ALWAYS use your blower
 

A reminder - ALWAYS run your blower after taking on fuel. If you have a fuel sniffer - USE IT!!!
http://youtu.be/h_u-eLc5agg

I saw that boat over the weekend!! Had some hotties on it!

Too bad the reporter talked about "some sort of fan mechanism that you use when you go to fillup"

Very misleading.

Coast Guard


Fuel Safely

As is often the case with boating, a considered approach can avoid fires and keep you out of trouble. Follow these rules to avoid spillage and accidents when fueling your vessel:

o If you are filling jerry cans or portable fuel tanks, take them out of the boat and refuel them onshore. This is safer as it will stop dangerous fumes from building up on your deck and around your boat.

o Before fueling inboard tanks, close all hatches and other openings to prevent fumes from getting into interior spaces of the boat.

o To avoid air locks and sudden spills, be sure your boat is level when refueling. Put passengers ashore or level your trailer if refueling at a service station.

o Be sure you have a fire extinguisher within reach when filling up. Extinguish cigarettes and any other smoking materials or flame. Turn off engines, all electrical equipment, including radios, stoves, and other appliances. And never use a cell phone when fueling. Static electricity can create a spark. Turn cell phones completely off.

o Do not rely on hands-free or automatic shut-off features. Attend the nozzle at all times, and never fill your fuel tank to the top. Fuel will expand as it warms up, especially in warm weather, so be sure to allow room in your tanks for this expansion to avoid leaking fuel into the water. Let's keep our marine environment clean.

o If you have a metal fuel tank, maintain nozzle contact with the fill pipe to prevent static spark and spills. Hold an absorbent sheet under the nozzle to catch any drips, and be sure to wipe up any spillage that should occur. After fueling, be sure to secure the filler cap to prevent fuel from leaking or water from entering the tank.

o Before starting the engine, run the blower for at least four minutes and check the bilge for any fuel vapors. Open all ports, hatches, and doors to ventilate. Do the "sniff" test. Make sure there is no gasoline odor anywhere on the boat. If there is, don't start the engine. Instead, continue ventilating and checking for possible leaks.

On the news last night there was a large cruiser around here that the deck blew off the hull.

Strange looking.

I open my hatch and let my motors run for at least 60 seconds every time I start it. I wish I always remembered to hit the blowers. Does opening the hatch allow enough air circulation and venting?

I think opening the hatch is a great idea. But in theory, any vapors that would exist in the engine compartment are near the hull bottom. The blower is situated down there to extract them. I've always believed that opening the hatch helps with some added circulation.

If you have a spill and the hatch is opened the fumes can flow right into the bilge and stay there. Even with a blower the fumes could get blown right back into the bilge if the hatch is open, thereby defeating its purpose.

True. I don;t think the hatch should be opened until After refueling, and only if there has been no spill. I had a very small spill once on the swim platform. The odor Immediately went to the helm. If cabin doors or other openings are left open, the fumes get in there as well.

I couldn't tell from the picture whether that was a bowrider or closed deck. Looked to me like a lot of flames were up front.

:stupid:

It was a bowrider.

when I pull up to a dock to fuel my boat first thing I do is turn my blowers on........If I have to check my oil or anything in the bilige I open the hatch, do what I have to do then shut it again so the blowers can do there job. Then I proceed to fuel the boat with blowers still running. After tanks are full I pay the attendent while blowers are still on......then I start the boat, pull away from the dock and still leave blowers on for a few minutes............ The only thing I am guilty of, is if I do have guests I don't make them leave the boat. But after hearing all these stories from now on all guests will be asked to get out of the boat, strech out or go use the facilities.............is this good, safe protocol ?

I bought two timers from Radio Shack several years ago. They run my blowers for 90 seconds when you turn the key on and then shut off, but I can still run the blowers full time if I want by triping the toggle switch. For those of you out there that are as bad as I am on remembering to turn the blowers on...this is a fool proof way to run the blowers everytime you turn on the key.

Not as far as I know. I was told NOT to run bilge blowers while fueling. The blowers draw air from outside and that air will have gas fumes in it while the boat is fueled. After fueling is done then the blowers should be run before starting up. It's a good idea to personally sniff the air being expelled by the blowers to be sure that no fumes are present. Again, what I was told.

Thats a great idea.

I'm all for being careful, but I think this boat must have had bigger problems than fumes from fueling up.

I know these explosions do happen, but what was the real cause? I am guilty myself of not using blowers, and changing fuel water sep on the water with spillage. I have seen boats run all year with gas leaks (I stay away) I have smelled gas on boats from yards away. Hell I even watched a guys wife hold something on his carb cause it pissed fuel at idle......all year she held it, THAT boat smelled like gas. Still, I have never witnessed even a fire.....knock on wood

Bottom line is this is scary stuff, but how scary? Something makes me think there is more to the story than what we hear when these boats explode! To treat filling up like you are handling nuclear waste just seems a little goofy to me. "Ok crew, shut all the doors and windows, turn off everything electrical and exit the boat" "someone get me the pocket level before I fill up" "If you have a cell phone please turn it off and place it in the static proof bag" "Ok crew, boat is full, please open all windows, I will run the blowers for 4 mins, someone please time me then I will need everyone to do a sniff test in all areas of the boat before I start it" If THAT guy was in front of me at the gas dock I might lose it.

Millions of boats fuel up all year, one or two explode......no need to be paranoid

There must be some sort of underlying issue there. At least they are all alive.

But how is it that news reporters seem to fish out the dumbest person around for an interview? That guy was special to say the least, not that the news reporter was all that brilliant.

Oh, and I always use my blowers. Pre-start mental checklist.

I cant believe that fuel vapor monitors are not mandatory. Every boat I have had since the mid 90's has had one of these. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...classNum=50518

It turns your blowers on automatically. I wire it to the battery switch so I know it's online at all times.

Here is another one:
http://www.wftv.com/gallery/news/loc.../ggST/#1573650

Dumb reporter. Anybody notice how he says one person was "sitting on the bow, right on top of the motor?" Maybe it was a front wheel drive boat.

May be an old wives tale, but I was told by a sea captain 20 yrs ago that blower should be off while fueling. He also told me when you are done fueling, raise the hatch and see if you smell fumes before you turn the blower on, that if there are enough fumes when you start the blower the contact spark from the blower can spark and start a fire. Also told me to always shut the hatch before starting for 2 reasons- if you have a halon system you dont want fresh air feeding the fire while the halon is smothering it, and secondly most hatch designs funnel the flame toward the cockpit if there is an explosion. I have lived by those words ever since.

Wow! Blew the top cap right off of it, but doesn't look like it caught on fire.

I always crack my hatch about 8" & run my blowers when I trailer down to the dock from my boat storage, about a mile @ 30mph. Then lower it when starting.

A sea captain that doesn't even know how bilge blowers work...amazing. I'd run far from that guy. Bilge blowers are ignition or spark protected, that's why they're in the bilge and perform their function well.

interesting and maybe true.......that is why I continue to run them after done fueling and always take my time before I fire back up...........

I did it that way for years, but was corrected a few years ago. The blowers go on after fueling. If they are on during fueling, the blowers can actually draw fumes into the bilge through the make up air vent.

Until it happens to you! Back to back Memorial Days in our area two boats have exploded one in Erie and one on Lake Chautaqua over in New York. I am just a little more cautious now and I think everyone around here is too.

I would have to agree with this. Your blower hose runs to the bottom of the boat to the reverse vents an the forward faceing vents are open to draw air in. Running Your blower while fueling could draw fumes into your bilge. Just think if Your fill cap an fuel tank vent were close to your forward vent??? Artie

I always launch with the hatch open. I also fuel with the hatch open. To me that's a no brainer; Also a good time to show off the bling in there! We all have a fuel sniffer on the middle of our face. If I've been sitting for any length of time I stick my head in the engine room and smell, and run the blowers. If you have a serious fuel leak the blowers probably aren't going to get the job done. Open the hatch and smell!

i caught that also reporter was an idiot, nice to have diesels.

Almost happen to me once. It was after my motor was redone and i picked it up and went to fill it up and they hooked the gas line up wrong and it came out when it was filling up and I never look at the engine hatch just hit the blower and this one time I did the whole engine compartment was full of fuel!!So I call the marina and told them what happen and said that they need to pay for the fuel that was wasted because they didnt hook it up right and they refused to I finaly got them to. And that same marina winterized my friends cruser and a few weeks later it sunk at the dock.
Brett