blower question

Todd When I get to the lake I always open the engine cover to put the plug in That gives me an opportunity to smell for gas or check for fumes. If I smell heavy gas I dont launch until I find the cause. When I put the boat in the water I run the blower for about 2 minutes then start. Hope this helps.

Hey Todd, I 'm with Rick.If you get into the habit of pulling the drain plug everytime that you leave the lake, then you will be "forced" to open the engine cover everytime you put in. I put the plug in my 88' just before backing down the ramp and leave the "hood" open as well as turning on the blower. Once in the water and cranked up then you can do a quick inspection to make sure you don't have any water leaks in the cooling system. After a 5-10 sec once over I lower the hood and prep for passenger pu and departure.

I'm with Tryan. Blowers are inexpensive and use very little power. I want to reiterate in the 30 years I have owned inboards, I have NEVER started a boat without opening the engine cover first. It's really important to make sure there are no fumes in the boat.

I was at the landing about a week ago on Minnetonka and watched some guy blow hatches right off his donzi. The whole rear end of the boat caught on fire and by the time the fire dept. got there the boat was completely gone. It looked to be a late 80's Donzi

Just a thought on Blowers. The reason you ventilate the engine compartment is to avoid a spark from igniting fuel vapors. I know blowers are supposed to be sealed, but a blower is run by an electric motor. Electric motors have the ability to spark. How reliable can a 20 dollar fan be?

Be safe, open your engine box and take a quick look and smell. Who knows what else you may find down there!

When I started my restoration of my 57 CC, there was no blower and no bilge pump. These were the first items I got, and not just to make it legal. My plug is up under the front seat so I am not forced to open the hatch to put the plug in, but I always do open it. Not a bad idea to leave the keys on the intake manifold. Keep up the good information.
Jim

64 Skier wrote: I just installed dual 4" blowers

Hey I like that idea! I love modifying stuff, and anything dual sparks my interest- dual carbs, dual exhaust,

I have to trailer every time I use my boat and I always take the plug out as soon as I'm out of the water so the bilge is dry when I get home. The plug sits nicely between the pump motor and the pump switch. Therefore I always open the motor box before I start it at the ramp. Between that and the fact that I just trailered it for 40 minutes I have no worries there. However, I only occasionally check for fumes before starting while we're out, and to be honest I have never used my blower in the 3 years I've had my boat.

After reading this thread, I think my next project will be to fix the blower hose that's ripped to shreds, and install a second blower. There's no reason not to use it, really.