Bilge venting

[eutecticpt]

I have a 19 foot bowrider with a V6. When I run the bilge blower, I can only feel air coming out one of the stern vents. There is no duct work attached to the vent with no outward air flow. On the "exhaust" vent, one piece of ducting is connected to the blower and one piece of ducting is not connected to anything. There is also a piece of ducting on the intake side of the blower that extends to near the bottom of the bilge. I have been told that one of the stern vents is for the intake of fresh air and one is for exhaust. Is this correct? There doesn't appear to be any passive vents to introduct fresh air into the engine compartment while underway. Is this cause for concern?

Thank You

2000 Ebbtide 188 Champione
4.3 liter MerCruiser/w Alpha Outdrive

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Bilge venting

If you can feel air exiting at least one vent, you are good. The other vent is for air intake. On some boats you might see two intakes and two exhausts. In most applications I have seen there is a flexible tube which starts down as low as possible in the bilge (because fuel vapour is heavier than air and will congregate right down there around your starter motor), then runs up to the blower motor, then continues over to the exhaust vent.

Owners' manuals tend to say things like always run the blower below cruising speed, assuming that if the boat is up on plane there is enough air forced into the bilge through the intake to properly vent it. Myself, when I had an I/O SeaRay I just ran the blower whenever the engine was running. Real simple to remember.

 

[eutecticpt]

Re: Bilge venting

Thanks for the information. You are correct, the manual recommends operating the blower whenever operating a low speeds.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Bilge venting

Your setup is perfectly normal.

 

[ne7800]

Re: Bilge venting

your set up is the same as my 18' four winns

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Bilge venting

if concerned you could always install two of these.
http://www.iboats.com/Exterior_Mari...9951643--**********.867083600--view_id.257681

 

[fixb52s]

Re: Bilge venting

Sounds just like my setup. On the starboard vent, the intake is connected to a duct that goes to the front of the engine, and the exhaust had the blower inline, with the end down in the bilge to the rear of the engine.

Must be a good setup because when I had the Coast Guard do a safety inspection, they said all was well.​