Freezing Weather, Overheat Alarm... - FIXED!

swatski · Dec 12, 2018

Mainah said:
If your passion is boating year round you may want to consider moving south. Like Texas or Florida south.

That is the plan, hehehe. That said, some of the best boating I experienced here in Missouri has been in winter months, for example - eagle watching over the Mississippi bluffs in Miss/Illinois confluence is hard to beat, and it gets very quiet, too.

Coming from small outboards only, one of the big selling points of jet boats for me has been no winterization schedule! I love to have the flexibility.

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swatski · Dec 12, 2018

BlkGS said:
That makes me feel better about my boat, lol. I've been worried about not flushing my boat well enough lol.

This is the first year I'm on a new lift which is pretty strait, my old one was crappy and sloping down... Which, ironically, must have helped drain the water.
If you keep the boat on a trailer there should be no problem as long as you can crank the bow up and let most of the water out the back.

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swatski · Dec 13, 2018

PEARCE said:
Good deal @swatski . That little heater will certainly give the piece of mind you need in the freezing weather.

I like it! Already passed the "freezer test", lol. (it activates automatically below 41deg)
Nice tool, seems very well made, very heavy, too. It has a detachable plate which I may mount, very clever design.It is small, a post-it for reference:

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Cobra Jet Steering LLC · Dec 13, 2018

Food for thought, I know you viewed the videos I posted with jet skis blowing up, so since the boats do not have a closed fuel system and if the boat is covered tightly would the fumes from the fuel tank be able to accumulate inside the cover and if so could this heater ignite those fumes???

swatski · Dec 13, 2018

Cobra Jet Steering LLC said:
Food for thought, I know you viewed the videos I posted with jet skis blowing up, so since the boats do not have a closed fuel system and if the boat is covered tightly would the fumes from the fuel tank be able to accumulate inside the cover and if so could this heater ignite those fumes???

Well... I hope no.
For one, I already have a built-in charger mounted on the bulkhead inside the engine bay - that is always plugged in when in storage.
With this new device, boat/marine engine heater, the thermostat and motor are ignition protected and (supposedly) specifically designed to operate in an enclosed engine bay/space.

I certainly hope those devices live up to their design claims!

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Mainah · Dec 13, 2018

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC makes a good point. There is a breather valve that exits the side of the boat where the fuel cap is and I believe is attached to the epa canister. I am not sure but the breater may be under the cover when covered. The combo of the epa can and the breather should take care of fume concerns but I would not dismiss the risk of fire from igniting fuel fumes by the heater outright. The heater is a much more likely ingnition source for fuel fumes than a charger. The fuel tank comparment has openings to the engine comparment. Fittings on the tanks could be leaky or could come loose. The cover may also trap vent fumes from the vent.

Add to this that I recall @swatski moved or removed the epa can which could change things too.

Mainah · Dec 13, 2018

Mainah said:
@Cobra Jet Steering LLC makes a good point. There is a breather valve that exits the side of the boat where the fuel cap is and I believe is attached to the epa canister. I am not sure but the breater may be under the cover when covered. The combo of the epa can and the breather should take care of fume concerns but I would not dismiss the risk of fire from igniting fuel fumes by the heater outright. The heater is a much more likely ingnition source for fuel fumes than a charger. The fuel tank comparment has openings to the engine comparment. Fittings on the tanks could be leaky or could come loose. The cover may also trap vent fumes from the vent.

Add to this that I recall @swatski moved or removed the epa can which could change things too.

Another quick thought is that I don’t what these heaters were designed for but gasoline and gasoline vapors have materially different properties that diesel and diesel vapors in this application.

Weeb · Dec 13, 2018

These folks won’t be taking any winter cruises this year on lake Norman.

Cobra Jet Steering LLC · Dec 13, 2018

Can't recall how long ago something about heaters was discussed or even if it was this site or Yamaha jetboaters site however I distinctly recall discussing the use of a heated door mat to provide a warmer boat interior without the issue of igniting some fumes , dust or other debris that was in the boat or brought in the boat by trespassing critters etc. I also vaguely recall a discussion about adding a vent hose to exit the cover during winter storage. That being said I think moving to the central or south Florida is the best way to deal with winter .

swatski · Dec 13, 2018

Mainah said:
Add to this that I recall @swatski moved or removed the epa can which could change things too.

My EPA can has all the OEM connections, but it has been repositioned under the hull cap (moved forward) when I rearranged my batteries and ballast. I'm not sure how would that affect its functionality, whatever it is those things do. It has all factory connections hooked up to the factory outlet... IDK.
(That fume vent/outlet is on the outside of the hull cap and it is covered by the cover)

I do not know if the charger poses smaller or bigger ignition risk, the thing can get pretty hot, and I think it does have a fan... And diodes (things that light up?). IDK.

The cover is vented and it is far from being air tight. Of course one can say the fumes can accumulate at the bottom of the engine bay, and so on.

Are you guys suggesting I should not be using a dedicated boat engine heater to keep my engines and water lines from freezing on the lift?

I certainly appreciate several good points made here. Right now I think I'm willing to take my chances, there is a point where these discussions start getting a bit esoteric.
For example, how about the fans/engine blowers in the enclosed engine compartment (on auto start)? Can those cause an explosion in the presence of a fuel/fumes leak?

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Mainah · Dec 13, 2018

swatski said:
My EPA can has all the OEM connections, but it has been repositioned under the hull cap (moved forward) when I rearranged my batteries and ballast. I'm not sure how would that affect its functionality, whatever it is those things do. It has all factory connections hooked up to the factory outlet... IDK.
(That fume vent/outlet is on the outside of the hull cap and it is covered by the cover)

I do not know if the charger poses smaller or bigger ignition risk, the thing can get pretty hot, and I think it does have a fan... And diodes (things that light up?). IDK.

The cover is vented and it is far from being air tight. Of course one can say the fumes can accumulate at the bottom of the engine bay, and so on.

Are you guys suggesting I should not be using a dedicated boat engine heater to keep my engines and water lines from freezing on the lift?

I certainly appreciate several good points made here. Right now I think I'm willing to take my chances, there is a point where these discussions start getting a bit esoteric.
For example, how about the fans/engine blowers in the enclosed engine compartment (on auto start)? Can those cause an explosion in the presence of a fuel/fumes leak?

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Anything that can creat a spark including static electricity can ignite gasoline vapors. The danger with gasoline is its flashpoint being below feezing. Get the fuel to air mixture just right with a spark or come into contact with something at about 500 degrees and boom. Not sure what the heating element itself runs at on that heater. One would think that this has been accounted for but I would feel better knowing the high limit of the element. Certainly not saying that it is an immediate risk but that there may be a risk to be aware of.

zipper · Dec 13, 2018

The unit is advertised as Ignition Protected.

Ignition protection per the A.B.Y.C.

And per the U.S.C.G.

Hopefully it works as well as the reviews state. Good luck with it.

Mainah · Dec 13, 2018

zipper said:
The unit is advertised as Ignition Protected. View attachment 85799

Ignition protection per the A.B.Y.C.

View attachment 85801

And per the U.S.C.G.

View attachment 85802

Hopefully it works as well as the reviews state. Good luck with it.

Makes perfect sense. Good to know.

swatski · Dec 13, 2018

zipper said:
The unit is advertised as Ignition Protected. View attachment 85799

Ignition protection per the A.B.Y.C.

View attachment 85801

And per the U.S.C.G.

View attachment 85802

Hopefully it works as well as the reviews state. Good luck with it.

Great info! thank you.
I'll post an updates later in the season when it gets really cold again, curious about this heater.

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zipper · Dec 13, 2018

swatski said:
Great info! thank you.
I'll post an updates later in the season when it gets really cold again, curious about this heater.

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Cold Again? WTF! It's all relative.

swatski · Dec 15, 2018

We have had a couple of rainy warmer days, and today the air was in the 50s. Finally had time to check on the boat.
Happy to report - everything works great - so it must have been a intake cooling hose/line blockage by frozen water. The pisser for the STRD side was running again just as it should, here are the two at No Wake 1:

I checked everything I could think of, no issues. Warmed her up for few minutes and off we went! Wish I had my driver today, would have been a great day for wakeboarding but she' traveling again...
It was a beautiful day and awesome to be on the water again.
In this cooler dryer air both engines ran at 7,800 RPM and 50+mph up and down the river, awesome! (I'm running on 87 octane gas, factory ECU programming)

The Caframo Pali I got is small enough so that it fits easily at the bottom of the engine compartment right by the bilge. Hope it will keep things from freezing again.

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2kwik4u · Dec 16, 2018

Does your marina stay open for fuel in the winter? if not, do you carry fuel down? how does that work?

I know a lot of the local places close up shop for the winter because the reduced traffic won't support the staff.

swatski · Dec 16, 2018

2kwik4u said:
Does your marina stay open for fuel in the winter? if not, do you carry fuel down? how does that work?

I know a lot of the local places close up shop for the winter because the reduced traffic won't support the staff.

No, they don't. Come to think of it, they don't even stay fully open in the summer, lol. This place is... different.
I hate carrying cans and refueling at the docks for various reasons and avoid it at all cost. I can catch these guys here now and then towards the end of the season to fill up when I can, but after it gets cold I usually need to just pull the boat to the gas station.
And, once on the trailer, I get magnetically drawn to the big river, nothing more appealing than Mississippi Pool 26 in the middle of winter, if not iced up.

EDIT:
Lucked out today, got maybe my last refill of the season before they close for good.

Not that it would stop any of my dock neighbors!
I just love this place. lol

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swatski · Dec 17, 2018

After a warm weekend, it’s freezing at night again, so I will have a chance to test this new set up.

I’m afraid there is really no way to blow water out of intake cooling hoses/lines, is there?
(While sitting on a flat lift, not trailer)

Water will flow out of the intake lines through the pumps on the trailer, with the bow up, but on a lift sitting flat there is no way, water just collect there.

Revving the engines up clears the exhaust manifolds and water boxes, etc, but I don t think it does anything to the intake lines once the pumps are out of the water and the impellers spin the air. IDK.

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2kwik4u · Dec 17, 2018

Good neighbors can easily make or break a location. Never considered it for dock neighbors, but I can totally see that.

I love that you boat year round. If it wasn't an hour to the lake from the house we would do more in the winter as well. Closest water to us is the Ohio River (6 miles), and it seems like it spends the winter full of debris.

Wonder if you could take compressed air and blow "backwards" through the pisser holes to clear the water through there. might reach all the way through the pump/block, and push through the intake lines as well. Not really sure how that would work out, but it's a thought.

Freezing Weather, Overheat Alarm... - FIXED!

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