Thank you to everyone for your input and insight on my bilge blower question!
I took what seemed to me to be the obvious route and just disconnected the
hoses, turned the blower unit around and reconnected the hoses. I now have a
strong air-flow venting overboard from the bilge. An easy, but very
important, fix.
My decision to proceed this way was due to inspection of the bilge blower
unit, mounted on a bulkhead wall, it was immediately apparent that the
writing on the casing was upside down. There is also what appears to be an
airflow direction arrow on the unit and this was pointing toward, not away,
from the bilge. Reversing the wires would have involved opening up the unit
as they are fixed inside the casing, not attached externally. I also took
into consideration the comments that some motors are designed to work better
with the blades turning in a specific direction... kept the motor in it's
configured direction, just changed which way it was pointed.
There were a couple of comments about the "sniffer"... I have one of these
installed and it is set to come on automatically upon turning on the
batteries. I do nothing else until it gives me the 'Safe' indication.
The comment about the sniffer alarming if it gets wet is accurate! This
feature actually saved my boat from extensive damage a few seasons back...
when on the season's initial transit from the yard to the marina, at the top
end of the East River, an alarm began blaring (never heard this sound
before)... upon inspecting for all possible causes, I found the bilge was
filled with water almost up to the floor boards... I will spare the lengthy
details, but managed to get the bilge pumped out, discovered that a cockpit
drainage hose had been cracked and water was gushing in, shut the thru-hull
to said hose, and continued the trip. Had it not been for that alarm, the
engine may have eventually become submerged and damaged, along with much of
the interior.
Again, many thanks!
Peter Grabow
Cakewalk III - NS 30U #430 NY, NY