Can I have 2 bilge blowers?

[1976CV16]

I have a 2014 Four Winns horizon 190. It has 4 vents, 2 on each side under the sun deck pointed towards the sides of the boat. Only 1 of the vents has a blower motor. Can I get a 2nd blower and use it as an intake? That way with 4 vents, 1 forces air out, 1 forces air in and the other 2 do their own thing while under way. I can't find much info on this, I don't see why not??

 

[Bondo]

I don't see why not??

Ayuh,..... A Better question is Why would you want 2 blowers,..??...

One works just Fine in millions of boats,......

 

[alldodge]

My Formula has two blowers, one on each side and they both blow air in to the engine room. Can you install two, sure, but even with mine one would work just fine. Guess I will say that it takes less time to clear out any fumes it they are present with two

 

[1976CV16]

My Formula has two blowers, one on each side and they both blow air in to the engine room. Can you install two, sure, but even with mine one would work just fine. Guess I will say that it takes less time to clear out any fumes it they are present with two

Did I read this right? You have 2 blowers sucking air IN to your engine compartment? So you don't have a blower to exhaust any fumes that may be in your bilge?

I want a blower to help force fresh air into the engine compartment. Overkill? Maybe but I spend a lot of time at slow speeds, on and off while skiing or tubing and putting through channels. I thought a blower sucking in fresh air would help, at the very least couldn't hurt. I don't even know how fresh air gets in there to begin with. A blower sucking in fresh air surely has to be better than just 2 open vents??

I don't mean to question anybody, especially modern boat engineers, BUUUUT, when I buy a $40,000 boat and I get a warning ticket for not having appropriate battery terminal covers, a $55 walmart NON marine cd player and a drain hole 2 inches above the floor of the ski locker. There is a lot I don't know and I'm sure there are reasons why boats are made like this but when i see certian things I start to question WHY... I just want to know if I can help make the motor breath better by not making anything worse. Thank you for the replys.

 

[dwco5051]

If you really want more ventilation then I would suggest that the second one force air out like the existing one does. The problem that may arise with one blower forcing air into the closed compartment would be that the compartment could be under positive pressure. That might cause fumes to be forced out into somewhere you don't want them. When a blower is sucking air out it creates a negative pressure and the atmospheric pressure forces air in to replace it.

 

[alldodge]

No you did not read it incorrectly. Two blowers sucking air in and discharging under the engine. Two vents each side, each vent has two intakes, so two sucking air in and six allowing air to be pushed out. Blowers don't move a high volume of air, there only 3 inch OD.

You do what you want, but I run the blower a bit before I start. After engine is started I turn it off.

As before, one is sufficient, having two just means if one burns out I'm still ok, and it takes half the time it would take with only one.

 

[1976CV16]

Blowing air into the bilge would just move around any fumes or bad air. Gas fumes are heavier than air, I thought the only way to remove that air was to have a vent hose lowest part of the bilge and such that air OUT of the engine compartment. My boat came from the factory that way, everything I read says the lowest part has to be an exhaust not intake. Thank you for your input, but if I understand you correctly your boat is set up incorrectly. I highly suggest looking into that.

 

[1976CV16]

The blower in my boat is 4" as are the hoses. Its fuel injected so it is less of an issue than the carburated ones. I still use it prior to startup, while at low speeds and a lot of the times I turn it on and forget to turn it off lol.

 

[bruceb58]

Blowers should be on the exhaust vent. They should not blow air into the boat.

You don't want blowers on both of your exhaust vents if you only have 2 exhaust vents.

 

[alldodge]

Yes they suck not blow, I am so appreciative of ya'll setting me straight on this issue.

 

[Alumarine]

Yes they suck not blow, I am so appreciative of ya'll setting me straight on this issue.

I think they were trying to clarify things for the OP.:joyous:

 

[1976CV16]

Well, here we are. Positive air pressure bad, extra blower not a good idea. I suppose I oughta get by with the one and leave the other 3 vents alone.

 

[NYBo]

Well, here we are. Positive air pressure bad, extra blower not a good idea. I suppose I oughta get by with the one and leave the other 3 vents alone.

Yes, that sums it up nicely.

 

[Silvertip]

To exhaust fumes (air) OUT of the bilge, there must be a way to replace that air. Hence one or more vents on the hull. If you tried to force air INTO the bilge, you could only push in as much as the exhaust side can pull out.