Blower failure - Maxum Boat Owners Club

iceman · 07-30-2012, 03:54 PM

Well, the good news is we had another great trip this weekend. Went overnight to South Beach Harbor marina in SF, which happens to be right next to AT&T park, so we saw the SF Giants play Sat night.

The bad news is, when we launched, the blower wouldn't come on. I opened the engine compartment to vent it a little, and took a chance and started the engine. I never got the blower to work, but I think the risk is low since I don't smell any sort of fuel vapors in the engine compartment.

But, now I have to troubleshoot. I will check to make sure power is arriving at the blower, but the first step is to get access to it. It's way up high in the engine compartment. I've never really seen it, but I can see the two ducts running up to it from the front and back of the engine compartment.

So I'm just wondering what I'm in for.. is this a really tough thing to get at? I'm not a small guy at 6' 230#, so I never look forward to squeezing myself into small spaces!

Is there anything else I should check first? I checked the DC breaker, and it wasn't popped.

biggerseagar · 07-31-2012, 02:32 AM

Ice man there is fuse somewhere just for that blower. That might be blown. Just check e your manual for that. If that is ok which sounds like it is .........grease yourself up and act like a monkey and head into your engine com part. :-)
The blower is screwed into somewhere, every boat is different. Unattach the blower and vent tubes and give yourself plenty of length with the wires. Cut the two wires. They should be two different colors so the new blower will have same colors also. Installing the new blower..........solder then heat shrink the solder joint to cover. Screw back into place and check your work........ A easy job just in a tight spot.

Have fun and think of all the $$$$$$ you will save by doing it yourself.

Roger

iceman · 07-31-2012, 03:32 PM

Hey Roger, yes there is a row of what look like circuit breakers at the helm, and one is labelled blower. I pushed it but it hadn't popped out, so I think that's OK. I do want to save some $$$ so I guess I'll squeeze myself in and hope I don't break anything!

Tom

shrew · 07-31-2012, 06:28 PM

Devices die and connections corrode. After verifying the fuse, I might then start at the blower and move my way back.

iceman · 08-06-2012, 06:33 PM

Thought I'd post an update FWIW. It turns out the blower was bad after all. I was sort of surprised at how it was installed. There are two ducts, one from the front and one from the rear of the engine compartment, running up to the external vent. I thought the blower would be behind the vent screen panel, so I removed it, and just saw the ends of the two ducts. I went back in the engine compartment and finally found the blower, which was inline with one of the ducts (the one going to the rear). So, I'm guessing the other duct must be there to suck in fresh air when the blower is running & creating negative pressure in the compartment.

The replacement job turned out to be a b%$@# because the blower was mounted up high behind a partial bulkhead. I had to do everything by feel, and I found the two screws holding in the blower, but I could only get one of them out. Turns out the other one was stripped (phillps head) so I had to cut the plastic mount with tin snips and then cut out the screw with a hacksaw blade. #@#%$@#%

Rather than installing the replacement with wood screws like before, I drilled through the bulkhead and used machine screws. Getting the blower out next time will be much easier.

biggerseagar · 08-07-2012, 01:45 AM

Ice man you are slowly making points for boaters heaven. Good job! I know you must feel good about doing all this yourself. Well on the bright side you didn't have to make an appointment to your local chiropractor for an adjustment.

Roger