Carver Owners Forum

I have a 1990 3297. The batteries in this model are located in the engine room between the engines. They battery boxes sit on a wooden platform only an inch or so above the hull. This wooden platform frequently gets wet whenever any water makes its way into the engine room. The water level required to activate the bilge pump is quite a bit higher than the level of the platform, so it frequently gets wet and stays that way. I would like to replace the wood with starboard or something similar. Can anybody tell me how this wooden platform is secured, or how it would be removed?

Mine is fastened to wooden strips that are screwed into stringers and are the length of the floor. I replaced/upgraded my shower sumps recently and while the wood bases were in decent shape, and in dry areas, I decided to replace them with 1" grey Starboard I had lying around that I kept from trashed boat benches. I also replaced the wood support strips. If you're going to use Starboard, put a rib or two under it down to the hull for support, just cut a nice arch off the bottom vee to allow water to flow freely. Seal each screw that goes into the stringers.

I'm relocating my hot water heater away from the engine compartment to make it easier to work in there, and will be doing the same for its floor. I'll also be replacing/extending the floor where the heater used to be to make more room for additional batteries.

If you can't get 1" Starboard or its too pricey (it is), use ply and just encapsulate it with a coat of epoxy like West System with a tint so you don't have to paint it after. Make sure you seal every screw you put into it.

On my 3607, the battery 'boxes' were fiberglassed into place. I did the same thing when I added a couple more batteries for a House bank.

You might want to look into ways to remove more water rather than just replacing the battery support system (unless they're already damaged, then they'd need to be replaced). I installed a very small (500 GPH) automatic bilge pump next the the main pump. It would pump down to about 3//8", whereas the main pump would only get down to about 1" or so (and that's after the pump ran... it would take another inch or so to trigger the float switch).

There are also 'dry bilge' pump systems that will get it even lower.

If they are fiberglassed in, there are probably just a few tabs on each side holding them to the stringers. Once you get the batteries out of there you could probably give a big jerk up to them and they'd pull loose.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. All very helpful!

I was already planning to do both, replace the wood with a synthetic material and also look to get rid of the water. If you search the yootoobes, you’ll find somewhere a dude building a DIY “drybilge” type system with a small self-priming pump, tubing, sponges, etc. I’m going to try that. The boat has the same problem with the midship bilge. Water will sit under the wooden platform under the waste holding tank without coming anywhere near the level of the pump. I’m hoping that with an automated system that pulls even tiny amounts of water from the actual areas where it collects, my boat will stay nice and dry, smell better, and not damage the few exposed wooden parts she has. Even if it never had water standing, I would still want to replace the platform under the batteries though. I think if I do it slightly differently I can make better use of the space. Turning the batteries longitudinal, I can probably get six of them in there instead of three. Today I’ll get in there with a tape measure and figure it out.

Keep us posted.