Return to the home page...

Go Back   Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians > Discussion Topics > Safety

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   IP: 70.16.78.230
Old 07-27-2007, 06:00 AM
Dmann Dmann is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Camden, Maine
Posts: 10
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
When it comes to safety when using an Atomic 4, I always think of the blower first. I run the blower for about 1 minute and I'm also careful to make sure the hatch is wide open in the companionway. I hope 1 minute is enough, I always worry about battery drain. I have heard not running the blower, the engine could ignite, although I've never known this to happen to anyone I'm aquainted with.
Reply With Quote
  #2   IP: 24.198.46.101
Old 07-27-2007, 01:29 PM
jhwelch's Avatar
jhwelch jhwelch is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 477
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts
I always run the blower and sniff the output for fumes.

The most likely engine-related thing to torpedo my boat would be
an explosion/fire from gas fumes. It hasn't happened for quite a
while but I've been through periods of having the needle valve
in the carb. stick in the open position and would wake up in
the night with fumes in the cabin. Perhaps the switch to ethanol
has caused this to no longer happen.

-jonathan
Reply With Quote
  #3   IP: 71.217.89.191
Old 08-09-2007, 02:38 AM
daveinrenton's Avatar
daveinrenton daveinrenton is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 72
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Mr. DMann:

The minimum recommended time for blower operation prior to starting is 5 minutes. This will present no appreciable strain to the battery and may save your life if any fumes are standing down in the bilge. I run it for a few minutes after the engine is running and sometimes until the sails are up and we're under way.

One minute is not enough!

Dave
Reply With Quote
  #4   IP: 4.243.25.157
Old 08-15-2007, 03:51 AM
starnesent starnesent is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 4
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
1 minute is not enough - even with the hatches open
its the recommend of a minimum of 5 minutes.
(sail boaters)
motor boaters i know run the blower 5 or more minutes & its a good idea to have batt chargers handy in case your batt is low or old.
in my opinion if the blower running 5 minutes drains a fully charged battery down too low to star the boat - its probably too old or too small or you need
another batt - but thats only my opinion. I'm not a real inboard guy as I've never owned my own.
I've had several outboard boats but only help others with their inboard boats & all ran the blower.

& yes I know 2 different people that didn't run the blower & it caught fire & both burned.
1 replaced the motor & interior [rebuilt] the other guy bought a new boat.

BOTH -
Never forget to run the blower!
Reply With Quote
  #5   IP: 159.18.221.197
Old 08-15-2007, 11:22 AM
Bob.Griffin Bob.Griffin is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 46
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Run the blower

Always running the blower before starting is a good safely procedure, but the safest procedure has to be to stick your nose in the engine compartment. If gas fumes are present, you'll notice immediately and you will want to resolve the source of the fumes before even considering starting the engine. If you have a gas leak, even running the blower for 5 minutes may not be enough, and even if it is, gas fumes may collect again while the engine is running with a predictable result........kaboom!! I also had a stuck needle valve with resulting pints of gasoline in the bilge, luckily my nose caught it before starting the engine, even 10 minutes of blowing would not have cleared this volume of gasoline. Another idea is to install a gas detector in the engine compartment and maybe even a heat activated halon fire extinguisher (normal engine heat won't activate it).

Bob
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
south pacific columbia 30´ Blue Knight Columbia 13 03-15-2010 09:47 PM
Bilge Blower COB General Interest 1 07-26-2007 05:32 PM
Where does the blower get attached on a Pearson 30? uniexpany Electrical 2 07-12-2006 05:55 PM
Where does the blower get attached on a Pearson 30? uniexpany Pearson 2 07-12-2006 05:55 PM
blower exhaust whynot General Interest 3 05-30-2006 08:33 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:43 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


Universal® is a registered trademark of Westerbeke Corporation

Copyright © 2004-2024 Moyer Marine Inc.

All Rights Reserved