www.iFourWinns.com

I have a 2000 298 Vista and my A/C is not draining. I have checked the drain hose. It is not blocked and is routed under the 2nd step, under the mid (aft) cabin berth, and back to the engine compartment bilge. I must assume since the drain is not blocked that the drain hose must be running uphill as some point in it's travel. Any advice for fixing so it'll drain properly.

The AC works incredibly well otherwise.

Thanks!

I have a 2001 298 and in mine the hose drains to the gray water holding tank I believe. I'm suprised yours drains to the rear bilge.

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2001 298 Vista
Lagoon city lake Simcoe

Not all boats have gray water tank. Mainly lake boats do. On the ocean there are no requirement, were on some lakes, there a must have.

Oops, I meant sump not holding tank. My shower and AC drain in to a sump and then get pumped overboard.

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2001 298 Vista
Lagoon city lake Simcoe

I'm assuming yours is the same as my 278. The design of the hose coming from the condensate pan is awful. At best it is level and if you get any buildup of slime or mold which almost always will occur it will become blocked and in our case gets our berth wet. I was able to alter the route slightly and get it to drain better. I also did a clean out of the condensate pan and now which had a lot of dried gunk in it. Every now and then I take my small shop vac that I keep near the boat and from the sump I place the vac hose on the inlet from the AC. This sucks any accumulated gunk out of the line.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

When I had my 298, it was the same and it did cause it to overflow a few times. What I did was replace the hose and route it into my shower sump pump....no more problems.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Thanks to all of you for your responses. It sounds like the best and most common fix is to route it to the shower sump. I'm hoping that this will also reduce the smell of the unit (which someone else reported may be coming from the drain line running to the engine room).

I don't have much experience working on boats so I may ask a professional to do this work. I am mechanically inclined but probably know enough to be dangerous.

Does the shower sump work automatically? Seems like the pump located beneath the floor right outside the head / shower is enclosed in a clear plastic case but does have an unused port.

You can do it yourself. It takes a trip to Lowes for some tubing and you simply run it behind the unit, under the stairs to the pump located under the hatch just outside the head. The only thing to watch is that the line doesn't have any low spots in it to cause the water to back up.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

The AC drain hose on my 2002 v298 has been "finicky" over the past 6 years. It is a downhill run all the way to the shower sump, but for some reason every now and then an air bubble plugs it up. Even after replacing the hose and the issue still came up every now and then. A larger diameter hose and making sure there are no upward loops where air can get trapped fixed the problem.

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2002 Vista 298
Video of boating from The Florida Keys, to Miami, to Bimini/Bahamas

Hey fellas

My 298 has the same problem. It looks like someone purposefully cut the line near the aft cabin bilge because it wasn't draining properly. I've tried to snake the line and no clogs. I use my wet vac to clean out the tray at the end of every weekend. I do have an upgraded sump pump outside the shower with an available port. My stairs are the enclosed style.

It doesn't seem easy to me to run a new hose to that shower sump pump. I would have to drill through fiberglass at least two times? Have any of you done this? Is there anything I should be looking out for if I do drill? Or is there anything you learned from your boat mechanics when they did it?

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2000 298 Vista
1996 Regal 258