Blower motor venting seems all wrong!!

Discovery (1983 Ericson 30+) is similar to others in the way of venting. the hoses are old and cracked and the blowers stopped working years before I bought her in 2014.

My two cents: I lean toward passive venting ideas

MJS

Frank the blower is a white Attwood unit mounted in the same place you described, with hoses running from the low starboard side of the motor at the base of the quarterberth to the starboard dorade vent on the stern rail. Judging from the layers of accumulated engine oil, belt dust and other stuff on the unit, it appears to be original. I replaced the hoses and connected it to the ignition with a switch on the engine panel so it only runs when the engine is on. It still works fine. I'll probably leave it as is and not reverse it. It seems much of my boat suffered from "Friday Afternoon Syndrome" so I imagine it would be a simple mistake to install the blower backwards.

A couple of considerations:

1. Inline and squirrel cage blowers have different duty ratings. Be sure to install the proper one for your expected usage. From Marine Diesel Basics 1, page 80:

Only fans rated for continuous duty should be installed for engine room ventilation; these are typically “squirrel cage” fans (axial fans).

Inline bilge blowers, though often used for engine room ventilation, are designed to run for short periods to vent fumes and vapors (e. g. gasoline, propane, hydrogen). They are not intended for continuous duty and typically have a service life of only 300 – 350 hours.

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2. I'll repeat my caution to dieselites with propane cooking fuel. If you repurpose your engine room ventilation system for cooling instead of vapor removal by relocating the hoses and/or reversing the flow (blow into the space rather than exhaust), what will you do if you ever experience a propane system leak and no longer have a system in place to safely extract the vapors from the boat? To that end, my boat has a Xintex Fume detector that is interfaced with the exhaust blower. If vapors are detected a red panel indicator illuminates, a screeching alarm sounds and the blower system is automatically activated until the vapors are reduced to a safe level. I keep it armed 24/7, boat in use or not. No way does this system work as intended if I've reconfigured the ventilation system for a different purpose. The bottom line is if you have propane as your cooking fuel you're no different than those of us with gasoline engines.

Nah! just replace the blower. My old one squeled like a mouse whose tail was steped on.

Engine vent fan

The ventilation on my 30+ looks like what Frank described. The motor is efficient, but is also very loud. Is there any maintenance that can get rid of the screeching sound or is this simply a sign of impending failure?

I do not run the fan continuously while operating the motor, although I have used it on hot days. I also sometimes run it after docking to help clear fumes and heat out of the compartment; my thinking being that it keeps them out of the cabin.

Best,

Louis

A few of you have stated that your blower fans squeal or screech. I'm guessing that that may be due to lack of regular use, or age of the blower. The blower on our boat (can't remember the brand, but I've seen it advertised not long ago for only $35.00) is at least 13 years old (length of time I've owned the boat) and I'm thinking is likely the original, as maintenance records from prior owners don't show it being replaced. And it doesn't squeal at all, only sounds like a strong rush of air out of the exhaust vent, but not unpleasant. In fact, once or twice when I have used it while motoring on a hot day, I forgot it was on, only remembering when I did my usual check of all the instruments and gauges while underway.

I don't know if there might be a way to spray silicone or some lubricant into the fan spindle to quieten a noisy fan, but might be worth a try.

Frank

Gentlemen (hahaha): our boats are 30 years old. This stuff was in almost every case original equipment.

Just change out the blower. Then move on to changing out almost everything else, which is the deal that comes with Ericson ownership (or any other vintage yacht).

New blower fan.

Fellas, Before buying a replacement blower for your noisy fan, talk to the market and ask if the motor us designed for continuous operation. Most are including the one I have. Best of luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

Christian, I agree that much of the equipment on our aging boats needs careful attention and then likely replacement, hopefully before it fails completely after years of good service. Nigel Calder of Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual fame generally advises doing normal maintenance but not messing unnecessarily with anything for fear of introducing a problem where perhaps none existed. I still struggle with that--I took our 30 year old alternator to a local reputable shop to check/service before leaving on a longer trip to more remote areas, and they said it was fine, looked almost new inside didn't even need new brushes. Four months later the alternator failed, for reasons I still don't understand, but it was almost as much to have it repaired as to buy a new one, so I bought new at a good price. So maybe I should have just left my alternator alone before going on that trip and it might still be working properly, or maybe the breakdown was just unfortunate coincidence.

I am now having the same debate with myself regarding our 34 year old starter/solenoid, which is still working ok and the engine generally starts well. I know that Loren and some others on this site have had their starter motor serviced and report much easier starting afterwards. But they are hard to remove from the engine in that tight space, and maybe again I should leave well enough alone.

So on our aging boats, the question to replace equipment or not.....especially when it still seems to be working ok.

Frank

Frank Langer said:

So on our aging boats, the question to replace equipment or not.....especially when it still seems to be working ok.

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Well, if you fully subscribe to the theory of preventative replacement, you end up like me: in the boatyard for two years with at least another year to complete all systems and reinstall trim. Boat maintenance is like a sweater- pull on one thread, and an arm unravels, pull on a couple more threads and pretty soon you are left with a nasty pile of yarn to knit back together. At least you'll sleep well afterwards (unless you're keeping receipts).

Re the starter motor

others have had...starter motor serviced and report much easier starting afterwards. But they are hard to remove from the engine in that tight space, and maybe again I should leave well enough alone.

Man, I think my knuckles finally healed after the starter motor experience a couple of year ago. For sure, it's not broke--etc., because the M25 starter isn't easy to remove.

But when the batteries are new, and the engine still turns over sluggishly and is therefore kinda slow to start, a refurbishing of he motor makes miracles. See Post #10 here:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...drometer-plus-potential-starter-motor-isssues

But a blower replacement--that ought to be easy and cheap.

bigd14 said:

I read or heard somewhere an opinion that on a diesel boat the blower should pull outside air in to provide adequate oxygen to the engine. I suspect its not an issue on these smaller diesels, but it kind of made sense to me. And in fact that is the way my blower was pointing, so I didn't change it. But now I wonder if I should.

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I can see that argument. But my understanding is that if it blew in, and there was a fire, it would just fan the flames. And I think blowers blowing OUT may be an ABYC requirement.

I think the blower is there to dissipate potential explosive gases from a gasoline engine compartment. On the diesel it helps ventilate harmless but potentially smelly diesel exhaust fumes. I don't think it matters if it blows in or out in either case.

GrandpaSteve said:

I think the blower is there to dissipate potential explosive gases from a gasoline engine compartment. . . . . . I don't think it matters if it blows in or out in either case.

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Actually Steve, it does matter. The intent of the ventilation system is to remove dangerous vapors and according to ABYC H-2.6.3.2.4: As installed, the blower system(s) shall exhaust air from the boat . . . . (negative pressure). If the system is reconfigured to blow air into the boat (positive pressure) it will scatter the dangerous vapors throughout but not exhaust them from the boat. Vapors that are heavier than air (gasoline and propane are examples) will settle again low in the hull. The whole point is to remove the vapors, not scatter them.

I stand corrected then. I just assumed since my boat is not airtight it didn't matter, as long as the air is moving.

Sorry to be such a nag about this but we are talking about safety. I'm probably more sensitive to it because I'm a gasser but as I tried to point out earlier in the thread those with propane stoves have the same risk. Sure, there are extreme requirements for propane tank storage but every hose connection, every hose passage through structure that risks chafe, everything outside the tank storage envelope has the potential for leakage. And propane is under pressure!

Parrothead said:

Sorry to be such a nag about this but we are talking about safety. I'm probably more sensitive to it because I'm a gasser but as I tried to point out earlier in the thread those with propane stoves have the same risk. Sure, there are extreme requirements for propane tank storage but every hose connection, every hose passage through structure that risks chafe, everything outside the tank storage envelope has the potential for leakage. And propane is under pressure!

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Nothing wrong with being concerned about safety, but I should note that way back in the 80's when I did a "full Monty" propane install of a cooker and bulkhead heater in our prior boat I followed the known ABYC regulation about having no (as in zero) hose joints (T's) between the vented propane compartment and the appliances inside of the rest of the boat. I put a manifold in the compartment with the tank- and also a pressure gauge). Two separate hoses led forward, thru grommeted and chafe-guarded routing to their respective appliances.
Having done all that... we did not let the little Force 10 cabin heater run unattended. While well guarded, the little open flame just worried me too much to do that.
OTOH, after a chilly night it sure warmed up the cabin in the morning.

BTW, that boat, a Niagara 26, also had room in its sealed-off stern lazaretto, for several fuel tanks for the Yamaha 10 outboard. It was a thoughtfully-designed boat in many ways.

Loren Beach said:

... we did not let the little Force 10 cabin heater run unattended. While well guarded, the little open flame just worried me too much to do that. OTOH, after a chilly night it sure warmed up the cabin in the morning.

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I prefer oven baked goodies like biscuits, coffee cake or cookies to warm the cabin. Good on several levels.

Frank Langer said:

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So on our aging boats, the question to replace equipment or not.....especially when it still seems to be working ok.

Frank

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I try to weigh this against my cruising targets, which are "multi-day" day cruises from port to port, otherwise I am day sailing from the same port. In the Chesapeake bay I am comfortable maintaining the boat as she asks for it. If I tried to predict everything I would never leave the dock. I am within Tow Boat US jurisdiction on the whole bay, so if I really get in trouble there is help to be had. I don't ignore problems once I know about them, and I do reasonable maintenance to all systems. I addressed all of my survey items in the first year of ownership, and found additional things to do in that process.