I changed most of my electronics last year with the exception of my depth sounder. As of last weekend it is almost dead. I say almost because it sometimes say no sounder found or it shows it there but no depth reading or for a very limited tine I get a reading. Will try resetting all the connectors but fear the unit is slowly dying. Before I changed electronics it was very finicky and after seemed to work as advertised however started acting up again. Existing unit is a legacy DSM300 sounder and a P319 Transducer both of which are discontinued.

Not that I really need a fish finder but the newer chirp stuff does seem to give a pretty nice view of the bottom. Looking to purchase a cp100 sounder http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=8069 combined with a CPT-110 transducer.

That being said I will not install until end of season haul out as I do need to drill the hull for transducer installation unless I can work out a deal with my haul out guy such as pull her out a few feet, I drill and install and plop her back in.

Any comments suggestions appreciated before I plop down another $700.

I've been playing around with my fridge recently. It run pretty good, but not great, so I was thinking of some mods to make to help it work better.

First, I insulated the cabinet. I probably need some drawings to illustrate this better, but the stock enclosure on my boat (83 3607) leaves about one inch of dead space around the left and right sides and about 1.25 inches above the top. This is behind the teak trim, which is cut to just barely fit the fridge. On the right side of the fridge, Carver installed a 2"x10" vent, so the heat rising from the compressor and condenser would travel up the back and around the right side and out the vent. A couple years ago I put an exhaust fan in the compartment right above the back of the fridge, so this side vent was not doing anything. I'm theorizing that the hot air that gets trapped on both sides and top of the fridge also conducts itself into the fridge through the insulation, so I put a couple layers of some foil-sided bubblepack on the top and both sides. It's not a lot of insulation but keeping the hot air out has to help.

I also improved the flow to my exit fan. There was a smaller opening in a shelf that I was able to open up a couple inches.

The other thing I realized is that you can trick the fridge to stay in cooling mode longer if you keep cold food AWAY from the temperature sensor on the evaporator. I also took a room temperature "blue ice" pack and put it right on that sensor and the freezer would get down to 0 degrees F and stay there until that blue ice pack froze. That also allowed the fridge to get a few degrees cooler too.. down to about 35.. the lower shelf was still about 40 though. This is even with a cabin temperature of about 80 degrees F. If I ever get air conditioning installed that fridge would probably be just fine even on the low shelf!

Had a question...I have a 350 Mariner and need to replace my transient dock lines for bow & stern...so 4 are needed. General consensus for length is 25 feet...but I am stuck on what diameter line to go with. Would I be better off with 1/2" or 5/8"? What are the pros and cons?...going with nylon double braided pre-spliced or 3 strand????

Any comments or suggestions please feel free.

Thanks,

Rick

Looking for a beverage refrigerator to put on our 396. Ultra shallow, like 12" or less deep. Any ideas?

TIA

I have 4 Bilge blowers that are on separate breakers. With D12 engines, what is the recommended procedure for blowers? I have been told run them always, run them when at idle for extended period, run them after shut down to dissipate heat etc. Would like to hear advice/input.

Hi all!! I recently got hold of a 1988 Carver Montego 2757 earlier this spring and have been in the process of restoring her over the past few months. It's been an interesting adventure learning her every nook and cranny and figuring what does what. Got both engines working great, after fixing the propeller drive cable. Then I sanded and revarnished the stairwell to the galley, and all the trim inside, replaced all the shower curtain thingies and got that back up, got a memory foam mattress for the aft stateroom as it didn't have anything there except trash, buffed and buffed with all the oxidation (uggghh).

My current problem is the darn fresh water system, as the pump won't run at all. Checked the fuse (good), checked the wires w/ a mulimeter (good), check the tank vent line (good). I wondered why the hose from the tank wasn't draining the tank, so I took that off the tank and the tank drained nice clean water. Blew through the line with air compressor and showed to be clear, so I hooked all that back up and bought a new fresh water pump, Which I'll be working on figuring out how to take out the old one and install the new one this afternoon. Any other hints/ideas on this fresh water system would be great. I just don't get why the tank line isn't draining the tank... not even a drip... unless its a gravity thing with the hose being too level?? I'm hoping the new pump will easily pull the water from the tank.

Also figuring out the tabs as I can't figure out the gages on the dash to see their position... perhaps they are working either...lol. Planning on launching her this weekend, so I'm rushing to get everything together.

This forum has been REALLY helpful so far!

So last weekend the first mate and I anchored out for the first time in our new to us 1997 400 CMY (diesel). Everything went fine during the daylight hours, our 4.3 kw Westerbeke fired up like its supposed to and every few hours we ran the AC and charged the batteries. Then it gets dark. Around 11:30 FM ask to run the AC to cool down the cabin for bed time. I go out on deck to check the anchor light and I can smell the exhaust and what appears to be bluish smoke is coming out of the exhaust. We shut the generator down and go to sleep. Then around 3:30 I wake up hot and decide to run the AC one more time and make sure the batteries are topped off since the surveyor had said he suspected they were weak. The generator is cranking but will not start! I check the volt meters for the batteries and they read around 9.5 and the engines will not start. Open up the sound proof housing and let the gen rest for a few minutes. After a short prayer, it starts (still smoking. It's around 4:30 and still dark so I let it run to charge the batteries. Around 5ish the generator dies (low oil pressure light, later check the oil level and its flooded so some kind of failed seal has allowed intrusion). Run up to the helm and the engines start with no issue. We head back to the marine with a great story but with a few maintenance issues. First off the batteries, my house/starting set up is two 8D on a Pro Mariner charger. Any recommendations for batteries? I've looked at the RV/Marine Diehard and the NAPA 8D gel. I'm open to your suggestions and experiences. Thanks!

Just bought a 1977 Carver Mariner 2896. Since I'm not that smart, I tend to learn things the hard way and I promptly scraped up the lowest part of the hull on a rock. Lesson learned to always use a GPS on this lake. This was on my maiden voyage the day before yesterday.

I went for a swim and I could clearly see and feel the damage. The damaged area is about 2 feet long. It was hard to tell but I would say the depth of the damage is somewhere between 3/32 inch (3mm) and 3/16 inch (5mm) at the deepest point.

Since I have no trailer, it is going to cost me $800 to get the boat out of the water and back in, so I'd love to just continue using the boat and deal with the gash in the fall. However, I want to be smart about it. Do I need to deal with this ASAP?

There's no water leaking in. I sleep on the boat at night, so I'm monitoring closely.

My compass lost its fluid but the compass can't be removed because of windshield interverence. Any tips?

In what are the white walls in the cabin made out of? Is it a fiberglass panel or wall paper? My boat has been neglected by the previous owner and the walls are very dull I was wanting to paint them.