bilge blowers

[kjg1951]

I have just recently bought a 1983 36 albin ... I noticed that there is no bilge blower ... Should I have one installed and if so how big of a blower would I need for the engine compartment.. thanks
Kevin
New Bern NC

[RobS]

You don't need one the way a gas boat does but they are useful to exhaust heat out of the engine room after shut down and general engine room ventilation. You need to decide if it's going to be used for short periods or continuous operation so you choose the right type. Have you ever measured the temperature delta between ambient and the engine room when underway?

[jleonard]

There is a bilge blower in my 40 Albin but I don't use it other than to test it a couple of times each season.
The Lehman 120 should be running easy enough to keep the temperature delta under the recommended 30 deg F max with the large engine compartment.

[kjg1951]

Temperature Delta ??? what is this ?

[jleonard]

Engine manufacturers, and I'll use Cummins because I am familiar with it, wants the engine room temp to be no more than 30 degrees F higher than the ambient air temp. This means there is enough ventilation in the engine compartment.
In other words if the air temp that day is 90 F, the engine room temp should be no greater than 120 F.

When I did my repower of my ex boat, the Cummins tech measured this as it was part of the signoff for warrantee purposes.
And where did he measure this? He took a reading from what appeared to be a stable source in the ER before we did the sea trial, and measured air temp at that same place and at near the engine air intake (air filter) during the sea trial after running at WOT for 1 minute.