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#1
posted to rec.boats
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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? |
#2
posted to rec.boats
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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. |
#3
posted to rec.boats
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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. |
#4
posted to rec.boats
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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. |
#5
posted to rec.boats
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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. |
#6
posted to rec.boats
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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? |
#7
posted to rec.boats
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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? |
#8
posted to rec.boats
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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? |
#9
posted to rec.boats
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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? |
#10
posted to rec.boats
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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. |
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