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Bilge Blower

Czech Mate

Member II
Last weekend I was getting ready to start the engine on my 1975 32-2 in preparation for motoring out for a nice afternoon sail and turned on the bilge blower switch and guess what? Bilge blower was not running. Checked the fuse and that was okay. Have not had any problems with the blower in the past two years I've owned the boat.

I am going to be back at the boat this weekend and am going to try and trouble shoot it. I'm sure I can locate the blower if I start poking around in all the various compartments but I am wondering if some one out there can save me some time if they know where it's located or have had any experience in working on these buggers.

Any help from any of you fellow Vikings out there would certainly be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill
 

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
Bill - this is where I would start:

Follow the hose from the bilge until you find the pump.

With the switch on, test for voltage at the terminals on the pump. If you have not got a simple digital voltmeter, borrow/buy one.

If you measure something close to battery voltage (i.e. measure the voltage across the battery terminals for reference), try a new pump. If the voltage is low, replace the wiring to it.

If I were a gambling man, I would put money on the wiring being the problem on a boat that age, since you say you still have the original fuses. Ericson installed wiring that fails after 30 years or so due to corrosion.

If you do rewire it, here is a thought: wire the bilge blower to the ignition circuit. I did my boat that way, it makes it impossible to start the engine without the blower going.

Dubay noch,
Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
Stupid question? Why have one at all?

OK this is going to sound REAL stupid, but why even have a blower on a diesel powered boat? The racket ours made was incredible, so we never used it - ever. Was that dangerous? Stupid? Was I living on borrowed time?
 

Emerald

Moderator
Thought on using a blower with a diesel is you are apt to have some other explosive fuel on board, be it gas for a dinghy, alcohol or propane for a stove etc. These fumes can still collect in the bilge and if everything goes wrong, something like a spark of the starter engaging on the ring gear, could set it off. I read something to this effect happening on a boat in Canada with a diesel. I try to remember to run the blower always when starting, but truth is there are times I've just started it. I do keep my only other fuel (stove alcohol) stored in a cooler in the cockpit that I use as a booster seat at the helm. Not ideal (the seat slides some when heeled), but works.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
an exhausting discussion

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3602&highlight=blower&page=2

Use of the blower, full time while under power, is discussed in this prior thread. I have done this for a decade. This is advised by a pro diesel mechanic in our YC. He teaches diesel classes and in the "cooling" part of the course points out that about 5% of the waste head transferred out of our engines is in the form of direct radiation.

Since our diesel boats do not have the potential for explosive gases like a gasoline aux. boat, we should mount the exhaust intake high in our confined engine compartments. And, if mounted near enough to draw off heat from the heat-sensitive alternator, that's even better. Also: keep your engine block clean... dirt-covered oily metal insulates.

Remember that between the built-in problem of an enclosure that usually fits tight around your laboring engine, you also have an inch of sound-deadening material that equally acts as an insulator.

IMHO, if your exhaust fan is way too noisy, it's probably time to replace it anyway.
 
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Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Bilge fans for a diesel engine compartment.

Bill & all, Loren is correct. Sometime last year I bought a massive Wilcox Crittenden, cast aluminum, 12 volt bilge fan and installed it directly beneath my port mushroom vent. I made a plywood donut adapter plate that joins the fan to the underside of the deck vent and always run it when under power. It helps cool the engine room in the summer and acts as a wonderful hand warmer (honestly) in the winter. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA.
 
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