F-32 Bilge Blower Rebuild

[TADTOOMUCH]

Anyone ever rebuild their F-32 cast aluminum bilge blowers? Mine has a bad bearing and it screetches loudly when I run it. I took it apart once and cleaned it and oiled the bearings and it worked for about a week and went back to the normal screetch.

Does Beacon have any OEM Trojan Blowers left?

Maybe I can buy new bearings. The motor works fine and the other parts are pretty much in good shape.

[ltbrett]

I took out the guts of my squirrel cage blower, piped an inline blower into the old blower inlet (I didn't have the right adapter), and called it a day. Very easy

Brett

[aaronbocknek]

hey guys, jabsco still makes these heavy duty blowers. they tend to be built like tanks and last a very long time. if you want to install one, go to http://www.discountmarinesupplies.com and enter in the advanced search window the following key word.... ITTBLOWER they are not that expensive, the new wires can be inline spliced into the old ones and you are done! i really like these blowers instead of the inline ones. let me know if you need any more information. you can also do a google search for JABSCO BILGE BLOWERS and the search engine will do the rest.
b'shalom
aaron

[duchess]

speaking of blowers--- if your vinyl hoses are old and slit or torn-- I went to Lowes and picked up 4 inch cloths drier aluminium hoses and the connectors sleeves . the sleeves slid into the existing vinyl where its still good and then into the aluminium hose to connect the two . easy job - the hardest part was moving my Jennifer couch to get the hatches up on Duchess my f 36

[aaronbocknek]

duchess, i know i am probably over stepping my bounds here, but, if the coast guard boards your vessel to do a surprise safety inspeciton, they might fine you for using non uscg/abyc hoses for the bilge blower. while i understand wanting to save money, and, let's face it, anything with the words 'MARINE' spell an instant 50% markup, this is a real possibility. they can even force you to return to dock until corrective action is taken and will continue to put you on the inspect list until it is corrected.
aaron

[wowzer52]

I think you'll find that only certain items on a boat need to be coast guard approved, but it helps to know which ones. I have restored several boats through the years using non-marine item$ as much as possible but thing like electrical and fuel supply etc. need to be marine specific. The optimum is to use the best marine items you can afford and get a list of the things that have to be or need to be or are recommended to be marine specific. All the boats I have restored have been coast guard inspected and passed. However never use automotive parts,(starters, alternators, fuel lines, etc.) in a closed bilge. The coast guard would be happy to tell you what they look for during an inspection. I have found them to be very helpful in working on boats. And don't be afraid to ask marine supply stores lots of questions.

[TADTOOMUCH]

I found the manufacturer of my OEM bilge blowers and they still make them the same way. I was able to used the same blower housing and fan blade and just replace the sealed explosion proof motor. It cost about $130 bucks but this way I don't have to re-do my vent hoses or drill different holes in the side of the hull to mount another manufacturer's blower. I know it could be done for less money but this keeps everything on the boat original. The web site is http://www.suttonblowers.com if anyone is interested. I asked about replacing the whole cast aluminum blower and that was about $360.00 This should last me another 30 years. Not sure the less expensive Jabsco units will do that.

[TADTOOMUCH]

Well I got the new motor installed on the starboard blower and put it al back together. Runs reall quiet and blows or sucks whatever like a charm. Now I can't believe how loud the other blowers on the port side sound so I am going to bite the bullet and replace the motors on those. The fan and housing are all aluminum except the smallest of the three blowers so I'll just replace the motors. For $150 bucks with shipping I could do this cheaper but this way everything on my baby is still OEM and I don't have to drill new holes or change hoses. All my hoses are in great shape so no worries there. This should last me another 30 years. I got the blower motors at suttonblowers.com for the motor on the aluminum cast blower but the small plastic blower on the port side next to the aluminum one I could not tell who made that one. I'm guessing ITT Jabsco but I'll get a better look at it this weekend unless someone knows for sure. Fume sensors are the next project and then maybe an auto fire extinguishing system. Maybe I should just pull the engines and go diesel but with only 450 hours on these original engines I just can't justify it.