Running bilge blowers?

juggernaut1 said:
I run my blowers continuously regardless of speed.

I also agree with Woody that most of the explosions seem to have occurred during/after refuelling. Personally, I dont check my bilge after refuelling but maybe I should as this seems to be when the risk is the greatest. I've also thought of getting a gas detector for the bilge.
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That is what I have read as well. I don't run the blower while refueling as there is a risk of sucking in the gas vapors, but it goes on when done and I always check for vapors. I don't think the blowers are necessary at speed, but I generally forget to turn the off when I head to plane. No harm done. They are meant to be used, and have a long service life. I certainly don't want to find out personally what happens when a boat explodes.

Bryan
 
gmacd81 said:
On diesel boat, running blowers is about maintaining a lower temperature of the air drawn in for combustion. The hotter the air, the less dense it is (less O2 molecules per cu ltr) creating a less efficient combustion cycle. Results in less power, uncombusted fuel, dirtier injectors, etc. The effects aren't drastic but impact over the life of the engine. Recreational boaters with typical hours per season wouldn't see effects or are likely to attribute to other factors.
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Of course you're right about cooler air being beneficial for diesels, but in practice running the blower (on my boat anyway) has a negligible affect on engine room temps when the engines are running. I have a temperature probe in my ER, and running the blower might drop it from 96 degrees to 94 on an 80 degree summer day. When you consider the charge air coming out of the turbo might be 285 degrees or more before it gets to the aftercooler, a two degree difference in the ER temp is meaningless.
 
Joel_MD said:
Of course you're right about cooler air being beneficial for diesels, but in practice running the blower (on my boat anyway) has a negligible affect on engine room temps when the engines are running. I have a temperature probe in my ER, and running the blower might drop it from 96 degrees to 94 on an 80 degree summer day. When you consider the charge air coming out of the turbo might be 285 degrees or more before it gets to the aftercooler, a two degree difference in the ER temp is meaningless.
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That is my experience as well


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Bridog said:
I don't get it. Looks like a bunch of dudes beating a dead horse? What's up with that?
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I believe that pony66 has provided us with a metaphor as to what we are doing with this thread.
 
northshore said:
I believe that pony66 has provided us with a metaphor as to what we are doing with this thread.
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this was just a discussion about a very important safety topic...IMO it does not hurt anything to take the time to revisit these type subjects once in a while to keep them fresh in our minds....

besides, if we chose to never discuss a topic that has been discussed before we might as well shut CSR down since there would be little to no activity.....I would bet that an extremely high percentage of the subjects of all daily post can be found somewhere in the archives.....

if you don't want to engage in the conversation or feel it is a waste of time simply ignore the thread....

cliff
 
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Boater420 said:
Exactly!
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Maybe not, as important as 'do you run your blowers' is 'what is the explosive vapors source.' Explosions usually happen at the fuel dock or soon after leaving it, why? If they really didn't turn on their blower that would still only be half an answer.

-of the explosion stories I've seen the boats are older
-older boats with older hoses probably
-older hoses that may have been affected by ethanol
-how about a deteriorated fill hose, leaks while fueling
-repairs or replacements not up to marine application specs

...add to the list
 
CliffA said:
this was just a discussion about a very important safety topic...IMO it does not hurt anything to take the time to revisit these type subjects once in a while to keep them fresh in our minds....
cliff
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Agreed, it is an important safety topic but as I read through post after post it seems there is as many different ways to operate bilge blowers as there are members of the site. There doesn't seem to be any right way or wrong way to run the bilge blowers which to me seems dangerous to any new boater reading through this post.

If a new boater was reading this thread how would they know what is the correct way to run the bilge blowers? At the fuel dock? While refueling, on a plane, off a plane, when the genny is running, when the engines are running? One person doesn't run the blowers at the fuel dock cause he's worried about sucking in vapors. To me that's the one time I ALWAYS have my blowers on for the reason mentioned in Woody's post about deteriorating hoses and fuel lines.

It's simple...turn them on 4 minutes before you start your engines, leave them on all day and turn them off at the end of the day before leaving your boat. There's no confusion about when and where they need to be used. They'll always be on and doing their job. There's no downside to leaving them on all the time.

The replacement cost and hassle of getting to them cannot be compared to the life they might save.
 
Boater420 said:
Agreed, it is an important safety topic but as I read through post after post it seems there is as many different ways to operate bilge blowers as there are members of the site. There doesn't seem to be any right way or wrong way to run the bilge blowers which to me seems dangerous to any new boater reading through this post.

If a new boater was reading this thread how would they know what is the correct way to run the bilge blowers? At the fuel dock? While refueling, on a plane, off a plane, when the genny is running, when the engines are running? One person doesn't run the blowers at the fuel dock cause he's worried about sucking in vapors. To me that's the one time I ALWAYS have my blowers on for the reason mentioned in Woody's post about deteriorating hoses and fuel lines.

It's simple...turn them on 4 minutes before you start your engines, leave them on all day and turn them off at the end of the day before leaving your boat. There's no confusion about when and where they need to be used. They'll always be on and doing their job. There's no downside to leaving them on all the time.

The replacement cost and hassle of getting to them cannot be compared to the life they might save.
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at least a new boater reading the thread would understand the dangers and hopefully take the information provided and make his/her own decision on how/when the blowers on their boat will be operated....

without threads like this information about the dangers of boating would not be available to new boaters looking for guidance....at least on CSR....

cliff
 
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This thread was helpful to me. Why?

After I turn on the blower before I start my day launching or after a fill up, I shut it off once underway. Being a smaller boat it is noisy. I've never had a problem, but don't let that statement mean I advocate shutting off blowers.

Would a fuel injected motor be less prone to bilge vapors vs. carbonated?
 
mnm99 said:
I was just sitting on my couch going through my SeaRay manual and came across this statement about blowers. It says run all the time!:huh:. First I ever heard of this..

7. Run bilge blowers for atleast 4 minutes beforeattempting to start engineUnlike your automobileengine which is naturallyventilated even when it isnot moving, your boatengine compartment (the bilge) does not havesufficient natural ventilation when the boat is notmoving or moving slowly. That is why theengine compartment must have forcedventilation, using the bilge blower, to removepotentially explosive gasoline vapors, before theengine is started and when the boat is movingslowly.Because it may be difficult to remember to turnon the bilge blower every time you slow downthe boat, it is recommended that the bilge blowerrun all the time when the engines are running.
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Actually do run mine all the time. You don't notice It due to the motor noise, but does help to keep air moving through the bilge.


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CliffA said:
at least a new boater reading the thread would understand the dangers and hopefully take the information provided and make his/her own decision on how/when the blowers on their boat will be operated....

without threads like this information about the dangers of boating would not be available to new boaters looking for guidance....at least on CSR....

cliff
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I thought the point of this forum was to educate boaters? Why would we want boaters around us to make their own decisions as to when and where to run their blowers? It's spelled out clearly in the first post. Anything else after the first post does nothing but confuse the new boater and encourage the development of sloppy practices.

Thanks again to mnm99 and Scott3262 for posting the only correct way to run your bilge blowers.
 
Boater420 said:
I thought the point of this forum was to educate boaters? Why would we want boaters around us to make their own decisions as to when and where to run their blowers? It's spelled out clearly in the first post. Anything else after the first post does nothing but confuse the new boater and encourage the development of sloppy practices.

Thanks again to mnm99 and Scott3262 for posting the only correct way to run your bilge blowers.
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maybe we should make the 'Operations Manual' a sticky and direct all questions like this to the manual.....god forbid we get into a discussion to challenge the 'gospel' in the manual to try and get a in-depth understanding of why the procedures are written like they are....I guess I am a little different than a lot of people....I don't mind complying with rules and regulations and procedures that I understand and agree with......but I also won't hesitate to challenge the ones I don't understand and/or agree with....

debate is healthy and is designed to broaden the knowledge and perspective of all the participants....

not trying to be a smart as! here.....I just don't see the harm in using the forum as a platform for debate and discussion as opposed to simply stating rules and regulations and not dare question them....

by the way, I actually agree with you about the use of blowers.....I just enjoy listening to other view points and positions in case I have not thought of something....

cliff
 
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Boater420 said:
I thought the point of this forum was to educate boaters? Why would we want boaters around us to make their own decisions as to when and where to run their blowers. It's spelled out clearly in the first post. Anything else after the first post does nothing but confuse the new boater and encourage the development of sloppy practices.

Thanks again to mnm99 and Scott3262 for posting the only correct way to run your bilge blowers.
Click to expand...
How about RYFM, that has the potential to answer many other questions at the same time.

You guys can keep discussing the blowers, I gotta go inspect my bilge to make sure I don't have any fuel leaks.:grin:
 
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