How do you use your blower?

[sastanley]

Rick..Some of us use the Indigo PCV kit - (Moyer sells one also) ..it seems to work pretty well & I think was mentioned earlier in this discussion.

I definitely noticed a difference in reducing the oil smell. It was the very first thing I did to my engine, before I even got the sticky valve unstuck, & electronic ignition.

[adab1402]

blower

At Dave Neptune's request, here's a poll asking you to describe how you use the blower to vent the air in your engine box when running the engine.

The blower is wired to the engine on switch , a quick look see and sniff and i fire that baby up . fair winds adab1402

[romantic comedy]

blower is useless for my boat

i do a smell test. The Tartan 34 has a poorly designed ventilation set up, it is combined with the exhaust standpipe.
so for my boat i dont use the blower. also the engine compartment is usually not together so the engine is open to the cabin air flow.
i also believe that the smell test is the best.

i am thinking- a previous post said something about how much air the engine itself consumes (or moves) we have a 60 cubic inch engine? right so running at 2000 rpm would mean what? 60 ci of air thru the engine for every 2 revolutions. then at 2000 rev/min...should be 60ci x 1/2 x 2000 /minute=
60ci x 1000/min =60,000ci/min
convert to cubic feet (12x12x12=1728 ci/cf)
60,000ci x conversion (1cf/1728ci) =35 cf/min so if i did the math right at 2000 rpm the engine moves about 35 cubic feet per minute.
i looked up blowers and they advertise moving from 150 to 400 cubic feet per minute maybe we could supercharge our engines with the blowers.
i am just playing- i prefer nature provided cfm for the sails

[High Hopes]

Engine Compartment vs. Bilge ?

The blower on my Sabre 28 is wired to the ACC position on the ingition switch. When I get to the boat, I do a sniff test. If it doesn't smell bad, I turn the ignition to ACC for a few minute, and then start her up.

If it does not pass the sniff test, which has happened because of a leak I haven't found yet, I open the engine compartment, the forward deck hatch, and a cockpit locker. After a minute, the smell is gone and then I start the engine.

Also, I can't get my exhaust blower hose into the bilge. There are several structural barriers across the bilge and openings up to the engine compartment are cramped. Fortunately, I have a fin keel so the bilge is shallow and narrow. I suppose that if the boat had a full keel, all this would be different.

But, it is interesting that the USCG articles I have seen name the engine compartment and do not reference any “bilge.” The exhaust blower hose on my boat terminates near the lowest point of the engine compartment and does not run into the bilge. So I assume my set up is compliant with the regulations.

On a related issue, some posted notes on CO gas. CO & other engine fumes will be hot and lighter than the air sitting at the bottom of the engine compartment. My guess is that hot fumes rise and escape from the engine compartment some other way than through the exhaust blower hose.

Presumably, the engine compartment blower carries away gasoline fumes from carburetor drips and fuel hose leaks. So the drippy side of the A-4 is probably the best place. I can’t get a 3” hose to that side of the engine, so the starter side will have to do.

[sastanley]

blower available

Hi A-4 friends,

Figured this was as good a place as any to post this..

A sailing friend of mine has a West Indies 36..the boat has a blower, & has a diesel, so he took the blower out & has offered it up if anyone needs it. I can put you together if someone is interested.

Cheers,

[hanleyclifford]

use of engine room blower

i know this is an old discussion, but i want to vote with the continuous running group. for me the issue is not just fumes, but heat. i run the icw south with engine going all day. the blower extracts a lot of heat from the engine room that might otherwise make its way forward into the main cabin. also running with hatches and lockers open is making atomic 4 smile up at you.

[sastanley]

Hanley,

When I was little (I am the 2nd owner & bought the boat from my father) my boat did the ICW from Solomons, MD to the Dismal Swamp Canal and back. The A-4 got lots of use then.

This past summer, I did an 8 hour motor (BOTH WAYS!!) from Solomons to Herrington Harbor...I yanked the cushions off the settee to let her breathe a little bit and she seemed much happier..

I am planning to extend my blower hose to get it farther into the bilge this spring, which may also pull some heat from the 'engine room' ??

[High Hopes]

Shawn,

Are you in Herrington North? If so, I am next door at Shipwright and we should hook up!

On the bilge blower, you want the exhaust hose low. This is because gasoline vapors sink, and because regulations require it.

Heat rises, so the blower will not suck out a lot of heat what with the hose being low in the bilge. But because heat rises, maybe there is a way to vent the top of the engine room. A fan would not be necessary as hot air rises.

Steve

[sastanley]

Hi Steve,
I am in Solomons, MD...about 30-35?? miles south of Herrington Harbor, but I had the boat in HH South last summer, which accounts for the trip I mentioned...no wind in June of last year that weekend!

We should definitely hook up sometime..thanks for your thoughts on the blower..you are right...a low hose is smart for removing fuel vapors, but does little for removing heat from the engine compartment, since heat rises.

[jacques debauche]

Blower

In our Tartan 30 the exhaust system is in the space between the midship bulkhead and the head cabinetry. Even though the "hot" piping is reasonably well insulated, we keep the exhaust fan "on" to help move air around that piping and so prevent heat build-up.

Hooking the fan to the ignition switch, as someone suggested, isn't a good idea - it takes several minutes (three at least) to ventilate an engine compartment if there is fuel leakage.

[tenders]

I have a 4-position ignition key switch: accessory, off, ignition on, and start.

My blower is wired so that it turns on in the "accessory" position and is then always on when the ignition is on.

This is one of the simpler and more elegant improvements I've made recently and it has several benefits over the standalone blower switch that was previously installed:
* Removing the standalone switch from the instrument panel afforded the installation of a fuel gauge, which I'd never had before, and also simplified the blower wiring, which had previously also run through the fuse panel down in the galley
* The blower makes noise, so it's easy to tell when the ignition switch is on and I won't burn out the electronic ignition
* I like running the blower when the engine is on, for both cooling and ventilation purposes

[ghaegele]

On a long cruise this summer I had two days (and only two days!) of long trips under power. I noticed that the engine compartment was getting hot and thought of this old thread, so I put on the blower. I'd say it does almost nothing to cool down the engine compartment. Indeed, after the initial blast of hot air the air coming out of the blower was almost as cool as the outside air. Strange?

No. As I think somebody mentioned earlier, the hose is situated about as low as possible in the compartment to get the low lying gas fumes. Since hot air rises the heat is well above that hose. Running the blower to cool the engine compartment merely vents some of the cool air coming in.

But if anybody has a good idea who to safely vent heat from the engine compartment in my old boat, I'd like to hear it.

[hanleyclifford]

Ventilation on sailboats is highly specific to each model. First prize to ventilate the engine room is to open all possible (and practical) hatches. I also have two Nicro solar exhaust units on the poop deck over the lazzarette. Heat rises up the sternpost from the engine room and collects all the way aft - best spot for exhausting air.

[ButchPetty]

I got a question on this topic yet a little off topic. Is it best to suck the fumes out prior to starting the motor or blow fresh air in prior to starting the motor ? Keep in mind my engine is beneath the cabin sole.....lowest part of the boat.
Thanks.

[High Hopes]

Suck out. Gasoline fumes are heavier than air, so adding new air doesn't make the gas fumes leave. They will still sit on the bottom. Also, I think that the USCG regulations require a "blower" which vents to the outside (sucks air out of the boat). Cheers -Steve