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View Poll Results: How do you use your blower when running the engine?
I run it continuously when the engine is running. 74 35.24%
I run it sometimes, but not all the time the engine is running. 51 24.29%
I don't run the blower at all when the engine is running. 85 40.48%
Voters: 210. You may not vote on this poll

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  #51   IP: 148.170.241.1
Old 03-10-2011, 03:48 PM
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ILikeRust ILikeRust is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hnygren View Post
Several years ago this was worried to death on another forum, and one math minded owner compared the volume of air exhausted by the blower to the amount of air pulled in by the running engine. His conclusion, once she starts the air flow into the running engine dwarfs the blower output anyhow. I shut mine off. The advice on sniffing is well worth taking in addition.
This is what I've always figured. Let's do the math - feel free to check me here and keep me on the straight and narrow if I make a mistake along the way...

The A4 displaces about 65 cubic inches. Each cylinder takes in its volume of air once every 2 revolutions, so it takes 2 full revolutions of the crank to suck in the full displacement of the engine. So if it's running at, say (to make things easy) 1,000 RPM, it's inhaling 65 cubic inches every two revolutions, or about 32,500 cubic inches of air per minute.

Since cubic inches divided by (12 x 12 x 12) = cubic feet, that's about 19 CFM (actually 18.80787...).

So if your blower is 200 CFM, the blower dwarfs the engine's air ingestion. By the same token, I always figure if it didn't blow up when I started the engine, and now the engine is merrily running away down there, it is sucking air in, and I also typically keep the companionway wide open while motoring, so it's well ventilated, so I turn the blower off.

Is there an ABYC standard regarding running the blower while the engine is running?
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  #52   IP: 148.170.241.1
Old 03-10-2011, 03:53 PM
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And I now see the same math was done upstream in this thread...
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  #53   IP: 128.183.140.38
Old 03-10-2011, 03:59 PM
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But at 1000 RPM, there's some non-zero amount of vacuum present at the manifold. This means that the 65 cubic inches of air every 2 revolutions is actually air at a lower pressure, and is the equivelent of a somewhat smaller amount of air at normal atmospheric pressure.

Which makes your point even more!

I usually like running the blower while the engine's on in the summer to help evacuate some of the engine heat out of the boat!
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  #54   IP: 68.126.191.98
Old 03-10-2011, 10:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marian Claire View Post
Normal first time starting procedure on the MC. Check the bilge. This puts my nose at the lowest point in the boat. Sniff. Open the main hatch to the engine and open thru hull and gas cutoff, check oil level and general visual check of engine. Sniff. Run blower for 1 minute or so. Sniff. With hatch open I start her up. The man who built the MC gave her a large engine compartment with good ventilation. While motoring I often open the main hatch, in the cockpit sole, and give a good look/see. I always run the blower before restarting after sailing but do not do all the other steps. So yes I use the blower before each start but not constantly while the engine is running. Dan S/V Marian Claire
I agree 100%. Bilge is the lowest part. Gas fumes are heavy. I open the engine hatch, cabin door, and foward hatch. let the wind clean it out.

Don't like gas fumes, sharks, and spiders.

Domenic
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  #55   IP: 24.136.67.99
Old 03-10-2011, 11:05 PM
Dave Neptune Dave Neptune is offline
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Exclamation Fyi

For the A-4 to move 200 CFM it would have to be at WOT and turnig just over 10,600 RPM right where I run mine, outside the marina of course.

At 2,000 rpm cruise and about 6" of manifold will not move much air as far as ventilation standards are concerned.

Dave Neptune
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  #56   IP: 173.166.26.241
Old 03-11-2011, 09:12 AM
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Talking

Quote:
Originally Posted by domenic View Post
I agree 100%. Bilge is the lowest part. Gas fumes are heavy. I open the engine hatch, cabin door, and foward hatch. let the wind clean it out.

Don't like gas fumes, sharks, and spiders.

Domenic
I'll agree on the gas fumes and sharks (except on the menu), but I like the spiders in the bilge - I think they eat the no see-ums.
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  #57   IP: 174.65.46.227
Old 03-14-2011, 03:59 AM
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I hate the noise from the blower "and" from the engine, but not from the sails.
I guess the question I have is, Is it a blower or a sucker?
Mine is a sucker. And, I know if it's sucking air/fumes from the bilge that that air/fumes has to be replaced by something.
I'm guessing it's replaced by hot air from the engine compartment (or it's replaced by cool air from outside which displaces the hot air faster).

So, it cools my engine compartment, alot.
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  #58   IP: 24.136.67.99
Old 03-14-2011, 11:06 AM
Dave Neptune Dave Neptune is offline
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Thumbs up Good fortune!

My engine sits right on the keel the lowest spot in the boat. My exhaust (fan side) hose sits under the engine inside the engine box and the inlet hose from the transom goes to the top side of the box at the exhaust end of the engine. This works well at venting the engine box as well as any fumes in the bottom of the bilge.

Dave Neptune
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  #59   IP: 64.12.117.68
Old 09-07-2011, 09:09 AM
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My standard proceedure is to run the blower for five minutes before starting the engine then remove the engine access cover, open water valve when starting the engine, when engine is running I immediately go to look for exhaust water discharge. Then I check all engine hose connections and the stuffing box for leaks. Then I shut down the blower and replace the access cover. This has been my routine for forty years.
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  #60   IP: 24.224.206.117
Old 09-08-2011, 01:13 PM
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Need a system...saves problems.

I never start the boat without going aboard...never. I don't always check the bilge unless it rained ( have a keel stepped mast and water sometimes runs down the inside). I will smell gas if it's there.

Usually, I'll be on the boat 20 minutes or so before my wife and kids show up. I go through my routine, check oil, turn my little grease cap for the pump, check position of by-valve, autopilot switch on, power on.

Then sail cover off, main halyard on, most main sail ties off, furler ready to deploy the jib, some dock lines off. Then open lazarette; open fuel valve, stow sail cover and binnacle cover in that lazarette.

I usually run the blower for a minute, but there are times I have forgotten...as long as I stick to my system I should avoid a fire / explosion. We have to remember the SYSTEM. Your nose is a good detector if you can smell, don't enter the boat with a cigarette in your mouth, and use your fuel shut off when away from the boat.

I put an entry in the below thread a while back. Had I been smoking I'd be playing a harp.

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1802
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Last edited by Mo; 09-08-2011 at 08:25 PM.
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  #61   IP: 71.118.13.238
Old 07-10-2012, 05:42 PM
Dave Neptune Dave Neptune is offline
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Thumbs up Routine

Mo, good point on consistancy with a routine. To absolutely force me to sniff myself , I store my "key" on the water valve under my beastie. I also start the engine whenever it has set without me aboard by opening the "box" and using my permanently mounted remote start switch in the box for initial "cold" starts, by working the controls by hand "on the engine". When she gets lit I can also check for leaks before closing up and finishing the warm-up for a safe departure.

Dave Neptune
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  #62   IP: 71.54.207.52
Old 07-16-2012, 07:37 PM
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Come to think of it, I did not run the blower either of the last two times I launched the boat.

Penultimate launch. From the fuel dock. I actually had a small fuel spill in the cockpit due to clogged vent and was busy packaging the containment absorbant. Engine off. And the attendant cast off the bow line and shoved us out into the current. It was either start instantly or crash into another boat.

Warning: Do not use drugs while dispensing fuel.

Last launch. On the way to the haul-out. Started up the blower and it seized. When I was down in the sail locker, I just looked at it, reached up to touch it, and it fell on my head. It lived just long enough to get us through the year.

Not that the hoses turned out to be connected to anything. It appears that the original intent was that a hose ran from the engine compartment to the exhaust blower at a cowl vent. An intake hose ran from another cowl vent to the other side of the engine compartment. This left the fuel filter and the batteries outside the vented space. Since I'm replacing the whole shebang, I suppose I should sit in the boat, have a beer, and ponder the best way to do it. Anyway, I'm moving the fuel filter to inside the engine compartment. Oh, also I left the new blower off the house panel wired it through the engine fuse block. It was just too confusing having two switches in the circuit.

I also bought a solar exhaust fan to leave running 24/7 in the front hatch.

Edit: Looking back at this, it might make more sense if you know that all fuel in Oregon is dispensed by minimum-wage attendants. It is illegal to pump your own gas. A huge PITA.

Last edited by toddster; 07-29-2016 at 02:34 PM.
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  #63   IP: 70.91.159.33
Old 07-17-2012, 01:24 PM
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New poll suggestion:

Do you tip your fuel dock attendant?
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  #64   IP: 66.190.35.5
Old 07-19-2012, 07:14 AM
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"Usually, I'll be on the boat 20 minutes or so before my wife and kids show up. "

DANGER - DANGER.

Your are training them to perceive you as the crew of a charter boat. Put them to work !!!

All kidding aside , my family more or less assumes that I will be responsible for everything. It is my goal to get everyone involved in the operation of systems , and I am making some progress ...
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  #65   IP: 76.197.226.125
Old 07-20-2012, 05:43 PM
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Slightly off topic but regarding the solar exhaust fan, They're awesome, installed mine in 2008. I looked at about 60 boats on the hard before purchasing mine and that feature makes a big difference in the smell of a boat. I also have a large canister style damp rid to work as De-humidfier year round.
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  #66   IP: 138.88.62.64
Old 12-06-2012, 09:47 PM
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Thumbs up

Antibes, +1 - And most of them use a "C" size Ni-Cd battery which is easily replaceable and available on ebay for cheap.

I have one in the middle of the foredeck (not-installed by me but since there was already a hole I put in a new one recently) and if I had a good place to put a 2nd one towards the stern I would..one would suck in and one would blow out..it makes a HUGE difference.

edit - oops...old thread..someone must have added a vote to the poll.
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  #67   IP: 67.163.51.47
Old 12-08-2012, 08:12 AM
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Daily sniff tests, and knowing that I've personally replaced and checked every fuel related item on the boat, coupled with constant attention, makes me very comfortable only running the blower before startup (I mean it is noisy!).
I even safetywire the mainjet plug.

But then again I'm a "quasi"- motorhead, and an obsessive/compulsive, (Highly recommended for a boat owner).

Short of all that, I would be running the blower by the strictest established safety guidelines!
Cheers,
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  #68   IP: 73.163.134.203
Old 12-01-2015, 09:19 PM
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I'm reading that people are opening the engine compartments up and then starting the engine. That seams dangerous to me. I understand venting the gas fumes if there are any but I always close the door to my engine compartment before I start the engine. I've had a Jeep start on fire and the worst thing you can do is open the hood, letting more oxygen in to "fan" the fire. Think the movie Back Draft. I put it out by shooting a fire extinguisher through the grill and up under the frame.
I put one of those fire ports on the door to my engine compartment so I don't have to open the door if there is a fire. Fires can also start after the motor is running. If there is a fire it will contain it. Probably wont help much in an explosion.
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  #69   IP: 24.152.132.65
Old 12-01-2015, 11:36 PM
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They are opening their engine compartments to sniff for gas fumes before starting, even if the blower is running. An ounce of prevention . . . .
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  #70   IP: 73.255.216.151
Old 04-05-2016, 05:12 PM
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I always go below and open the engine hatch and sniff before I turn the key.
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  #71   IP: 108.90.160.12
Old 04-05-2016, 08:41 PM
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Not like this guy.
https://youtu.be/4RS7s7CNWS4

Sniff and vent first.
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  #72   IP: 73.255.216.151
Old 04-05-2016, 09:42 PM
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WOW!! Bet he wont do that again.
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  #73   IP: 24.152.132.65
Old 04-05-2016, 09:58 PM
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Bet he does. Can't fix stupid.
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  #74   IP: 204.195.179.29
Old 04-07-2016, 09:55 PM
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My routine is to open the hatch before start up for a sniff and to open the raw water valve. I run the blower while the engine is running to take care of any fumes and to pull out heat. I am amazed at how much heat builds up on those 90 degree days during long runs.

I am a bit sensitive about gas fumes as my Dad lost a boat due to an explosion. He had lent the boat out.
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Old 07-29-2016, 02:39 PM
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I see I already replied a while back. But I actually have to start the engine from time to time without letting go of the tiller. I turn on the blower when things start looking a bit iffy (do we have enough wind to clear that bridge pylon/sandbar/oil tanker?) so the engine is available if needed. It would be nice to get out in the ocean more, away from hard things.
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