Effective block heaters for....

Boomyal

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...elimination of winter time condensation on an engine block? A number of years ago I expended a lot of effort to make the engine in my boat look pretty and be durable. Unfortunately, the boat has to sit outside even though it is under a cover. In spite of this the engine wants to sweat during the winter months. I have placed timer activated fans aimed at it and lamps, on timers, aimed at it to control the condensation. Eventually the sweating will deteriorate the finish and cause rust to break through the finish.

I have come to think that something like a thermostatically controlled block heater or oil heater would be a better solution. Any ideas out there?
 
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Scott Danforth

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25 watt trouble light hanging in the bilge or simply a small 5" fan to circulate air (no timer)

unless your motor has a heat exchanger and is filled with antifreeze, a block heater will not work. oil heaters are a pain in the butt, as a proper oil heater needs a circulating pump, unless you are using a pan heater. dipstick heaters really do not have enough of an element to be effective.

or you can simply spray on fluidfilm
 

Boomyal

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25 watt trouble light hanging in the bilge or simply a small 5" fan to circulate air (no timer)

unless your motor has a heat exchanger and is filled with antifreeze, a block heater will not work. oil heaters are a pain in the butt, as a proper oil heater needs a circulating pump, unless you are using a pan heater. dipstick heaters really do not have enough of an element to be effective.

or you can simply spray on fluidfilm

I have used both, scott. I was just looking for something that was a little bit simpler to keep the block temperature up. I do have a heat exchanger and will look into something for that.

It is good to know about Fluid Film. I can see many uses for that but I do not think it would work for my motor as it is painted.
 

rbh

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First off is the engine drained or full of coolant/water (winterized)?
Any place in the Pac north west has a lot of moisture in the air and condensation is going to happen especially if the air does not circulate around it in a covered environment.
Remove cowling and build a A-frame over it, keep boat/motor dry but let it breath?
 

Boomyal

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First off is the engine drained or full of coolant/water (winterized)?
Any place in the Pac north west has a lot of moisture in the air and condensation is going to happen especially if the air does not circulate around it in a covered environment.
Remove cowling and build a A-frame over it, keep boat/motor dry but let it breath?

It's not drained rbh, it has a heat exchanger. Only the raw water side and exhaust manifolds are drained.
 

oldboat1

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I had good success in Maryland using a Boatsafe bilge heater -- kept the engine compartment warm and dry (50 degrees +/-).
 

Scott Danforth

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you could install a zero start block heater in one of the core plugs and run it with their thermostat switch and harness.
 

Scott Danforth

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Tim Frank

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I think I recall a similar thread last year by MTBoat.
Fairly lengthy and lots of suggestions.
 
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