The story of the bilge blowers

Jonathan:

Sorry to hear that story but glad to hear that you are well into recovery. I don't blame you for fearing gassers now and when people ask why I run my blowers for so long this is exactly the fear in the back of mind.

-Kevin
 
Stee6043 said:
Great story to share. Sounds less about gas powered boats, more about a shadetree mechanic making a really bad decision though?

Gas powered cars can be pretty dangerous too...:)
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You are correct. But just trying to raise awareness. Although the initial cause was well a bad decision the outcome of not running the bilge blowers and having an explosion is the same
 
FootballFan said:
Years ago a friend was with a group going water skiing. The bow rider was kept in a boat shed. They all piled on the boat and started it in the boat shed to back out. Fumes had accumulated which ignited. My friend spent several months in the burn unit - all survived but very serious burns.
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Ughhh... so sorry
 
A salesmen who became my friend over twenty years ago gave me some very solid advice when I moved from sport boats to cruisers, bilge blowers are cheep to replace run the at all times when the ignition switch is on. I have followed this advice for over 25 years. I am glad you are recovering and hope the best for you.
 
WV 320 Dancer said:
A salesmen who became my friend over twenty years ago gave me some very solid advice when I moved from sport boats to cruisers, bilge blowers are cheep to replace run the at all times when the ignition switch is on. I have followed this advice for over 25 years. I am glad you are recovering and hope the best for you.
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Those are my rules as well generator or mains. All good on my end now thank you
 
We started with an outboard. Moved to a sterndrive for 14 years and an inboard for 8 years after that. First thing I did when I got on the sterndrive and inboard was turn the blower on. I then started my pre-start routine which included sniffing the bilge for gas fumes. The blower was also the last thing that was turned off after docking. As someone said previously, blowers are cheap to replace, all things considered.

Our current boat is an outboard again. After we got this boat my wife told me she feels more comfortable on an outboard. Less chance of blowing up. I never knew she was concerned before. We agreed that all boats going forward would be outboards. Diesels are nice, but not really practical for boats less than 30 feet.
 
Two years ago we upgraded to a new 4-stroke outboard. Yeah, less vapor issues, seemingly...

The gas tank is still under the deck. If it were to leak, either tank or fittings, the gas or fumes would go into the bilge, which is under the aft storage compartment. The filler port is vented to the outside, as all permanently mounted tanks, but there is also an auxiliary vent hose out thru the transom.

Nevertheless, before we ever launched the boat I added a vapor detector just above the bilge. No possible source of ignition in there, but it just looked like common sense to me.
 
If there are any of you here that have an inboard gas powered and DO NOT have a bilge fume detector I suggest you reassess your priorities. The access to the bilge in many boats to "sniff" the bilge is very difficult and therefore it never gets done. I don't understand why it isn't CG and INSURANCE mandated to have a functioning bilge fume detector in any gas powered boat with and enclosed engine and fuel tank. And yes my 390 has a functioning fume detector that I test several times a year.
 
Thanks for sharing that story. I just checked local pricing and fume detectors are far cheaper than I thought they would be. Just less than CAD$300 up here. Adding to my list of spring projects. Seems like a no-brainer for peace of mind and safety.
 
GypsmJim said:
I bought a Seachoice Safe-T-Alert. It seems to work well. Of course, I haven't had a gas spill yet.
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X2 on the Safe Y Alert. I had the Fireboy detector and it would false alarm every time there was a heavy rain storm. The problem was it would alarm until it was manually reset. Several times I received phone calls from dock mates that told me there was a high pitched alarm coming from my boat so I had to make the 15 minute ride to the boat to reset it. Fireboy customer service had no explanation. The Safe T Alert does not false alarm and it does reset itself.
 
b_arrington said:
I thought it would be in poor taste to ask someone to post pictures of their gruesome injury.
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I don't mind. I would have put them up in original post but some people can't handle it and wouldn't want to force that on anybody. Words will remind pictures will embed and help you not forget
 
I have a silly question for you guys:

If everything in our bilge is "ignition protected", which it's required to be?, what is it that would typically ignite fumes that could accumulate in our bilge? Of course I'm not referring to the story shared here, that's obvious. But we've all seen videos of boats going boom at the fuel dock post-fillup. Presumably when they hit the key? What's sparking down there? And is it supposed to be?
 
Old ignition wires that have built up resistance and forces the spark to jump out of the boot.
 
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You raise a good point.

Stee6043 said:
I have a silly question for you guys:

If everything in our bilge is "ignition protected", which it's required to be?, what is it that would typically ignite fumes that could accumulate in our bilge? Of course I'm not referring to the story shared here, that's obvious. But we've all seen videos of boats going boom at the fuel dock post-fillup. Presumably when they hit the key? What's sparking down there? And is it supposed to be?
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I suspect more than one thing goes wrong to cause an explosion. Fumes plus ... Someone may have used auto parts rather than ignition protected marine parts, creating a spark. Perhaps loose or corroded electrical connections created the spark. People still use wing nuts on battery terminals. A loose or damaged engine air intake flame arrestor and a backfire. I have seen a non-marine, household-type demand water heater in the engine compartment. When I bought my boat a prior owner had installed a hydronic heater with a blower clearly marked as not ignition protected. I'm sure the list goes on.
 
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