110 in the engine room?

[Scottzzzy]

Some pictures with close ups available?

I can snap a photo with my phone this week. The lake is down but I want to get out for a night or 2 since the weather has been so nice. NOthing like sleeping with the hatches open on a cool night on the hook!

 

[Scottzzzy]

Oh my! To have a 110 volt outlet in that environment would require a class 1 division 2 installation. This installation would be highly unusual in a recreational boat and the parts alone would be several hundred dollars at least. There is no way I would risk having the potential for the big bang theory within the engine room of a gas boat. I would recommend that this is disabled and removed.

It does seem weird I guess, but it a very factory and high end installation. It is in an open spot and flush, not just slapped in there in an outdoor box. I would swear it is factory. I will get a pic though.

Getting cold in SF yet?

 

[Skuza]

I think the covered plug part is funny. I mean protecting it from splashing water is the first priority down there. Heres a good thought...To spark at a 110 plug one must be plugging/unplugging something right.? Well usually the hatch is going to be open allowing the smart person to enter and thus somewhat ventilating the area. This is why there are so many smart people still alive. Natural selection hasn't outpaced luck yet!
This is definately wrong if you ask me.
This reminds me of a pic I seen of the engine room on a 680. I recall seeing what looked like a Wal Mart ocillating fan mounted to the fwd bulkhead of the engine room. I know diesels don't have as high a risk with fumes down there but shouldn't stuff still be spark protected?

 

[trit21]

Don't have a high risk is an under statement. Flash point of gasoline, -45 F which means that gasoline vapors will ignite anything above -45F, yes negative. Diesel fuel flash point is 143F (yes positive) so the temp must be above 145F before vapors will ignite. Reason gasoline is considered flammable while diesel is considered combustible.
This is for non-pressurized fuel because we all know diesels don't ignite inside the engine (no spark plugs) but auto-ignite because of lower auto-ignite temperature due to high compression of diesel engines which increased temperature, etc etc. Can go on for a long time with this.

 

[tdschafer]

Don't have a high risk is an under statement. Flash point of gasoline, -45 F which means that gasoline vapors will ignite anything above -45F, yes negative. Diesel fuel flash point is 143F (yes positive) so the temp must be above 145F before vapors will ignite. Reason gasoline is considered flammable while diesel is considered combustible.
This is for non-pressurized fuel because we all know diesels don't ignite inside the engine (no spark plugs) but auto-ignite because of lower auto-ignite temperature due to high compression of diesel engines which increased temperature, etc etc. Can go on for a long time with this.

That is a great explanation. I was aware of the differences but just not the reason. Thanks for the explanation Tom!

 

[rondds]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone remove his/her cell phone from his/her person while crawling around the bilge of a gas boat?

I would like to go on record saying I would not install an AC outlet in the ER or bilge of a gasser.

 

[sdarc]

I won't do it for all the reasons given. I'll work something out as to not to have the hatch opened even if slightly.
And the cell phone comes off me as soon as I step aboard.

 

[tdschafer]

Ron,
My cell also comes off as soon as I board. I was tying up in a transient slip once on a windy day. I bumped the belt clip on the cabin while standing on my very narrow gunnel (on my 260) when the phone popped off and went swimming. I don't want a repeat of that!!

 

[rondds]

I was thinking about this the other day as the guy was pumping gas into my car whilst yapping gibberish into his cell phone a mile a minute.

 

[Lazy Daze]

A year or two back, I saw a "Mythbusters" episode where they tried to get an explosion by mixing gas fumes and a cell phone. They even used an enclosed box to trap the fumes. They couldn't get it to go boom.

I can't find the episode, but this came up with a search on the Discovery channel: http://news.discovery.com/autos/car-catches-fire-at-gas-pump.html

Now, by no means is this something that I want to test fate on since I likely won't get a second chance if I'm wrong. But, I do wonder if it's more of an urban myth than anything else?

Interesting story: About a year ago I was filling up my Suburban (diesel) while talking on a cell phone. Some guy came running across the gas islands (he was about 50 feet away to start with) with his hands in the air and shouting and making a big scene. He was yelling and pointing the sign on one of the pumps about cell phone usage. I told the person I was talking to to hold on for a sec while I calmly let this person continue his rant. When he got to the end, I calmly said "This is a diesel truck, not gas". You should have seen his reaction - it was priceless. His went immediately down to his sides, his shoulders relaxed and his facial gestures ceased to exist. He stood there, staring blankly, for what seemed like forever. Then, he just turned and walked away. The whole thing was really quite amusing and I did my best to not bust out in laughter.

I can't fault the guy for thinking he was trying to prevent an accident, but, you know, the oddest thing was that I wondered why this person would run towards something that he thought could blow up?

 

[DustinL]

It does seem weird I guess, but it a very factory and high end installation. It is in an open spot and flush, not just slapped in there in an outdoor box. I would swear it is factory. I will get a pic though.

Getting cold in SF yet?

I have one in my ER that looks factory as well. I thought it was odd but it too is flush mounted and IS disconnected. I never saw a reason to need it and knew it wasn't suppose to be there so it became unusable. Still there but no parts or power going to it to make it work.