blower importance?

first off, I'm not sure my blower even works. I hit the button and the light comes on, but I don't hear anything, should I?

I always have the engine box open when I start the motor after its sat for a while. I rarely open it throughout the day though, the fat sacs beside the engine compartment make it kind of hard to.

I also try to leave the engine cover open for a while after we shut it down for the day to let any fumes out and cool things down.

Am I running any kind of danger this way. I don't know if replacing or fixing a blower is a big or expensive proposition, but if its really necessary I suppose I'll have to.

anyone have any thoughts?

from what i've heard, the blower is useless on efi boats. I don't think i've ever run the blower, just open the engine cover at the beginning of the day, that will clear any vapors or fumes out in about 5 seconds.

On carbed boats i heard it is good to run it before starting, but don't know any real reasons behind this.

The reason to run your blower would be so that your boat does not explode from the gas fumes that have collected in the bildge.

I can't say for sure about what Tom said about fuel injected boats, but if you can smell gas fumes when you open the engine cover, you can definitely blow yourself up if there is a spark when starting the engine.

The blower sucks those fumes out of the bildge. Chances are there won't be any type of spark or backfire when you start your engine, but I say better safe than sorry.

don't skimp on your blower, it's there to protect you. and, they are cheap and easy to replace.

if you ever get gas on the water, you don't want to be without one. turn it on and take a look at it, i can hear mine running.

check the wires for juice to see if your wiring is good. if so, just buy another. they're like $10-15. if not, find out where your wires are messed up.

You really do want to have a blower or be able to open the cover before starting. Even on an EFI boat, you can still have leaky fuel lines, fuel rails, or even a bad pump. I would sure beat losing the boat, not to mention personal injury.

allright,
where is it located in the engine? Sounds like its a cheap fix certainly worth doing for the safety.

Just tell me how.

Sholud be a white tube with a fan inside. It will probably be about 8-10" long and 4-5" in diameter. There will be a tube attached to one end that runs to a vent on the side or rear of the boat. Should not be hard to find.

Look for blowers at west marine, or overtons or boat us, and they should have a picture of one.

BTW, not all boats have them. My dad's outboard with a fuel tank in the boat under the floor does not have a blower, just a vent on one side of the boat pointed forward, and one pointed backward to give cross ventelation while underway.

You should really run the blower. There is nothing about an EFI boat that makes it immune to being blown to bits.

About 20 years ago I was witness to an accident where the boat operator did NOT operate his blower. Husband, wife and two kids. He had just filled up his boat at the marina, untied the boat and then started. Well, attempted to start. As soon as he hit the starter switch it blew.

Apparently gas fumes from the gas pump had found their way into the bilge. One kid was sitting on the engine cover and the force of the explosion blew her right into the water. The engine cover is now open and the boat is on fire. Dad grabs the second kid and the wife, dad and kid all jump into the water.

The boat, fully ablaze, drifts across the marina into a dock full of very large and expensive houseboats. I counted three that burned to the water line, about 6 more that had such major hull damage that they were probably a total loss and dozens more that had burned canvas or minor fiberglass melting.

My dad captured a lot of the blaze on 8 MM film, which was later used as evidence in the resulting trial.

That accident was expensive. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but there was millions in damages.

Protecting your boat from such an explosion involves three primary safeguards:
1) prevent fuel vapors from getting into the bilge in the first place.

2) Don't provide any source of ignition to any fumes that might have collected.

3) Ventilate the bilge so that any fumes are removed.

You can play games by emliminating one or even two of the three safeguards, but if you manage to defeat all three then you have an accident waiting to happen.

My suggestion:

a) Use marine rated fuel system components to prevent gas fumes in the bilge.

b) use marine rated electrical components to avoid sources of ignition.

c) Use your blower.

Rod

Will water coming in the blower exhaust kill a blower motor? I think my brand new blower motor died this w/e when we surfed and one of the occasional times water came over the transom.

i wasn't saying that the blower is useless, it can serve a purpose, but honestly, the only times you need to air out the engine compartment is after refueling and at the beginning of the day. The engine compartment on all boats is ventilated, and if there is any type of movement of the boat or a light breeze there is ample air moving through the engine compartment.

The blowers on these boats are pathetic, they are little 3" deals that hardly move any air. I wansn't saying not to use them, but opening your engine hatch or cover for about 10 seconds does the same thing as running your blower for 2 minutes.

actually, gas fumes are heavy and will settle in the bottom of your bilge. opening the cover isn't a bad idea but it's not the best. otherwise, popping the engine box open would be prefered to the blower.

air does move through the engine area when under way, the engine is sucking air in. if you turn your blower on and then cover up your front air intakes when the engine is off, you'll notice a difference. they move a decent amount of air, from the bottom of the bilge, pretty well for the price.

Would anyone happend to have a picture of where the blower is located on a Mercruiser 350 Mag? Mine seems to rattle real loud when turned on and I am thinking something is loose.

I turn mine on before the boat hits the water, and turn it off when the boat leaves the water. They are so damn cheap, there is no reason not to just leave it on all the time.

-gvb

I have an '02 SANTE, and the blower blows out the back over the swim platform. If anybody claims they don't move air, I invite them to feel how much mine blows. I do admit I have not run it as much recentlt because as someone else mentioned, I too think I too some water in the blower exhaust, and it is making a really loud racket. I plan to replace mine soon. When it was quite, I ran it when idling, and someone was not on the platform. I still run it before starting even with all the noise. It is better to be noisy, than on fire.

I have also seen an accident where a boat exploded and then caught some other boats on fire, all because of fumes and a faulty blower. Several people were burned badly. I always use mine for many reasons. I was appalled to find out that on a boat that I recently purchased that the starter had been replaced (before I bought the boat) with a standard auto type starter. No spark protection. Thank goodness I always ran the blower. Maybe there was never enough fumes to ignite but like someone said better safe than sorry. And gas fumes are heavier than air so opening the hatch for like 10 seconds won't do much. If you start a boat with the hatch open though it should not explode since the fumes are not contained. It may still catch fire but probably won't blow up. I have replaced many blowers and it has never taken more than ½ hr. Once you’ve done it on a particular boat it can be done in 10 or 15 minutes. I use plastic tie wrap (like for electrical wiring) to attach the hoses to the blower, that way if I need to do it again it’s just two snips with the wire cutters one screw and two wires to disconnect and then reverse the process. And if it is working properly you should definitely be able to feel the air coming out of the vent it is hooked up to. Even a small cheap 3 inch in line blower should move about 75 to 150 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of air, figure out how many cubic feet of space there is in your bilge and you can see it won't take long to replace all the air in the compartment. West Marine has a whole section just on blowers.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&cate goryId=12111&langId=-1&subdeptNum=302&storeNum=12



(Message edited by arrowride on May 10, 2004)

Pierce, the type of motor doesn't really have anything to do with where the blower is. I have a 350 mag in a 92 sunsetter. The blower is right behind the motor, above the transmission. Just find the air duct hose and follow it around until you find the blower. The hose should start somewhere low in the bilge (mine is right be the starter). The other end of the hose goes out an exhaust vent at the back of the boat. Somewhere in the middle is the blower.

Matt, thanks! I will check it out.

without being able to look at my engine (the boat's at the lakie about an hour away) is there any way to tell which type of blower I need?

Those at west Marine are in all different sizes. Will any one work and it just depends on how much air you want to move?

Since it's cheap, I'd like to go ahead and buy the thing this week and be ready to replace it when I get down there this weekend.

It's probably a 3". Several of the ones I've had only had a hose on the out side. The blower was just mounted in the bilge. That is why some of them are made water resistant. Like this one.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=58346&catalogId=10001& classNum=12111&subdeptNum=302&storeNum=12

So, that's what the switch on my dash that says "Blower" is for, huh? I'll have to give that a try sometime.

(Message edited by swass on May 11, 2004)

Yes that is what it is for. Blower, meaning to blow the fumes out.

One of my buds 70's era C.C. blew the hatch cover 20 feet in the air while he was skiing behind it. Boat burned to the water line. Luckly no one was injured.

I'm with gvb, when I turn my battery switch on the blower comes on and unless the boat will be off for a while it stays on until I turn the batter switch off. We mostly get out for a few hours at a time and the engine is on most the time.

I grew up around boats and saw a few blow the motor cover off events, thankfully no people around or major damage. Blowers are there on I/O's and inboards because you need to use them. They are cheap and easy to replace as well.

Just as everyone here has said when our X-Star or a 60K CC still comes with one as a no cost standard you have to think. In these days if it's given to you for free, it must be pretty a essencial component, Cost Gaurd required or not it's a good idea to run it at least before starting. This in addition to or in tandem with opening the eng. box/hatch before starting up. The extra 30 seconds that you loose could avert even the slim chance of getting you butt and boat fried.

(Message edited by xaggie on May 12, 2004)

USCG says all boats made after 1980 are to have a plate indicating that the blower must be run for 4 minutes before starting the boat. That came out of a USCG manual I was handed while waiting for my stickers. Just so happened that that little blurb caught my attention. I usually turn on the blower while backing down the ramp and I lift the cover as added insurance.

ERic

Monster,
You leave the blower running while the engine is on?

Run your blowers, It should be one of the first things you do when you get to ramp. 5 minutes prior to starting the engine is a good rule of thumb. Its also not a bad idea to have it running when the boat is at an idle or speeds under 10 MPH.

How important is that really? (To have the blower on at low speeds) Our owners manual for our '03 VLX said to have the blower on at 1000-1500 rpm or less, so we did run it a lot last year (our first year with the boat). This year, second time on the water, the blower is making funny noises (so we manually ventilated). Did all that use last year wear it out? We never wore out out our blower on our last boat (an I/O), and we had it six years, but didn't run the blower at low speeds. How many of you run the blower at low speeds?

i run mine unless i am moving. if someone else is at the helm, the blower is to be left on. period.

they are only 20 bucks. be safe not cheap.

my brothers 502 roller puked fire into the flame arrestor saturday (hatch off). i was parked next to him and told him to crank it while i threw a wet towel over the carb until the engine started. fresh motor and the idiot that rebuilt the carb did not clean out the air bleeds which allowed raw fuel to be siphoned down the intake after you shut off the motor. no boom, but the pucker factor was high.

Keith,

I think that is what both Bill and I were getting at. Just leave it on all the time.

-gvb

I leave mine on when we're boarding since we turn the engine off when ever we switch riders. One little gas leak can cause one big boom. If we're just cruising around though I turn it off.

"Will water coming in the blower exhaust kill a blower motor? I think my brand new blower motor died this w/e when we surfed and one of the occasional times water came over the transom."

Enough water in the bilge and or blower can trip the circuit...at least on my X10. After resetting it worked fine.