Inboard motor safety considerations

[Sea Urchin]

Hello

I am seeking views on safety considerations for inboard motors. I have a fuel 'sniffer' and bilge blower in my boat which has a 179 motor. What other modifications should be done to control electrical risks?

Also is it desirable to fit an electronic distributor? Are they any safer than a points based system?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Joe Morrison

[viteau]

Hello Joe
I have a 350 chev in my boat with have a bilge blower fitted and a battery isolator switch and touch wood no problems. As long as you use proper fuel line and put 2 hose clamps per join it will lower the ricks.
Cheers Chris

[Woodside]

Hi

On my boat i have a 202 an have all of the above but i also have a intrinsically safe alternator it was a requirement for me to get insurance on it. It was not cheap but atleast i know its safe under the cover i also run electronic ignition it also wasnt cheap but was the best thing i put on the boat.

Cam

[rayza1]

Hi Guys, while we're on this subject, what are the requirements to get through the registration process ? Are sniffers mandatory ? If so where do i get one and how are they fitted. I'm looking at getting mine registered in the not too distant future and have no idea what the regs are governing inboards. Cheers Ray.

[bauchy]

hey ray,
regulations for rego?????? they dont even see the boat, take the engine number in with ya on the rego form ya need to fill out. i registered my black boat as a 2009 model home made bond wood because i lost the receipt from the guy i bought it from. i now know why so many boats get stolen and rebirthed. so much easier then a car when the take them interstate .
the women at vic roads also said if you dont know what it is etc just say ya dad built it in 1965 and they will register it as home made. no questions asked. my clinker will be registered as a 2010 model home made clinker. its crazy how they do it but im not complaining. i didnt even get a plate of hull id. they just give you a rego sticker

when i registered my trailer they couldnt find any chassis numbers on it so they gave me new numbers and it was done. stamped the numbers onto it and its now registered as a new home made trailer. it is obviously made well before last year so buggered if i know.


in relation to the original topic all my inboards have been simple, nothing extra but ive always had two fire extinguishers in the boats. one in the front and one in the back so if ya running like a mad man you will find one atleast. obviously you will need all the general safety stuff like a torch, bucket, oars and enough jackets for ppl in and behind the boat etc etc
i personally make sure all hoses and fittings are in good nick and never have a problem. brian

[Alan]

Joe,
An electronic dist is not a safety item, it may however help the engine perform better and will stay in tune longer. The best form of defense against as petrol explosion is as some have suggested, prevention and then detection which you already have. Regular inspection,double clamps and well supported piping will reduce the risk to reasonable levels.

The effort to make the boat truly intrinsically safe would be huge, to be intrinsically safe the component must be sealed so that the explosive atmosphere (petrol vapor) cannot come into contact with an ignition source (spark). This would mean that you would to not only have to seal the Alt but also the starter, Dist, spark plug leads, any relays, switches and lights etc the list could be dam long.

Just keep it simple and be vigilant.
Regards,
Alan.

[viteau]

Ray
My boat is registered in SA and I first had to prove that I owned it by producing a letter from the prevoius owner and when it came to the purchase price the lady laughed when the prevoius owner wrote that it was bought for a carton of beer. I had to get it inspected and the boat code plates fitted with the usual engine number and safety gear checked off then back to transport SA office for the rego number. I have since moved back to NSW and will have to go through the whole process again to get it registered as my current rego ran out in March. My trailer runs out next month and it's on SA plates so I will have to go and have it inspected and hand over more state revenue. Chris

[Sea Urchin]

Thanks for the various responses. I appreciated hearing what you all do with your boats.

What got me thinking about this was a comment in "On Deck" (a SA Govt publication). In an article titled "How to Avoid a Floating Fireball", the author recomended that boat operators lift the engine cover on an inboard engine for a "couple of minutes" to clear any fumes before starting the engine. This seemed a bit inadequate to me.

If anyone is interested in US standards and recommendations, there are a couple of good discussions in "Woodenboat Magazine" nos 135 (Letters) and 136 "Gasoline Afloat: A Guide to Safe Engine Installation" by Don Eley. The articles were written in 1997 but the information would still be relevant.

As my (usable) boat has passed the survey for Nautilus insurance, I'm OK with my own safety at the moment but I'm starting to think about the setup for the 18 footer that I'm restoring so that I can look out for parts.

Thanks again.

Joe

[rayza1]

Thanks for the info on getting my boat rego'd, for some reason i thought it would be a lot tougher than that. I've had outboard plastic boats for quite a few years so i'm pretty much full bottle on safety gear but was under the impression that inboard petol boats were different. Must say i'm relieved, i dont feel like jumping through too many hoops!!
Ray

[bauchy]

yeh no hoops for boat reg in victoria.