Generator question

Diesel or gasoline engines....?

I was always taught, and practiced, to use blowers for 5 minutes prior to starting any engine. Once you have something running it's operation will provide enough airflow. Of course you also want to do a visual and smell check of the bilge for gas prior to starting an engine. But you're going to be down there anyway checking the oil and coolant, if you have any, right?

If you are going to be running the genset on a gas boat at anchor during the day, night or anytime the boat is not moving you need to install CO alarms. In fact you should have some CO detectors on board no matter what.

a/c blower

On a gas boat, you need blowers on with the gen set running. Battery run blowers (DCv) are not designed for continuous running. On my last gas boat, I installed an air conditioning blower that I fused and wired straight to the ACv output breaker of the gen set. When the gen set is running, the blower runs automatically. 4 inch Exhaust hose to an extra clam shell facing aft.

Big point; make sure your ACv blower is ignition protected. It will take some looking but there out there.

CO detectors are a must. It's nice to wake up in the morning.....

Jabsco and others make continuous duty DC blowers that can be run 24/7. I would always run a blower on a gas boat if you have an engine or generator running. CO monitors in the cabin are also a must.

It seems that we all like to go vertical in the morning. So far, We all agree on forced ventilation. We all agree on CO detectors. Shame some out there don't think like we do. Then some don't get vertical in the morning.
When your out there in Aqua Space you have to protect your self. There is nobody more responsible than you if you want to go vertical in the morning.
Don't cut any corners on safety at sea.

BTW; I force blowers on my diesel gensets and have 3 CO detectors on board now.

Go like Kirk. Enjoy the sunrise.

Explain, please.

When a boat is underway there is usually enough air forced through the vents to circulate fumes out. However, when sitting or moving at idle it's proper to keep your blowers on to suck the fumes out. Not sure how much good blowing on a gen would do since gas fumes settle in the bottom of the boat and need to be circulated out.

Dunno, call me old fashion, but I would not sleep very well on a 35' express with the genny running, even with blowers in the engine room. What happens when the wind goes calm about 2am and the CO starts seeping over the transom and then down into that comfy, cool stateroom? Not for me. I'll open the hatches and have a nice 12volt fan nearby.

Just an ole man's opinion.

How's it going to do that?

I do not pretend to know the physics of it, but I periodically read about two lovely people found dead in their stateroom with the genny purring along. Just saying, its not for me, so please don't "nail" me.

Beau

As I explained my installation of a blower on my old Gas boats gen-set (above), I have done the same with the installation on out Bert's Diesel generator. When the genny is running, an ACv blower (fuse protected) runs off the gen-sets output breaker. It really does help on drawing out the heat, and any fumes. In the morning when I check the mains before the next leg of our trip, the ER is not hot and smells great.
Maybe my term "forced blowers" was to quick or short. Auto blowers would be a better term. They do draw from the ER and blow over board (aft facing clam shell).
I have a few big and not so big halon systems tied to two shutdown systems. In the event any of the halon bottles dump, all blowers, mains and gen-set shut down and a whole lot of bells and buzzers go off.
I did this on my gas boat but forgot to mention it above. Very important to shut off blowers when a halon bottle dumps.
When it's cool outside, we do use a large inverter for the toys and not run the A/C. Looking forward to that again this fall.
Even now that we are a diesel boat, there are 3 CO detectors on board. Cheap insurance? Yes... Our surveyor pointed out that CO could come on board from a rafted up gas boat. With our free board, I don't think so, But like Ive said before, I like to go vertical in the mornings and CO detectors are cheap.

Thanks for the explaination; sounds like a good set up.

Just to provide my .02...

In the summer, we routinely spend the night aboard and A/C is a must. Even with an open hatch and a fan, it doesn't alleviate the 85º nights with 90% humidity. I'm more leary of someone else's exhaust coming in than I am my own.

Our 4" 12v DC blower runs if we're at idle or less. We kick on the genset around 6:00 pm and start the engines around 8:00 am. The blower runs the entire time, even though the genset is in a soundshield case. Boat is 10 years old and the blower was just replaced last year. I'm not worried about the $35 it cost for the blower.

I concur on the necessity for CO detectors and we have 3 on our boat. Sometimes I think they are too sensitive, if that makes sense. If the engines are running at the dock (gas) and you leave the slider open for more than 15 seconds, the saloon detector goes off immediately.

Also, for peace of mind, install a gas fume detector. It has a 'sniffer' in the bilge and detects gasoline vapors, hydrogen sulfide vapors (from batteries), propane, butane, and natural gas. $200 and is worth every penny. Of course, I still run blowers and do the sniff thest, but redundancy is never a bad thing when your family is at stake.