Blower Stopped Working / Wiring

On the fourth the blower stopped working and finally got a chance to pull the blower to do some testing. Clipped the wires and I'm getting 12v to the blower. Connected a power source directly to the blower, nothing. So I pulled it out to find this:



Connected my power source directly to the motor and fires right up. Sweet! Upon further inspection, the connectors didn't look quite right, the wires were not crimped to a disconnect and instead shoved in between the disconnect and the post.



Just because I am not an expert on the subject, I just want to verify that I should get the proper sized disconnects and crimp with the ever popular adhesive lined heat shrink connectors and NOT shove the wire in as it was before. Whats odd about those disconnects is that there is no post to solder/crimp wire onto. So was this done by the factory? Also, since the wires were disconnected, I am making the assumption that the red dot indicates "positive".

red dot is positive. all back together and working great.

Since i didnt have a chance until yesterday to look at the problem and i didnt want to give up a weekend, i had ordered a new blower from amazon. So i have a new one when this one goes. Better to have a spare ready at $17 than sit on the shore watching :)

Most of the time i just forget to turn it off and when we switch off the ignition at the end of the day, the blower gets "turned on" so it automatically comes on at the next launch.

At 17 bucks a piece he can buy 11 blowers to that one

Attwoods are original equiptment too, keep it original! 😀

I bought the one that matched the OEM in my 95 Nautique, it is still operating quietly starting its 3rd year. In the 95 where the blower mounts inside the engine cover there is not much space.   I would need to get creative to mount the continuous duty blower in the 95 Nautique. I did put one of the continuous duty fans in my 1987 Malibu after changing the OEM blower twice and getting fed up with how noisy they were. I admit though I got it cheap at a boat wrecker, it came out of a cabin cruiser but was quiet and moved a lot of air, I think that one was in the Malibu for 10 years before I sold that boat.

gun-driver wrote: At 17 bucks a piece he can buy 11 blowers to that one

spiralhelix wrote: The 3" Jabsco model is $117, so 6.8 atwoods at that price with an average lifespan of 5 years gives him 34 years....but the hassle of changing them out. If Mark is willing to pay double, he's looking at 17 years before a return. That's not that bad I guess, as long as it lasts that long.

Besides the hassle of changing out a bilge exhaust blower, I don't feel safety is something that anyone should go cheap on.

Riley wrote: Easiest to replace with what was already there, same with bilge pumps, although Atwood has redesigned those. Pete, show us a photo of how you retro fitted one of those big blowers in your Tique.

Bruce,
I haven't needed to replace the blower yet since the one in the Tique is still working. When I do replace it, I'll be sure to get some pictures. Regarding location for the larger unit, there's plenty of room on ether side of the gas tank.

Pete, that detector is a really cool addition, those should be standard equipment on these closed engine boats. Thanks Mark