32 Aftcabin water under floor of aftcabin

[Carveronclearlake]

Just purchased a 1990 32 aft cabin and after a 3 hour trip from Galveston to Clear lake I have water under the floor of the aft cabin it took about 48 hours for the water to be noticeable we had been running the AC quite a bit during the two days. anyone had anything similar and can offer some help we cant identify the source of the water.

[Midnightsun]

Where does the AC drain? Many are setup to drain into a shower sump, if this is not working then it may need a little TLC. Welcome to the forum by the way.

[Viper]

Welcome aboard.

There are a number of sources of water but the AC condensate is a good place to start if it's been running for 48 hours. They produce a fair bit of water. For your vintage, you may have an open shower sump with no lid. The pump or float may not be working. It's either that or it's draining straight into the bilge. Failing that, it's a fresh water system leak or it's coming through hardware that's going through the hull.

[RGrew176]

My Carvers A/C drains into the bilge. It was an aftermarket installation not factory.

[Cliffm]

Our AC drains to shower sumps, however, the shower sump float switches shutoff leaving some water in the sump, which can slosh around and "get out".

Also, both out sumps front and aft cabin;s, had hose connections to sump box fittings that had cracked over time, allowing seepage prior to tripping the float switch. To remove would be a huge pain, the cast in fitting was cracked and would require drill out and installing an after market hose barb.

In the end, we used two part epoxy weld paste, packed into cracked area and allowed to cure for 48hrs prior to using sump again. Currently holding and bilge is stays dry.

There are places that collect water that only seem to work their way aft, only underway after some "rolly seas". We can a have a dry bilge for weeks at marina, but find trace water now, after a cruise.

[emunstar]

Source of the post Where does the AC drain? Many are setup to drain into a shower sump, if this is not working then it may need a little TLC. Welcome to the forum by the way.

carveronclearlake is my brother and were working the issue together. Here's what I know after cutting out the majority of the aft cabin floor. Interestingly enough there had been standing water under the access hatch of the aft cabin starboard hanging closet since upon my first viewing of the boat.

The condensate drain for the aft AC unit runs straight down and behind the starboard fuel tank then disappears. I cut the floor open today and used my submersible sump pump to clear the water. Had both AC's going and noticed water accumulating again in this area.

Pumped the water again and tried running the midship AC and the aft AC separately. Got too hot and too late to keep going. Pumped dry out as low as possible again and will check it tomorrow.

Is the shower sump located under the access hatch in the cabinet behind the toilet? I noticed a large bilge pump there with a hose going down into the bilg, past the aft pump and disappears under the shower.

[Viper]

The pump could be hooked up directly to the shower drain. If that's the case, there should be a switch in the head somewhere to turn the pump on manually when using the shower. If this is the way it's set up, there may not be a shower sump for the condensate to drain into.

[emunstar]

Source of the post The pump could be hooked up directly to the shower drain. If that's the case, there should be a switch in the head somewhere to turn the pump on manually when using the shower. If this is the way it's set up, there may not be a shower sump for the condensate to drain into.

That is how it is set up. No sump, just a drain line plumbed to the pump. My assumption is both AC's are draining in the bilge.

The drains in the between compartments are clear, when I cut the floor open and pumped the water out it cleared the volume located under the starboard hanging closet in the aft cabin, each volume below the cabin floor all the way back, and cleared the aft bilge pump volume under the sink in the aft head.

I've been suspicious of the aft bilge pump as I feel its mounted too high. I may just need to try and move the mounting bracket down to allow it to pump more out of that volume. I'll probably empty the water tanks as well to eliminate them as a leakage source before running the AC's for a few days to check for water accumulating.

Thanks in advance for any other guidance.

[bud37]

Just to add, after mt water tanks...you can turn off the fresh water pump at the panel then depressurize the system when you leave the boat ......even if there is a small leak it will have a hard time leaking without pressure.

The other thing I have done is to put dry towels down in the bilge after it is dried up here and there , you can then see where the water builds up , later you can see which towels are still dry etc, you get the idea.

[km1125]

Source of the post
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before running the AC's for a few days to check for water accumulating.
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If you can get to the AC units you could just pour some water into the AC pan and see where it runs out. You could even color it with some food coloring to trace where it goes.