Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

Bryan wrote:
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?



I personally think this is a very expensive way to gamble. It will
raise the temperature a few degrees inside the bilge area, so it depends
upon how cold it gets outside if the water inside the engine freezes.
If I could not truly winterize the engine, I would put the boat inside
the garage, stuff some rags around the air vents to keep the warmth
inside the bilge and use a few bulbs instead of just one.

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

"Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote in message
. ..
Bryan wrote:
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the
nice days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine
compartment for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the
engine compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this
winterizing solution?



I personally think this is a very expensive way to gamble. It will raise
the temperature a few degrees inside the bilge area, so it depends upon
how cold it gets outside if the water inside the engine freezes. If I
could not truly winterize the engine, I would put the boat inside the
garage, stuff some rags around the air vents to keep the warmth inside the
bilge and use a few bulbs instead of just one.



I have heard of this way but don't know of anyone that has did it.
What I would do is go to the parts store and buy a magnitic block heater
I did this many years ago with my first boat and it worked out fine for me.

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:21:55 GMT, "Bryan"
wrote:

It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the
nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

I've heard of this before and while I know that chicken farmers do
tricks with light bulbs, it's normally a infrared bulb.

In this case, I would suspect that as long as it's near freezing, it
would help, but I might boost the wattage to a 60.

One other point - that could be a fire hazard in confined spaces. Make
sure you have some reasonable ventilation.

I agree. It would take more than a single night of near freezing
temperatures to freeze the block, especially when considering the heat
coming off of the ground (or the water) combined with the heat from the
light bulb.

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

"Bryan" wrote in message
. net...
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the
nice days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?


I lost an engine to freezing quite a number of years ago using a 100 watt
trouble light on a timer in the engine compartment for heat. My situation
was a bit different than yours. My boat was 250 miles away from my home,
and a hard freeze would normally be a freak event where the boat was stored.
Well, the freak event happened, and I learned the hard way that the weakness
of light bulbs is that they have a finite life, and can burn out at any time
with no warning. Apparently, mine chose to burn out just before the rare
event of a hard freeze.

One of the upshots of this event was learning of a much better solution for
protecting a non-winterized boat. If you don't already own one, go down to
Wal-Mart or any such place and by the least expensive electric blanket you
can find. An electric blanket can be draped over the engine, thus spreading
the heat around the engine much better than a single light bulb can, and of
course the electric blanket won't burn out. Be sure and leave the
controller for the blanket outside of the engine compartment, because it is
not spark protected. The person who told me of this solution said that this
is what the Coast Guard does for their non-winterized boats, but they use
industrial-strength electric blankets special-made for the purpose. But
even a common household electric blanket is a much better solution than a
light bulb.

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

If it's only getting slightly below freezing, and rises well above freezing
during the day (50s), I wouldn't bother. If your engine compartment is
insulated, you won't have a problem. It happens occasionally here in San
Jose (now actually), and I've never had any freezing issues. If it's getting
down into the teens, then the bulb trick may work, but I'd be worried about
a fire/explosion problem. If you need to ventilate to alleviate a fire
hazard, then you need an even bigger bulb.

--Mike

"Bryan" wrote in message
. net...
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the
nice days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

40 watt???

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:21:55 GMT, "Bryan"
wrote:

It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

Bigger bulb. Use a new bulb. Don't ventilate. Make sure the bulb is a
reasonable distance from anything combustable. A small oil filled space
heater would be a lot better.

"Bryan" wrote in message
. net...
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the
nice days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

Why not just use a block heater?

Bryan wrote:
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?

Winterizing Engine Compartment with 40 Watt Light Bulb
 

Bryan wrote:
It's going to be below freezing tonight in an area where winterizing is
optional. I chose not to winterize so that I could use my boat on the nice
days during the winter.

My friend told me to put a 40 watt utility light in the engine compartment
for cold nights. So, I leave a 40 watt bulb burning in the engine
compartment of my Sea Ray 185. What do you think of this winterizing
solution?


Muphy's Law: If the only thing protecting your $10,000 engine from
freeze up is a 49-cent light bulb, the odds of it burning out on the
coldest night of the year are far higher than the odds of it failing at
any other time.

If you really need to go this way, use two light bulbs.

Others suggested block heaters (good idea). Another low cost
alternative are some long rods called "Damp Chasers". They use these in
pianos subjected to cold or wet environments to help prevent damage to
the sounding boards. These will plug into an AC outlet, present no
ignition risk aside from the plug itself, cannot "burn out", and will
boost the temperature a few degrees.

Does the water around your boat freeze? If that water is staying at 33
degrees or above then your boat is resting in an above freezing medium
that will help to maintain an above freezing
temperature in the engine room. If you are hauled out onto a trailer,
then you are surrounded by a below freezing medium (the air) and you
will need more heat to prevent freezeup.