pivot the hull, which you should be able to do easily with the engines.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post...Four fuel tanks and four fuel tank filling ports so I assume I have to fuel at four locations? ....

Yes. If you have diesels, there was a transfer pump option but I doubt you can transfer to all tanks. Even if the option was there and you only filled one or two, you'd never get 4 full tanks through transferring.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post ....How do I bypass the tanks so I know I'm using the water coming from the hose?...

It's best to shut off your fresh water pump breaker at the panel when you're on dockside water.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post....Vacuum pump for toilets runs periodically, any common places to check for a leak?...

There are several possibilities but the most common cause is bad duckbill valves. These are a regular maintenance item. There are two located on each side of the vacuum pump if you have the model I'm thinking of. Leaking connections and leaks at the toilet will also cause the same symptom. Is there always water in your bowl? There should be, or the bowl seals are gone and this will also cause cycling.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post .... Best way to clean a bilge? I assume just a light de-greaser, rags and some cool contortionist moves....

All the above and what KM1125 said. Lots of elbow grease. If it's really bad, use something with pumas in it like Vim or hand cleaner. The pumas help cut through caked on accumulations.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post ....When I run water in the bathroom of the master bedroom, where does it discharge? I can hear a pump run but don't see where the water leaves the boat or where the pump is located? ...

They run into a shower sump that has a float switch in it much like your bilge pumps. When the waste water reaches a certain level, it gets pumped overboard automatically. Typical sump locations are; under the bed, transom area, or in the bilge accessed through hatches in the floor.

Did you get the operator and maintenance manuals with this boat? If you did a lot of your questions will be answered in there.

I can give you some help with the bilge cleaning. I like to use Dawn detergent mixed with hot water first. Then I follow that up with Simple Green. A good scrubbing with both makes for a very clean bilge. At least that has worked for me many time and quite well too.

Viper

The two aft fuel tanks (aux) are utilized by the main fuel selector valves, correct? You only transfer from main tank to main tank, correct?

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post Viper

The two aft fuel tanks (aux) are utilized by the main fuel selector valves, correct? You only transfer from main tank to main tank, correct?

Yes, that has always been my experience with OEM setups but you never know what's been done by a previous owner or a custom spec change that the first buyer ordered from factory. A picture of the valve setup would help us confirm if it's all OEM. Someone with the same model will know at a glance if it's the same as theirs.

yardley99 wrote:Source of the post Viper

The two aft fuel tanks (aux) are utilized by the main fuel selector valves, correct? You only transfer from main tank to main tank, correct?

My boat is also setup the same way and only 2 years younger so I must assume they function the same. The selector valves are connected to the main and aux tanks on both port and starboard side The sole function is to shut off fuel, or select between main and aux tank forward to rear. As for transfer of fuel, yes, main to main only.