When do you use your bilge blower?

How many of you actually use their bilge blower like they should?

  • Total voters
    168
I only run the blower before starting and after fueling. Is it ok to leave it on all the time while running and should I?
 
According to my Sea Ray manual -

"To prevent buildup of gasoline fumes to the explosve level in the engine compartment, the bilge blower must be run for at least four minutes before starting the engine and kept runnin at all times when the engine is running to ensure that there will be adequate ventilation when you are moving slowly. "

I am sure that lawyers and risk management department had some input on this but I seem to forget to turn it off and would rather keep it on than forget to turn it back on. If the blower goes tomorrow, I will happily replace it; just as if my fire extingisher went tomorrow, I would go buy another one and put it on the boat. Small price to pay for safety.
 
I use mine before each time I start the engine. Only on a rare occasion I can skip using the blower when I have to start right away.

Alex.
 
we keep ours running at all times. like others have said, it is cheap insurance, when we first got the boat we ran it before starts and when not at cruise, the co alarm went off more than it ever should and since then it has always been on.
 
Several years ago, my wife and I had an accident in a Donzi 18 Classic. Had it not been for the peculiar design of the separate battery box with only a drain into the bilge / engine compartment, we would not be here. Our fuel vent hose had come off of the tank and several gallons of fuel poured into the bilge while fueling. The fumes came up through the battery box drain hole. Our positive battery lead was loose. After running the blower for several minutes, I turned the key and BOOM. All hatches, all cushions, and my wife and I were in the water. Hair singed and completely bewildered, but otherwise O.K.

We never miss an opportunity to run the blower on gas boats. As for the diesels.... the blowers are for expelling the hot air after a run.
 
I use mine when i first drop it in the water.. i tell my wife to switch on the bilge blower while i park the truck and trailor.. 5 or 6 minutes til im back.. but i jsut remembered.. ill be out and stop to anchor and hang out at an island and dont click it back on before i restart.. just realized that.. i guess i need to remember that its not just at the beginning of the day, its before every start!..

Im told if you run your blower all the time it will burn out. and have a short life.
 
we keep ours running at all times. like others have said, it is cheap insurance, when we first got the boat we ran it before starts and when not at cruise, the co alarm went off more than it ever should and since then it has always been on.
 
We run the blower for at least 4 minutes before starting. It's the first thing we do as we prepare to depart. Its on while we leave the marina but turn it off as soon as we get on open water. I never thought to turn it on when we are going at a slower speed once we are under way. Mine seems to be very loud and can be heard while running at slower speeds. That is really the only reason I turn it off. I guess my question is, can I buy a quiet blower and run it all the time or are they just all loud. I feel more comfortable when it is running.

Cheers

Dan
 
Millerman said:
Mine seems to be very loud and can be heard while running at slower speeds. That is really the only reason I turn it off. I guess my question is, can I buy a quiet blower and run it all the time or are they just all loud. I feel more comfortable when it is running. Cheers Dan
Click to expand...

There are different blowers on the market, and some are noticeably quieter than others.
On this boat, mine are OK, noise-wise.
But in my 26, they were terribly loud.
I replaced them with quieter ones, and put rubber mounts under them, and ran longer mounting screws through the rubber mounts.
Quiet as a mouse!
 
Cost of Safety...

High Quality Bilge mblower 3"-4" probably costs $70 bucks and if you only get 3 years out of it by running it at all times ... the cost is 2 twelve packs a year, or 10 gallons of fuel!

Given the ounce of prevention provided, can cost REALLY be the issue?
 
don't the air scoops do the job when you are cruising?
 
Scoops

Scoops and cowels provide combustion air. It takes forced ventilation from the lowest point in the bilge to remove gasoline and other petro fumes.

Which makes the point that our Gas burners need to make sure their blower hoses are secured at the lowest point in the bilge. If your boat doesn't have an exhaust hose under each engine in those retention bilges ones should be added this ASAP. Multiple exhaust fans or a manifold joining the hoses to a single fan is okay as long as the single fan has enough capacity for your size ER.

If propane bottles/tanks are stowed in the ER then by all means run the fans continously.
 
We use it religiously before starting, after fueling and whenever we are in minimum or no wake zones. Trouble is we typically forget to turn it off as we come out of those zones. But I guess using it too much is better than not using it enough. Id' rather burn out the blower than blow up the boat. :thumbsup:

Chazaroo
 
Huh.

I never considered running the blower at no wake speeds. You guys always teach me something... I'll try to do that from now on.
 
Re: Scoops

Asureyez said:
Scoops and cowels provide combustion air. It takes forced ventilation from the lowest point in the bilge to remove gasoline and other petro fumes.
Click to expand...

hmmm.. our hoses don't reach down that far so I'm thinking SeaRay is assuming in the smaller area of the SunDeck the blower has adequate 'suckage'.

We do run ours before, at wake, after fueling and also when we forget. ( I'm glad to hear we arent the only ones. and for that matter I may just go ahead and run them all the time )
 
So go down to the boat today for a run with the wife and kids and wouldn't ya know it my blower craps out. I started it as we where getting ready as always then it stopped then started then stopped and so on. Took it out, it is a Attwood turbo 4000, not much to look at really. My local marina stocks the same one for $29. Since I need to replace it anyways can anybody advise as to a better and more quiet model to purchase.

Thanks

Dan
 
If the Sea Ray manual says to run it at all times, why is it optional? Seems like it would just be a normal part of the engine like a fan in a car. I'll start running mine a lot more after reading some of these posts. I usually just run it to clear fumes before starting.
 
Millerman said:
So go down to the boat today for a run with the wife and kids and wouldn't ya know it my blower craps out. I started it as we where getting ready as always then it stopped then started then stopped and so on. Took it out, it is a Attwood turbo 4000, not much to look at really. My local marina stocks the same one for $29. Since I need to replace it anyways can anybody advise as to a better and more quiet model to purchase. Thanks
Dan
Click to expand...

Not sure of brand names or model numbers, but the LOUD blowers I took out of my 26 were about 3 or 4 inches long, and only long enough to house the actual blower fan. Real pieces of (your imagination).
The much quieter blowers I installed were maybe 9 or 10 inches long, and the actual blower fan was in the middle of a long tubular housing.
 
Fumes

Petroleum fumes are much heavier than air I'm not certain of the AYB code, but I think it is exhaust hose orifice must be within 4 inches of the lowest point in the bilge.

I'd advise anyone who has a ineffective system to do it. Just place and orifice very close to the bottom of each retained bilge sump so fumes can run directly into the orifice without having to be lifted much more than and an inch or two to get into the vortex of the airflow.

With new oil retention rules stringers are not scuppered so multiple pick ups are required to actually save the boat from explosive concentrations accumulating.

This is the principal reason I sold my 370 with gas engines ... I grimaced every time I started those engines. Even though I had modified my blower system to include two whisper quiet blowers with manifolds to get the retained bilges correctly (five pick ups). (I tested the exhaust system with dry ice vabor and my MOD evacuated the ER of fumes in 90 seconds) I just never got comfortable ...

I'm a diesel guy through and through.
 
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