Hate your engine blower? Mine recently save me > $400!

SoSound

SoSound

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Nov 21, 2007
633
Beneteau Oceanis 34 Kingston, WA
The 'always on' blower on our Oceanis 34 has always been one of my least favorite things on the boat. If I have nothing else to whine about, the blower makes an easy target. If I wanted a noisemaker, I'd have bought a noisemaker! WHY is it necessary, to make more noise than is necessary, when starting the motor is necessary?

If you think the blower is noisy, try spending a little time with a battery/alternator warning light and the alarm going off. THAT is more noise than is necessary!

Bottom line is that there aren't too many things that could be wrong when the battery light and alarm comes on. After the initial anxiety of having an alarm start screaming at you, just after the engine was started (because the wind died down to absolutely nothing) with a couple of hours still to go to our next destination, I decided that;
  1. The battery probably was NOT completely dead, because it was just recently completely NEW.
  2. The motor that I had just started was a diesel motor, and diesel motors don't need electricity to run.
  3. If #1 is true, and #2 is true, and I have a NEW engine battery AND two house batteries, then I'll probably make it the couple of hours that we need to get to the next destination on our cruise (a large marina).
  4. I taped a big wad of blue paper shop towel onto the the alarm buzzer, to shut it up, and we kept going.
  5. We made it.
OK, I'll get to the point. I thought the most likely situation was that my alternator had died. I did a little troubleshooting with my multimeter, and jumped onto the phone, at four o'clock in the afternoon, to see if I could find a replacement. Nothing in stock anywhere, but a couple available at the distribution center. After at least a half dozen calls to various dealers, the plan was that I'd call back in the morning to order a new one, rent a car, and then drive 70 miles to the distributor (and then back) with a new alternator to install so that we'd only lose one day on our trip home.

Except that I had also called our Beneteau dealer, who has always been willing to help us (ALL of us in the region) work through issues and troubleshooting even if we are well out of warranty. We also happened to be on our way the the local Beneteau Rendezvous which started three days later. He was the first person that I spoke to the next morning, before I ordered a new alternator and rented a car from Enterprise...
We spent a little bit of time discussing what I'd found with my multimeter, but the key points were that;
  1. I had NOT measured the voltage at the back of the alternator (I had measured at the battery posts).
  2. My insistence in providing ALL symptoms to a problem led me to tell him that the engine blower motor had died just before the battery alarm started screaming at me.
  3. "That changes everything."
The blower motor is one of the things (along with the windlass) that Beneteau has installed (wired) so that they will not run unless the motor (and alternator) is running. If the blower motor died, then we should be looking for a blown fuse or a loose connection. This happens to be exactly why I'd called him in the first place. I wanted help in figuring out if there was something "stupid", like a blown fuse, that would cause the alarm to go off.

I found the loose connection in the form of a broken female wire connector from a relay which activates the alternator output only if the engine is running. A fifteen minute walk, and $3.46 for a package of three connectors later... we were ready to get back underway. Happy to be hearing the noisy blower motor once again, and no more battery/alternator alarm buzzer.

I'm still not sure that I love the blower motor, but I don't think I'll complain about it any more.
 
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Likes: Rob Heath, SailormanDan, Davidasailor26 and 3 others
BigEasy

BigEasy

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Jun 21, 2004
2,533
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
My 343 did not have a factory installed blower. Duct is installed; however, no blower.
It is a project that I have on the list; however, not a high priority. My thought is to simply install a toggle switch at the engine instrument panel in the cockpit, with fused wiring scheme, and call it a day; no relays, no connection to start key. I can turn it on when I desire and turn it off a few minutes after turning off the engine to exhaust excess heat from the engine compartment. I think that the blower noise will be an adequate reminder to turn it off!
 
Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,079
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Thanks for sharing. I'll file that away and hopefully remember it if I ever have those symptoms, since the 37 is probably wired about the same way. Also kudos to your dealer for being knowledgeable enough to troubleshoot it that way!
 
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DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
My 323 has a constant blower... I cannot imagine running the engine without it even though I dislike it.

First, as small as the engine compartment is, it would seem that the intake side would provide a small supplemental portion of the combustion air for the diesel.

Second, there is plenty of heat buildup in the aft cabin, and I’m even concerned about CO fumes. I would be hesitant to let anyone sleep back there while motoring.
 
DayDreamer41

DayDreamer41

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Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
@Davidasailor26 the blower motor on our 41DS is on a breaker on the 12V panel I would not worry about any explosive fumes given we run on diesel, given the engine is cooled with a primary/secondary cooling loop I am not concerned for heat (most diesel driven boat don't have blowers) as for the CO I have a 3 CO alarms on the boat aft, central and forward cabins. The only time I run the blower is after a long motor run once we have arrived to purge the heat from the engine bay so as not to heat up the whole boat on a warm summer night, just makes the AC work harder.
 
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R

Rob Heath

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Dec 14, 2016
48
Beneteau 37 Chichester
Slightly off topic.. you say "The blower motor is one of the things (along with the windlass) that Beneteau has installed (wired) so that they will not run unless the motor (and alternator) is running."
Is there anything else other than 1) the blower and 2) the windlass which will not run please?
 
Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,079
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Rob Heath said:
Slightly off topic.. you say "The blower motor is one of the things (along with the windlass) that Beneteau has installed (wired) so that they will not run unless the motor (and alternator) is running."
Is there anything else other than 1) the blower and 2) the windlass which will not run please?
Click to expand
Also bow thruster if equipped.
 
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NYSail

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,064
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
DayDreamer41 said:
@Davidasailor26 the blower motor on our 41DS is on a breaker on the 12V panel I would not worry about any explosive fumes given we run on diesel, given the engine is cooled with a primary/secondary cooling loop I am not concerned for heat (most diesel driven boat don't have blowers) as for the CO I have a 3 CO alarms on the boat aft, central and forward cabins. The only time I run the blower is after a long motor run once we have arrived to purge the heat from the engine bay so as not to heat up the whole boat on a warm summer night, just makes the AC work harder.
Click to expand
I love the blower while running especially when I have been at anchor for q few days and need a charge. Keeps the alt cooler so charging is more efficient
 
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