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Air vent/hose question


casey on allatoona

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While servicing a few things on my boat (06' VLX), I noticed in the storage area next to the passenger seat up front and under the helm 2 black hoses that are connected to the external vent openings at the front of the boat. Both of these hoses were cut and laying on the floor. I assume these are vent tubs to assist in sending fresh air to the engine compartment to blow out fumes. If I am incorrect let me know and if you think I should have these reattached.

Secondly, how does the engine get its air for combustion...just wondering.

Thanks, Ryan

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mine is 1 model style earlier than yours but it has a black 3" hose running from the vents in front of the windshield straight down to the floor on both the drivers and passanger side. Other hoses could be from the heater if your boat is equipped

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Cheapest thing on your boat bar none! I replaced mine with the flexible accordian style down spout drain hose that is perforated, both fore and aft. It worked especially well on the bilge blower and I cut the opening at a 45 degree angle so it pulls the air straight from the bilge. It holds its shape even when zip tied at odd angles so you can route it where ever want. That way it meets my OCD requirement for looking neat and orderly! :)

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They are not the heater vents as I can see them tied to te vent intakes at the front of the boat. So how critical are these? Off-season fix maybe?

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You are correct in assuming these are what help circulate air and remove fumes. I found the same thing on mine, and reattached immediately. I'd rather be safe than burned. Don't know how critical...guess depends on how comfortable you feel. I'm the kind of guy who runs my blower more than normal though, just to be safe!

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FWIW, I believe that the flexible accoridan type vent hoses associated with the bow area are typically used to provide fresh air (positive pressure) to the engine box while motoring, i.e., this fresh air dilutes any bad combustion products that might collect in the bilge area since such products are usually heavier than air. This is especially true with the blower off. The mixed air leaves through the "box" vents (if present) or out thru the stern area where there is sometimes extra vents on the transom. While there are two vents in the bow, only one hose is directed thru the control cable channel going the bilge. The other provides fresh air under the closed bow.

While not motoring, the blower typically sucks on the same bilge area and exhausts out the transom vents. This is the case for my 98 MC sportstar and 93 Bu skier.

I just installed twin blowers under the bu's shaft bilge hatch --my buddy's neat idea--one with a hose ending right there and one with a hose that goes under the rear of the engine. Each blower has its own flexible hose connected a respective transom vent. On her, there are 4 vents there (2 connected to exhaust hoses, and two that appear to vent air forced into the stern area while motoring).

I'm sure this is overkill, but ya know, err on the side of safety re combustible gases, which I learned several times while spending lots of time on the water (actually, under it hunting/searching, etc. for other subs ;-)

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  • 2 months later...

Finishing off the winter maintenance of our new SSLXi I have the 2 hoses coming down from the port and starboard intakes below the screen and 2 hoses at the transom vents, one attached to the blower and the other just attached to the vent and going back down to the bilge, which i reconnected as it had fallen off the vent.

Question is with summer coming on fast and our above average temps (we are 94F today) is there any benefit in fitting a another blower to one of the intake hoses under the screen and forcing air in the bilge to allow for better cooling of the motor compartment when stopped to pick up skiers etc. We always switch of the engine to pick the kids up and when there are 5 of them that's lots of stops a day

Cheers

Brad

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