vent covers

Please elaborate. Are you trying to block off the vents that allow air into the engine room? If so, bad idea and why?
 
The only time this MIGHT be recommended would be if you have the boatsafe heaters running in your bilge to keep it warm. In Georgia, I can't imagine you'd need them since you can boat year around right?
 
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Jim,

In GA, if you have bilge heater, you shouldn't need to do this. I have seen several boats where people use tape to cover the vents but always wondered why? I haven't had to do so with mine on Lanier. Others might disagree, but I don't want tape and the residue anywhere on my boat.
 
jim_m5 said:
Where can you find vent covers to keep the cool air out of the engine bilge?
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Local canvas person can do this for you. He has done quite a few of the boats around here.

"They recommend covering the air vents (e.g. blower) to keep the heat inside the bilge (i.e. lower heat bill :smt001"

I have never done this in 5+ years of boating in our area (Virginia). Personally I like knowing the engine compartment is vented and will pay the extra $5-10 a month for the extra heating.

Keep in mind, your boat will be sitting in water, air cannot circulate completely around it, and the water temp is higher than the air temp. Even on a very cold night, when we are on the boat I rarely hear the heater come on.
 
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If you really want to block the airflow it wouldn't take much to cover them. Drape a towel over them or use saran wrap or something. We get freezing temps here and that's when I start thinking about winterizing. If you are in the 50's during the day, it would be hard to freeze a block at night. It has to get cold for a VERY long time for that to happen. If you are in the water in Georgia, I doubt you could freeze your block. The water will keep the bilge and engine warm enough. I think you would be have to be down in the low 20's with water temps in the low 30's or so to accomplish this. I'm sure someone more knowledgable has first hand experience.
 
Sundancer said:
If you really want to block the airflow it wouldn't take much to cover them. Drape a towel over them or use saran wrap or something. We get freezing temps here and that's when I start thinking about winterizing. If you are in the 50's during the day, it would be hard to freeze a block at night. It has to get cold for a VERY long time for that to happen. If you are in the water in Georgia, I doubt you could freeze your block. The water will keep the bilge and engine warm enough. I think you would be have to be down in the low 20's with water temps in the low 30's or so to accomplish this. I'm sure someone more knowledgable has first hand experience.
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Agreed, My buddy who's a local marine mechanic, tells me i don't need to get worried about winterizing till temps hit mid-low 30's during the day.

Had a thought, Can/Do boats use engine block heaters like you have in trucks? I've seen some universal ones that go into one of the core plug holes on the side of the block.
 
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Beer Thirty said:
Agreed, My buddy who's a local marine mechanic, tells me i don't need to get worried about winterizing till temps hit mid-low 30's during the day.

Had a thought, Can/Do boats use engine block heaters like you have in trucks? I've seen some universal ones that go into one of the core plug holes on the side of the block.
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That's what Jim is installing:

http://www.xtremeheaters.com/

These are designed for the engine room to assure there is no spark. You can set the temps to make sure your engine is safe in cold weather.
 
The Xtreme heaters are awesome and very small, and I hear the guy who invented them is on Lanier. They are out of GA. Anyway, these are not "block" heaters, they are blocky looking, but will heat the ambient air and circulate it with a fan throughout your engine room. I have a BoatSafe model from another company and it heats but does not have a fan, still does a terrific job of keeping the ER warm.

As a side note, it is also a good idea to have a small electric heater in the cabin to keep things from freezing there. I leave the Head Door open with a bungee cord and the undersink cabinets open to allow the warm air to circulate.

Lastly, I turn off the fresh water pressure switch and open the hot and cold faucets on the Head and Galley sinks, if it is going to get really cold. That way if by chance the water in the system freezes it has some room to expand. This allows me not to completely winterize, but prepare for a cold spell, which around here rarely lasts for more than a few days...

~Dan
 
Just get some soft foam and stuff it in the vents, and pull it out when you're ready to go boating.
 
Hi some one told me about the forum so i was checking in to see if i can help out in any way or answer any ??s you have .
By the way vent covers good idea during our testing we saw that it kept the engine room warm 50% longer than with out .We send people to the local dealer to get some shrink wrap they will give it to you for free .You can just place it on the vent and remove before using the boat works great:smt038:thumbsup:
 
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