Bilge Blowers?????
- Thread starter woodster
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I keep a blower running if motoring for a long time to keep the heat from melting all the ice due to the manufacturers poor design in having one side of the ice box against the engine room bulkhead, this seems to work well in getting the heat out and keeping the cabin cooler
IMO, if the engine is running the blower should be on and that is how our boat is set up, we have a diesel. Having said that, if you set it up this way, you MUST have a blower that is capable of continuous running or you will burn it out quickly. Newer boats coming from the factory are set up for the blower to run continuously for gasoline engines. Chuck
The bilge blower in my Beneteau is wired to run when the engine is running. It seems kind of useless with a diesel. The logic behind it may just be that it give the diesel more intake air to breathe and/or it keeps the engine room just a little bit cooler. Who really knows...
I didn't heven have a bilge blower on my Cat 36 until I read it's really good for keeping the diesel smell from getting to the cabin. Put one in, worked like a charm! I wouldn't think a bilge "blower" (actually a "sucker") would increase intake air - quite the contrary. It does cool down the engine compartment though, giving cooler air to the engine. But the MAIN thing about ventilating a diesel is to make sure there's lots of ports to allow intake air INTO the engine compartment.
Remember, a diesel itself is a pretty good "bilge sucker": lots of air goes in the intake, out the exhaust.
druid
Remember, a diesel itself is a pretty good "bilge sucker": lots of air goes in the intake, out the exhaust.
druid
The blower does two things; pulls in air thru dedicated intakes for the engine, and evacuates heat and fumes to keep them out of the cabin.
What's this with diesel fumes & smells???
I just don't get it. We have a diesel engine. We do NOT have ANY fumes or smells.
If you do, you have a leak somewhere. That leak ought to be fixed.
Rarely use our blower, if ever. I understand the air and heat removal ideas, but they simply don't apply to where I sail. If I sail to a place where it gets warmer, I might.
Good idea about the rating for continuous operation. I doubt, but do not know for sure, that the ones put in on Catalinas in the 80s most likely were not continuous rated. If you run them continuously, you risk a fire hazard.
I just don't get it. We have a diesel engine. We do NOT have ANY fumes or smells.
If you do, you have a leak somewhere. That leak ought to be fixed.
Rarely use our blower, if ever. I understand the air and heat removal ideas, but they simply don't apply to where I sail. If I sail to a place where it gets warmer, I might.
Good idea about the rating for continuous operation. I doubt, but do not know for sure, that the ones put in on Catalinas in the 80s most likely were not continuous rated. If you run them continuously, you risk a fire hazard.
A 1.5 litre diesel (37HP) running at 2750 rpm swallows 146 cubic feet of air per minute. How much more air do you need to draw through the engine compartment? A bilge blower (sucker) has somewhat less capacity.
The engine should pull in enough outside air to stop convection and conduction of heat through the air from heating the boat. (And the silver surface of the sound absorbent material will help reduce the radiated heat).
OTOH If you have a dirty smelly engine or a none to well sealed engine compartment, then having a sucker running on a time switch for ten minutes after the engine is off would remove the smells and also help to remove the 'heat soak' air and thus be a real benefit.
The engine should pull in enough outside air to stop convection and conduction of heat through the air from heating the boat. (And the silver surface of the sound absorbent material will help reduce the radiated heat).
OTOH If you have a dirty smelly engine or a none to well sealed engine compartment, then having a sucker running on a time switch for ten minutes after the engine is off would remove the smells and also help to remove the 'heat soak' air and thus be a real benefit.
Same here. I've made many long runs, 8 - 12 hours, under power and have never noticed any smell. The heat is often nice at the end of the day. I took the blower out of my boat before I even put it in the water the first time because the installation was bogus. I've never missed it.
Same as Ross plus when I am coming in for the evening I run the blower while docking and then for a minute or so to rid the cabin of that hot engine smell.
All U Get
I never had a factory blower installed in my engine compartment, but I added one specifically to cool my hi-output alternator.
I also have a blower in my generator compartment to meet the requirement of cooling the electrical end of the unit.
Both blowers run continuously.
I also have a blower in my generator compartment to meet the requirement of cooling the electrical end of the unit.
Both blowers run continuously.
Why run it all the time?
When I did an RTFM they say to run the blower for 30 seconds before starting the diesel. When I turn it on, I can see it is drawing a few amps as the battery monitor droops a hair. When I shut it off, the insulation in my engine enclosure keeps all the heat in the engine compartment. The diesel should suck a lot more air out than the blower as well.
When I did an RTFM they say to run the blower for 30 seconds before starting the diesel. When I turn it on, I can see it is drawing a few amps as the battery monitor droops a hair. When I shut it off, the insulation in my engine enclosure keeps all the heat in the engine compartment. The diesel should suck a lot more air out than the blower as well.
neither my ericson nor my formosa has a bilge blower--both are diesel--apparently , before the diesel was installed into ericson, the atom bomb-4 had one--so did the stinkpot i owned--had twin gas 283s--LOL--was a kick to hear those biguns singing their songs--am a motorhead LOL...but the only reason any of those 3 boats even had one was to prevent explosions upon start up LOL...i donot know why they are in diesel powered boats unless the constructors thought the engines woulod explode on start up----my chris craft stinkpot had to have bilge bloower in use for 15 min prior to start up and i would run during refueling as well--too many donot do this and blow the stinkers up at the fuel dock--but that is gasoline engines...LOL....is exciting when not used..i donot see the need for one in either of my diesel powered boats.......maybe the new plastic fantastics need them??? i would think a blower/fan to bring fresh air INTO the engine room would be more appropriate....but is just my opinion..LOL......
My boat never had a blower. Is the intent to blow fresh air in or extract the hot air? Is seems by some of the responses here some are sucking the hot air out while others are blowing fresh air in.
I have a 87' Catalina 27 with a universal m-18 diesel, the original manual to the boat says to run the blower for 4 minutes before starting the engine, to vent out the compartment. It also says to shut off the blower after the engine is started. I'm not sure if running the blower for that long is really necessary but that's what the manual says so that's how I do it.
I will bet that is a carry over from the gasoline engine days. We still hear of boats blowing up after leaving the fuel dock usually the gasoline engine power boats very rarely is it a sailboat.
Rationale?
Maybe the blower runs when the engine is on as a preventative measure to prevent carbon monoxide build up if there is an exhaust problem.
The Seaward panels were made for boats with Atomic 4 gas engines way before Catalina started installing diesels. It was cheaper to keep 'em than make new ones. Old habits die hard.
Don't believe everything you "read in the manual."
For instance, "the manual" says hold the glow plugs in when you push the start button. No need to do that and it drains the electrical system just when you need the oomph the most.
OTOH, reading the repetitive and regular "what transmission position when sailing?" questions gives me a headache - if only they'd read the manual! http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Right_Transmission_Gear_for_Sailing
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