[keelcooler]

Dear a4 friends, I have preformed hundreds of cause and origin investigations on boat fires through the years and can assure you there are common themes when it comes gas engine boat fires. Gas motors are safe as long as all related systems are properly installed and maintained. Also a responsible owner must follow common sense precautions. I believe if the following precautions are religiously followed boating w/ our a4’s will be completely safe.


Get intimate w/ and know your fuel system from top to bottom. Inspect often and provide good access. Our components are old, they live in a hostile salt air environment, old stuff just fails. Take care of it before it does and always have your antenna up looking for those beginning signs of a problem.

If you smell gas there are explosive fumes aboard. You must act accordingly and locate the source. Gas evaporates very quickly and those fumes travel down. They will puddle in a low spots and hang. The blower induction hose end is down low in the bilge as required. If fumes are hanging under the tank, vent line or fill your blower is just not going to evacuate them. That’s why most explosions occur after refueling even when the blower was run an extended period of time before cranking. Surprisingly this type of fume explosion rarely results in a fire. No raw fuel, just explosive gas lighting off. After refueling open the lockers above or adjacent the tank, fill and vent lines. Vent and check for fumes every time. If this is not part of your refueling procedure make it so.

We all run our blowers and sniff the motor box/bilge areas before we start. Turn off the fuel feed after use. This is the no brainer procedure I hope everyone follows.

Make sure that all your systems are in compliance w/ USCG/ABYC codes. You must have the proper no more than 4 PSI marine electric fuel pump, not that NAPA auto pump that looks the same and pumps out 10 PSI plus. You must use an oil pressure safety switch (this is a biggie). I know it works fine w/out it but it’s required for a reason. Go through your bilge/motor box/fuel tank compartments and confirm all electrical goodies are spark resistant marine rated.

Done any mods? Is that AC/DC refrigerator you installed sticking into the engine space. Yes it’s marine rated but is it spark resistant? Likely not. Got some old stuff in there from the 60’s or 70’s like that original blower or charger. Think it’s still spark resistant? By the way unless it’s vapor proof it’s not 100% safe. No vapor proof electrical stuff sold at west marine except that propane solenoid switch. In fact you should assume you are going to have a spark once in a while, because you will.

Think running that 50 buck blower all the time is good? Don’t let that give you a false sense of security. In fact it can over heat and start a fire in the plastic squirrel cage housing. It’s just not made to run more than 10 minutes tops before being allowed to cool down. When you get them that hot how long do you think that thin plastic internal spark resistant shielding is going to last and not deform. This is one device you do not want to spit a spark.