Carver Owners Forum

Is it salt or fresh water? Chased alota leaks thru the years! I believe Carver designed the aft cabin boats to keep the Engine compartment relatively separate from the others so the water in the front runs to the back and vise versa (pending list) without going into the engine compartment...so check anywhere! I've found sink drains leaking into the bilge which you could not find unless "running" the water (that one took awhile). Also leaks to hot water tank, wash down lines, anchor lockers, anywhere theres a filter...etc. If its not salty then its rain or tank water. When disconnected from shore water, when it's all quiet, does the pump cycle??? It should not!

Thanks for all the reply's. I'm going to follow up on all the suggestions in the Spring and I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks Again. RMH

I know this is an old post... I have a 1996 Carver 400 and started experiencing the exact same problem - galley and aft cabin water accumulation w/dry engine compartments. Were you ever able to find a solution?

If you leave your A/C units on and you come back to water, then the common thing is the shower sumps. Just found my issue with hair line cracks in the outlet spouts on my shower sumps. Working but leaking back into bilge before the check valves!

Looks like this is a year old post, but I too have similar problem that I am just getting around to. on my 2000 Carver 356 aftcabin, the bilge is dry everywhere but the aft cabin bilge. There is about 10 galons water always. The bilge pump is higher then where lowest point is, so it does not help. It seems to be outside water rather than ac, hot water or shower. The water color is same as the one outside. I emptied it Saturday, by Sunday same amount of water was there. I am going to add another bilge pump to at least make it easier to empty it at least when we are there. But would love to figure out where it is coming from. The only think I can think of is maybe the exhoust openings in the back possibly leaking, maybe? Is that possible? Normally thats over the water line, but as waves hit it, as boat rocks, it goes under and over water line constantly. The water only gets to certain level about 4-5 inches and stays there in the bilge. Also on use of as-needed usage of the new bilge pump, I am going to hook it up to shower pump hose with Y adapter. It will not be on at all times, I will have a switch to stop back flow. And that outlet to outside is only used when shower or ac is used, so should not interfare with anything. Any ideas, feedbacks, please let me know.

I have read your post here a few times and something stands out.....you say the water gets so high then stops....now that makes me think that it is lake water seeking its level, so have a look around at what is at the height of the water....exhaust fittings sound like a real possibility....sounds like some crawling with a vey bright light may be in order, good luck man.

Thanks bud. I think its exhaust fittings, based on everything i found online by others. As mentioned, front bilge (by kitchen) is bone dry. Engine room is dry. shaft is dry, as it was replaced last year with new parts. Only back bilge is wet. I am not sure if back and middle are separated, so it does not flow between two sections. The water color definitely looks like the water outside (located at Annapolis), if not from black water tank. Pretty sure it is not, because smell would be there and it is not. not any water from inside such as AC, shower etc, because that would be clear. I did not test to see if it happens when it is just docked or if it is while moving. I'll have to test that out next time when I am there. It would be great if I could see some pictures, about dealing with exhaust fittings to get ideas what to check, but no one seems to have placed videos or pictures. Anyway, I am hoping it is exhaust fittings and that it will not require lifting the boat. Maybe some loose fittings inside or inside replacable parts. Luckly though the water does not rise past 4inches or so.

What about your rudder posts and packing? You also have a drain plug back there too, right?

A friend of mine with a 356 had one of the screws at the base of the rudder post leaking. Not that much, but his bilge is normally bone dry, so it bugged him until they pulled the boat for the season so he could fix it. Probably would have taken him all season to get 10 gallons in there.

I don't think its the exhaust fittings. I believe they are lower than ur bilge pump location and if they were leaking would fill the chamber below ur bilge pump. Take the drawer and top out of the night stand and have a look around. I had the front shower sump with bad check valve and a hair line crack at the outlet port that was filling my forward bilge with the amount of water u r noticing. Also the shower sumps r not sealed and if ur float is not working all the time this water will overflow into the bilge. Used flex seal on the cracked shower sump box and no more water in the bilge.

km1125 wrote:Source of the post What about your rudder posts and packing? You also have a drain plug back there too, right?

A friend of mine with a 356 had one of the screws at the base of the rudder post leaking. Not that much, but his bilge is normally bone dry, so it bugged him until they pulled the boat for the season so he could fix it. Probably would have taken him all season to get 10 gallons in there.

Thanks KM, I'll look it up when I get back to it. To tell you the truth I have not measured how fast it filled out the amount it was in there, but it was not getting any more than what was there regardless of the amount of time past.