Northeast - Don't forget to operate those blowers.

Not sure if it was due to not operating the blower but this could sure ruin your day.

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/05/28/news/midcoast/one-injured-in-fire-at-brunswick-marina/

I got a lot of A hole boat owners that neglect to run their blowers before they fire up the engines. I just yell at them and make them feel like an idiot. Because they are. Dumb asses.

I got a lot of A hole boat owners that neglect to run their blowers before they fire up the engines. I just yell at them and make them feel like an idiot. Because they are. Dumb asses.

It's amazing to me that of all my I/O friends, I seem to be the only one who runs it for a good 5 mins before I even think of turning the key...

Everytime they do this and I'm on board I start heading for the front of the boat just incase I have to jump overboard!

Why not just build them with at least a few seconds of the blower running before it will start in a passive system?

Sure, certain people will bypass them but then you won't feel as bad reading about the aftermath. ;cool;

<soapbox>
Just to be technical, in case it can save a life, simply running a blower is NOT sufficient. You need to check for fumes. The blowers real job is not to clear fumes so you can start the engine, although that seems to be the popular belief. Yes it will possibly do that and save your life if you DO start it, but if you are clearing fumes you should NEVER turn the key. It's not normal to have fumes in the engine compartment and if you have them before you start you can be sure that you will have them after, and if it's from a leak in a fuel line that has nothing flowing through it at rest, it's gonna spew when running.

If you ever smell gas you HAVE to find and correct the source before you put the key in the ignition.

Run the blower for 5-10 (I prefer 10). Check for fumes IMMEDIATELY and during the first minute, then every couple minutes after. If you were clear the whole time then go for it.

Yeah, I know this is preachy, but I don't care if it has the chance to keep even one person safe.
</soapbox>

Why not just build them with at least a few seconds of the blower running before it will start in a passive system?

Sure, certain people will bypass them but then you won't feel as bad reading about the aftermath. ;cool;

That sounds great on paper, but things can turn bad fast on the water and sometimes 5 minutes can mean life or death. I've heard way too many tales of people almost being nailed by a tanker. At night they can be on you and you won't hear them until they are a couple hundred yards off sometimes. So yeah, there ARE some times when running the blower won't be an option, but if you ran it before the trip and your were clear then there is a good chance you'll survive an emergency start.

Ultimately the captain needs to act in any way he sees fit to protect himself and his passengers and having a system like that would seriously impeded their ability to do so IMO.

I just re-read your post and realize you said a few seconds. While that is not minutes, I'm not sure who that would help. You'd need a huge blower to evacuate the average engine compartment and bilge in a few seconds.

Yeah, I'm surprised you guys are talking about MINUTES. It was my understanding that 10 to 15 seconds was enough. It should be enough to SMELL the fumes, anyway!

5 to 10 MINTUES? No wonder there are people skipping it.

My father in law never used his blower and his boat had a rusty 30 year old 4 cylinder I/0. Scared the crap out of me every time he turned the key. I asked him why and he said he never had on that or any other boat he owned. At the time I had a fuel injected mercruiser on my boat and was told with a fuel injected motor the blower wasn't necessary. I never bought into that. I ran the blower every time while I was doing other things, and at first start up of the day I always popped the hatch to check the bilge. It may not have been 5 or 10 minutes but it was at least 2 or 3.

Yeah, I'm surprised you guys are talking about MINUTES. It was my understanding that 10 to 15 seconds was enough. It should be enough to SMELL the fumes, anyway!

5 to 10 MINTUES? No wonder there are people skipping it.

Yes, if there are fumes you should smell it pretty quick. 5-10 is in case you missed the smell somehow and still choose to fire it up.

Come on, how many people jump on a boat and start it? The proper procedure is board the boat and flip the blowers on. If you trailer flip them on in the parking lot when you start your prep. You don't do a bunch of crap then get to the point where you are gonna start and then sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Turn them on, check the smell and let them clear the bilge in case you missed it.

At the time I had a fuel injected mercruiser on my boat and was told with a fuel injected motor the blower wasn't necessary. I never bought into that.

Now THAT scares me. Whoever told you that must believe fuel is contained inside your engine! I can't begin to understand that reasoning. Fuels system have many points of failure not limited to but including a rusted tank! Has nothing to do with the kind of engine.

Are people really in THAT much of a hurry that 5 minutes is going to ruin their day? The alternative is that if you don't it may very well riun more than your day.

Flip the damn switches people and let them run long enough to do their job. Load your gear while they are doing it. Geesh

Put a fume detector in too..

Dumb question, from a newbie, but: are there blower fans on outboard powered bats? Evacuating the air around tanks that are otherwise sealed seems unlikely.

Put a fume detector in too..


X2. Best advice yet. Replaced my 25 years fume detector this spring. Manual says it will alarm at 20% explosive fume content.

Dumb question, from a newbie, but: are there blower fans on outboard powered bats? Evacuating the air around tanks that are otherwise sealed seems unlikely.

No

It may be possible that they were putting fuel in and forgot to turn off everything electric which is very important as running your blower. I was alway told that fumes can build up in places that not be close enough for the blower to get to. I was always told to open my cabin's door's and windows to let the boat breath an don't be in a hurry to start that motor

You always need to open the hatch on a gas powered boat. My next door nieghbor from NJ in 85 blew his Cris Craft up under the GW Bridge. Luckily nobody got killed.

You always need to open the hatch on a gas powered boat. My next door nieghbor from NJ in 85 blew his Cris Craft up under the GW Bridge. Luckily nobody got killed.

Sage advice, although if you have people who think running a blower for a few minutes is burdensome and takes too much time, I doubt they are going to open the hatch, especially if there are coolers and fishing gear on it!

Your nose is perhaps the best safety device you have. Everything else is backup ;)

Hehe you dont have that problem on an Outboard

Hehe you dont have that problem on an Outboard


About 20 years ago my father nearly killed me with his outboard. I was sitting in the canoe sorting through a tackle box when he cranked the engine. There was a loud boom and I looked over to see a cover less motor burning. A few seconds later, the still flaming cover landed within a foot of me.

As I understand it fueling of the boat had already been completed, boat was idling at the dock and owner was readying to cast of the lines. Blowers had been running prior to fueling and post fueling, exact cause is not known at this time. One thing for sure is that the dockworkers and the boat owner did a fantastic job in their initial response as well as the responding departments and agencies. There were a lot of people around at the time and it's very fortunate that no one was severely injured. They had the boat up and out of the water in a very short time with no significant fuel spills and/or harm to the environment. Hat's off to all involved.