I have a Dometic Cruisair STQ16 A/C in My Salon. The other day, it was in cool mode and quit normal operation. I found it was showing 98 degrees on the Thermostat, the water pump and fan were running and water was flowing, but the compressor was not running and it was not cooling. the actual inside temp was around 55 degrees. I turned the unit off. I turned the unit off and then turned it on to the Auto mode. The heat cycle kicked on and everything operated normally and it began heating the salon to the set temp of 70 degrees. The following day, the unit kick off again and the compressor was not running, but the fan and water pump were running.

What I have found... When i turn the unit on everything seems to work as normal, the fan comes on, I then hear a click and the water pump starts and then I hear a click for the compressor, however the compressor does not start. Water flow is good, and there is no air handler blockage. I have ran both a low and high pressure switch test at the controller and both report ok and no errors. From what I understand, it the unit is low on freon, I should get an error from the low pressure switch. I also did a system reset at the controller, but no change in condition.

It problem appears to be related to the compressor, does anyone have an ideas on what to look for next?

Hello everyone
1st great season with my 1988 3297 mariner. I live in Jersey and have a Grady here and my Carver in Maryland, they just pulled my Carver and it's on the hard. Going down in the morning to pull batteries and button things up. Question, is there a drain plug ? The broker had it in the water when I went to pick it up so I really didn't think about it till now. Thanks in advance
Be safe
Geo

I am going to guess, if you are reading this, you have had to flush your AC water lines at least once in you boats life. My home Port is in Lake Erie near Sandusky OH and am here to tell you myself and my fellow Carver neighbor have to flush our AC lines at least 2 times a summer as it clogs up with silt from the water. So much so that to make things easier for myself, i have installed quick connect flush ports on the manifold to make things quicker and easer for me. All while our other neighboring boaters with different manufactured boats (Cruiser, Sea Ray, Meridian) never have an issue... like EVER.

So my question to the brilliant group. Has anyone found a fix to this ongoing issue. No other manufacturer seems to have this issue as bad as Carver owners do. I have to assume its 1 of 3 things:

1) the water lines they use allow buildup and other manufactures use a different water line. (I believe this is unlikely)

2) the routing of the water lines have too many bends and those big turns allow buildup.

3) they try to save money by installing 1 pump for 3 systems and between the manifold and distances they have to go, they simply cannot get enough flow/pressure to keep the lines clear.

I would love to get all of your thoughts. My carver 396 runs:

1 1000gph pump
1 6000btu unit (Fwd)
1 16000BTU unit (Mid)
1 9000 BTU unit (Aft)

The mid and aft are the most common issues with blockages.

We're looking at purchasing a Carver C37 or C43 coupe (2010 to 2021), but want to ensure that these boats can handle a 10-12 ft dinghy on a davit system (and on the seemingly short transom). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an example of a C37 or C43 with a dinghy or any kind of davit. Does anybody have information (pictures would be great) that could help me out? Also, does anybody know the max weight that can be supported by the C37/C43 transom.
Cheers,
Dave

I have a 1989 Carver Allegra 2587. I need a replacement lock for the sliding hatch door.
If you know of one please let me know.
I have posted pictures for the manufacture.
Thank you
LTD 32025

Well, normally I don't do higher RPM with my Carver 350 as I usually just cruise at average speeds (not really ever in a hurry) but decided to get on it a bit more here recently and noticed the vessel not wanting to go above 4,000-4,100RPM range. This Vessel has never had a miss, weird noise or anything like that ever....has ALWAYS ran very smooth, so you would never know there was anything going on until trying to go above 4,000rpm and even then it was still very smooth and no weird sounds or anything....just simply wouldn't go above 4,000rpm range.

So, I decided to change the spark plugs, wires, caps and rotors myself and see if I could take care of the issue. The vessel was in for boat paint about a year or so ago and the shop changed the cap, rotors, wires and plugs on Port side engine to chase after a mishap that they caused....don't want to get into all of that, but I figured everything out and fixed it myself after getting it back and everything has been fine since. This vessel has never had a single hickup at all while underway before or after the shop had it.

Anyway, I recently changed both caps, both rotors, all wires and all spark plugs. For some that might be interested, I took resistance measurements on the aftermarket wires that the shop used VS the stock Volvo Penta wires and have all of the readings below. Not that this setup doesn't work great below 4,000rpm and such, but just something I noticed is all:

Longer to shorter wires | Resistance Measurement | Aftermarket VS Brand New Stock Wires:

14.82K VS 1.52K
12.33K VS 1.14K
11.06K VS 1.1K
9.2K VS .93K

8.90K VS .86K (Coil)

Old Volvo Penta Wires that came out from Starboard side (Over 3 years old) Resistance Measurements:

1.59K 1.58K
1.34K 1.37K
1.13K 1.14K
.92K .92K

.75K (Coil)



Port Side Cap and Rotor New VS Old - This side was replaced about a year ago by a shop






Starboard Side Cap and Rotor New VS Old - Over 3 Years Old - Still Volvo Penta Wires






Old Caps, Old Rotors and Old Plugs






Old Caps and Old Rotors






New Spark Plugs, New Wires, New Cap and New Rotor Installed






Filling up the tanks before testing






Another Carver at the Marina






Bad day for testing, but did the initial test to only 4,300 - 4,350 range with full tanks and pretty heavy winds - boat has never been above 4,000rpm previously and was working great as it easily went to the 4,350 range no problems at all! Weather was not the best with all the winds and also wanted to do baby steps to check everything out first too so stopped at 4,350. Fox Marine Data Logs showed 68% throttle. Followed the data all the way up to 4350 and is in line to hit 5,000rpm max. I would not personally run a boat engine that high for every long, but just would like to know that it can do its max rpm.






Important Note: MPG is multiplied by 10 everywhere to make it more graphical.

Before and After Maintenance - Did a bit better MPG in the midrange and of course a lot better in the upper, but this is also comparing 1/3 full tanks and great weather to 100% full tanks and also terrible windy weather out, but mainly the boat would not go above 4,000 range before the maintenance and now it easily goes above 4,000rpm no problem. Also to note....I have been testing trim tabs as well and they were still deployed down a bit too in all testing in the graph. Since I can now test above 4,000rpm I can now see that it is very apparent the MPH starts going up pretty good when I start clicking the trim tabs upward, but the midrange is or course better with the trim tabs down for efficiency. For MPH and MPG tests in the upper range I need to finish testing with the trim tabs all the way up and do another graph as I think it will increase MPH more with no RPM changes as the trim tabs were still down a bit.






Beautiful Day out, but chilli!

Well, normally I don't do higher RPM with my Carver 350 as I usually just cruise at average speeds (not really ever in a hurry) but decided to get on it a bit more here recently and noticed the vessel not wanting to go above 4,000-4,100RPM range. This Vessel has never had a miss, weird noise or anything like that ever....has ALWAYS ran very smooth, so you would never know there was anything going on until trying to go above 4,000rpm and even then it was still very smooth and no weird sounds or anything....just simply wouldn't go above 4,000rpm range.

So, I decided to change the spark plugs, wires, caps and rotors myself and see if I could take care of the issue. The vessel was in for boat paint about a year or so ago and the shop changed the cap, rotors, wires and plugs on Port side engine to chase after a mishap that they caused....don't want to get into all of that, but I figured everything out and fixed it myself after getting it back and everything has been fine since. This vessel has never had a single hickup at all while underway before or after the shop had it.

Anyway, I recently changed both caps, both rotors, all wires and all spark plugs. For some that might be interested, I took resistance measurements on the aftermarket wires that the shop used VS the stock Volvo Penta wires and have all of the readings below. Not that this setup doesn't work great below 4,000rpm and such, but just something I noticed is all:

Longer to shorter wires | Resistance Measurement | Aftermarket VS Brand New Stock Wires:

14.82K VS 1.52K
12.33K VS 1.14K
11.06K VS 1.1K
9.2K VS .93K

8.90K VS .86K (Coil)

Old Volvo Penta Wires that came out from Starboard side (Over 3 years old) Resistance Measurements:

1.59K 1.58K
1.34K 1.37K
1.13K 1.14K
.92K .92K

.75K (Coil)



Port Side Cap and Rotor New VS Old - This side was replaced about a year ago by a shop






Starboard Side Cap and Rotor New VS Old - Over 3 Years Old - Still Volvo Penta Wires






Old Caps, Old Rotors and Old Plugs






Old Caps and Old Rotors






New Spark Plugs, New Wires, New Cap and New Rotor Installed






Filling up the tanks before testing






Another Carver at the Marina






Bad day for testing, but did the initial test to only 4,300 - 4,350 range with full tanks and pretty heavy winds - boat has never been above 4,000rpm previously and was working great as it easily went to the 4,350 range no problems at all! Weather was not the best with all the winds and also wanted to do baby steps to check everything out first too so stopped at 4,350. Fox Marine Data Logs showed 68% throttle. Followed the data all the way up to 4350 and is in line to hit 5,000rpm max. I would not personally run a boat engine that high for every long, but just would like to know that it can do its max rpm.






Important Note: MPG is multiplied by 10 everywhere to make it more graphical.

Before and After Maintenance - Did a bit better MPG in the midrange and of course a lot better in the upper, but this is also comparing 1/3 full tanks and great weather to 100% full tanks and also terrible windy weather out, but mainly the boat would not go above 4,000 range before the maintenance and now it easily goes above 4,000rpm no problem. Also to note....I have been testing trim tabs as well and they were still deployed down a bit too in all testing in the graph. Since I can now test above 4,000rpm I can now see that it is very apparent the MPH starts going up pretty good when I start clicking the trim tabs upward, but the midrange is or course better with the trim tabs down for efficiency. For MPH and MPG tests in the upper range I need to finish testing with the trim tabs all the way up and do another graph as I think it will increase MPH more with no RPM changes as the trim tabs were still down a bit.






Beautiful Day out, but chilli!

My 396 has three bilge pumps. I am looking to replace the pumps and/or float switches for the forward and aft pumps. I would appreciate any thoughts on these projects since they pumps/floats are far down and blocked by the sumps, wires and hoses.

Are there any shortcuts or other helpful advice from anyone with experience? Thanks.

Hello Carver Friends,
Please allow me to come aboard this forum to introduce myself and Dragon Monkey, my newly acquired 2001 Carver 396. We will celebrate our acquisition every year on Sept 19, already a significant national holiday. This is my first larger boat and is providing several learnings with many more to come.

As the third owner, I inherited unexpected modifications contributed by the previous owners. I am tracing six unmarked switches on the helm dashboard to determine what if anything they operate.

I look forward to gaining advice and sharing our experiences on the boat.

Regards,

Hello all. Only posting as a new topic bc after searching for a bit couldnt find anything in the list of engine problems that seemed to relate. If there’s a posting, feel free to point me there. Always appreciate the help from the forum.

Port engine on my vp 8.1 Gil-c gas engines has always been a bit slow to catch. Turns over fine. Sometimes I can get it to start by pushing the throttles (transmission disengaged) full forward or reverse and letting it sit for a bit. Lately it won’t start unless I break the fuel filter loose and dump it - or at least that’s the trick I’m currently using. So I was thinking maybe a batch of bad gas or gas with some water in it. Happens hot or cold so I don’t think it’s a vapor lock thing. I also recently changed the oil and fuel filters and after the change it fired right up.

Took the boat out yesterday and same thing - no start. Dumped the fuel filter and it started up. Ran for about 5 hours continuous at everything from idle to 3600 rpm and no issues. When I got back to the slip and tied up, after having the engines off for about 5-10 minutes I tried starting them up again right away just as a test. Not only did the port engine not start but I didn’t get the 2 beeps when I turned the key. I didn’t try the fuel filter trick but did pull the gas cap of the tank to see if I had any pressure issues - nothing. I do recall early on when this problem first started I pulled the cap and got a lot of suction.

Once in a blue moon I’ll have similar starting issues starboard but can usually get it to go with the throttle cycle. The only time it didn’t start, I found the fuel filter loose - but this was after a change and once tightened started right away.

Any suggestions on where to start looking for the issue would be most welcome. Clearly seems to be fuel supply related. Know the fuel pumps on these engines have an ‘inside paint’ issue but would think that would keep the engine from running at all.