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Old 22-01-2017, 21:16   #91
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

Good-sized engine room/compartment vents have advantage.

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Old 22-01-2017, 21:39   #92
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Originally Posted by Terra Nova View Post
Gasoline and propane fumes are heavier than air and so could wind up in the bilge or engine room.
Assuming your weather deck is water tight and that is where you store the sealed propane and gasoline cans inside vented lockers, that vent outside to the deck....how does the heavier than air fumes climb up higher to the engine room or Dorade vent inlets to get into the bilge?

I do have a propane alarm and sensors inside for the gas line and solenoid to connected tank, but that is normal.

Also, most of my bilges have sealed watertight bulkheads.

I do think it is a good habit to visually and orally inspect machinery spaces every time, before you start up engine or generator
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Old 22-01-2017, 21:50   #93
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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...how does the heavier than air fumes climb up higher to the engine room or Dorade vent inlets to get into the bilge?...most of my bilges have sealed watertight bulkheads...
Most yachts don't have vapor proof seals preventing fumes from entering their bilges. And down the open companionway is easily a possibility. If you feel you don't need a blower, fine.
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Old 22-01-2017, 22:19   #94
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Most yachts don't have vapor proof seals preventing fumes from entering their bilges. And down the open companionway is easily a possibility. If you feel you don't need a blower, fine.
Never said I don't need a blower, only that it doesn't need to be on continuously when main engine is running as was the original question.
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Old 23-01-2017, 02:19   #95
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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I would really like to know the reasoning behind (running the blower when the engine is running). When underway you have natural ventilation that makes the running the blower redundant. What kind of vessel is your 2016?
It's not a super-yacht, just a Beneteau. My understanding is the blower removes excess heat from the ER, and also any odor from blow-by, etc. I can understand having a switch on the blower for extreme conditions, the Arctic or similar, but for the vast majority of us, what's the big deal about running it when the motor is on? It's just a small fan. The engine is creating electricity so power should be no problem. Keeping the ER cooler will only help with air mass, keep the alternator cooler, and other ER components cooler too. I see no reason to turn the fan off. It's a reasonable default setting in my book; Beneteaus don't come with a switch to turn it off (at least mine did not) but if someone really wants one - go for it.
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Old 23-01-2017, 06:34   #96
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Here is a good example of a bad installation, (blower mounted in the transom and vent tube in upper portion of engine bay) Blower mounted perfect. Vent tube should be 6 " from the bottom.
Ah... The blower in diesel powered Beneteau and Jeanneau yachts is intended to collect and vent over heated air, which concentrates at the top of the compartment, from the the engine bay. Ambient air is returned to the compartment by two separate static return air ducts that extend to the bottom of the compartment. Please refer to prior posts #4 and #11.
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Old 23-01-2017, 06:42   #97
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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I would really like to know the reasoning behind (running the blower when the engine is running). When underway you have natural ventilation that makes the running the blower redundant. What kind of vessel is your 2016?
See Post #96, above. Steve's boat is an Oceanis 45 as indicated under his User Name.
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Old 23-01-2017, 07:02   #98
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Gasoline and propane fumes are heavier than air and so could wind up in the bilge or engine room.
ABYC propane installations pretty well take care of that but of course some DIY propane installations or modifications could be unsafe.

As for gasoline, that's up to the boater. Hopefully, we store our gasoline safely somewhere on the outside of the boat where fumes are unlikely to enter the boat or the bilge.
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Old 24-01-2017, 02:09   #99
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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My diesel has a turbo and so it's 1500 cc motor draws more than 750mm a revolution. Let's say a litre per rev. At cruising speed of 2700 rpm that's 2700 litres per minute. That's 2.7 cubic metres a minute. That's about 7 times the volume of the saloon where the engine is every hour. In other words, with so much air being consumed by the motor and with an exhaust and cooling system that transfers much of the heat outside without heating inside, my guess is that engine rooms might not get as hot as we imagine. Even though I have 2x 3" inlet pipes and the same as outlets, well a pair at the front of the boat and a pair at the back, and one "outlet" has a blower, I wonder whether they actually work that way. My guess is that most of the air gets in through the bilge and gaps in the sole as well as all 4 pipes. I wonder whether much air actually gets out. There you go CaptTom.
I monitor engine room temp. Blowers on or off makes a big difference on my boat - can be 20C or more.

A lot of heat gets radiated out of the hot part of the exhaust on a turbo motor, as well as from the whole envelope of the engine, which is a fair amount of surface area at 80C or so. Plus alternators. Engine air intake flow is not enough. Plus the blowers draw from the very top of the engine room.

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Old 24-01-2017, 02:13   #100
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Not so fast.

Yachts commonly carry gasoline (for dinghy outboards), propane and batteries (which can give off explosive gases).
Not inside the passenger volume! (In the case of gasoline and propane - hydrogen from batteries escapes upward and doesn’t need blowers).

Blower systems for gasoline powered boats are quite different. Diesel powered boats do not usually have "bilge blowers" as such.

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Old 24-01-2017, 02:22   #101
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

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Originally Posted by Terra Nova View Post
Most yachts don't have vapor proof seals preventing fumes from entering their bilges. And down the open companionway is easily a possibility. If you feel you don't need a blower, fine.
Vapor proof seals in your propane locker are absolutely necessary, absent which your gas locker has no purpose. If you don't have them, you should install them immediately. Propane locker must be gas tight to the accommodation space, in order to meet any standards, or indeed to have any purpose at all.

Don't count on blowers to deal with escaped gas. Blowers on diesel boats are not designed to deal with this - they are designed to deal with heat (high intake for the exhaust fan). A proper bilge blower has the intake as low as possible, on the contrary.

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Old 24-01-2017, 02:26   #102
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Re: Should the engine bay blower be always on?

Thanks CaptTom, of course the engine room should have adequate airinlets. The engine will get it out agaain.
I used to have a ship with a slow running 3 cil 150 hp engine and when I stuck my head through the door to smell and listen and look, with some portholes open, I still good feel the air being sucked into the engineroom passing my neck.
We had a smallish seagoing rescutender like boat with a 100 hp Ford. It got its air through a closable vent in the wheelhouse. If that was closed and the outside eng room door was closed with the engine running half power. It was impossible to reopen it.
That vent in the wheelhouse only closed normally when the boat would turn upside down.
I am glad we never tried that out.
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