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blue dragon · **Joined:** Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 792

No blower motor?

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... n-oakville

LouC · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:28 am

scary stuff I hope you all OPEN your engine hatches and sniff before even running the blower, DO NOT depend only on the blower.
next boat will be an OUTBOARD don't have to worry about that.

Berger · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:56 am

I know it isn't practical for cruisers, but I always open my hatch and leave it up while I first start my boat for the day. That also forces me to visually inspect the engine upon start u for any issues or strange noises before we head out.

zseese · **Joined:** Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:33 am **Posts:** 37

That is scary stuff, glad no one was killed or injured too badly, it is a good reminder for me since this is my first I/O and I know I have started it a few times without using the blower when I probably should have, fortunately I have had so many engine problems and like to charge my battery fully before each trip I usually have the hatch open for a bit before I start for the first time anyway.

LouC · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:05 am

Berger wrote:

I know it isn't practical for cruisers, but I always open my hatch and leave it up while I first start my boat for the day. That also forces me to visually inspect the engine upon start u for any issues or strange noises before we head out.

If it isn't practical for cruisers then something is wrong with how they are designed. Maybe they should not have a heavy seat right on the hatch you have to lift to check for fumes and maybe save your life. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people gas up and never check for fumes. Do Not just trust it to the blower.

ric · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:13 am

If you have gas fumes you have a serious leak.... just lifting the hood won't help in the long run.

Pedropup · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:51 am **Posts:** 104

Question--

I trailer my boat to the lake each time before I use it, for about a 2 hour drive. I STILL run my blower from the entire time we get there, to getting the boat ready for launch, to the point of when we finally start the boat in the water(most of the time we walk the boat off the trailer and the family waits for me to park the car). I was told that the trailering to the lake accomplishes the same thing the blower does, so I am doing things I don't need to...is there truth to that? (Doubt I will change my habits, but curious).

LouC · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:27 pm

ric wrote:

If you have gas fumes you have a serious leak.... just lifting the hood won't help in the long run.

ric the point of lifting the hood is to FIND OUT if you have a leak, obviously if you find a leak you are not boating, you are finding a leak (carefully!)

ric · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:47 pm

In the design of a boat and it's fuel system, there are zero vents inside the engine bay. If you smell gas fumes in there bring it to a mechanic ASAP you have a fuel leak. The main function of the blower at idle/slow speeds is to give the engine proper air circulation to run correctly. Modern boats do not have the big vents like they did 20 years ago.

Misterbulbous · **Posted:** Sun Jul 22, 2012 1:59 pm

Pedropup wrote:

Question--

I trailer my boat to the lake each time before I use it, for about a 2 hour drive. I STILL run my blower from the entire time we get there, to getting the boat ready for launch, to the point of when we finally start the boat in the water(most of the time we walk the boat off the trailer and the family waits for me to park the car). I was told that the trailering to the lake accomplishes the same thing the blower does, so I am doing things I don't need to...is there truth to that? (Doubt I will change my habits, but curious).

I'll qualify my response by saying I'm not an expert, but trailering a boat should have nothing to do with whether or not one runs the blower. The blower evacuates air from the engine compartment, which is replaced by fresh air. In the idle time while you are unloading the boat, there is still a chance that remaining fuel/fuel vapors in the carburetor and fuel system, and/or fuel/vapors associated with a leak can still concentrate in the engine compartment. This is my $0.02, although I don't believe any facts related to the posted boat explosion have been released.

Cincy Aquaholic · **Joined:** Thu May 18, 2006 8:57 am **Posts:** 471

ric wrote:

In the design of a boat and it's fuel system, there are zero vents inside the engine bay. If you smell gas fumes in there bring it to a mechanic ASAP you have a fuel leak. The main function of the blower at idle/slow speeds is to give the engine proper air circulation to run correctly. Modern boats do not have the big vents like they did 20 years ago.

Huh?? The main function of running the blowers is to displace and vent out any gas vapors/fumes that have built up from a leak, spill or some other unintended introduction of fumes into the compartment. Fumes are what causes an explosion when an ignition source is introduced. The blower is designed to remove the vapors to avoid that explosion should there be a build up of fumes when an unintended ignition source becomes present. My boat has very big vents and it has 2 large blowers that directly exhaust any potential fumes. Obviously, it doesn't "fix" an ongoing leak but I'm not raising my hatch at every start up. Instead, I routinely check for leaks an problems then rely on my blowers to make sure some other reason hasn't caused vapors to accumulate.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

I have ample venting also,,..as long as boat is moving...exhaust vent hose is low in bilge to evacuate heavier explosive gas fumes......I will leave blower on when involved in water sports..too much start and stops to remember turn in on blower every few minutes.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:53 am

Cincy Aquaholic wrote:

ric wrote:

In the design of a boat and it's fuel system, there are zero vents inside the engine bay. If you smell gas fumes in there bring it to a mechanic ASAP you have a fuel leak. The main function of the blower at idle/slow speeds is to give the engine proper air circulation to run correctly. Modern boats do not have the big vents like they did 20 years ago.

Huh?? The main function of running the blowers is to displace and vent out any gas vapors/fumes that have built up from a leak, spill or some other unintended introduction of fumes into the compartment. Fumes are what causes an explosion when an ignition source is introduced. The blower is designed to remove the vapors to avoid that explosion should there be a build up of fumes when an unintended ignition source becomes present. My boat has very big vents and it has 2 large blowers that directly exhaust any potential fumes. Obviously, it doesn't "fix" an ongoing leak but I'm not raising my hatch at every start up. Instead, I routinely check for leaks an problems then rely on my blowers to make sure some other reason hasn't caused vapors to accumulate.

do you have a gas vapor detector? if not, and you aren't going to open the hatch each time you start the engine, I think that would be a good idea. The risk of an explosion, to me is enough to check each time. If you don't want to do that, I think either diesels or outboards would be safer, people under estimate the danger of gas inboards. Every year, you hear of this happening several times. Either you get a gas vapor detector or check every time.

weather · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:07 am

Completely impractical to open my hatch every time the boat is started. Remove table, remove table legs, lift bench, remove carpet...then lift hatch. I have a sensor, and run the blower for at least 4 minutes. An option for cruisers is to sniff the output side of your blowers to check for fumes.

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