Mystery vent hoses?

[IDBoating]

My new 2009 24Ve has two dryer-vent-style hoses, one in each of the storage compartments in front of the driver and passenger seats. The hoses run from the floor to the top of the storage compartment, essentially terminating up in the top of the dashboards on either side. It appears there are fiberglass "chambers" there, but I cannot find any other access to them.

I'm thinking these are related to the optional heater system. But I don't have a heater, so why bother installing the hoses? I understand a common dashboard and floor mold with the holes in place, but why include the hoses? If you don't have a heater they just get in the way when you're storing things in those compartments.

Are they heater hoses, or something else?

[chpthril]

Those are bilge vent hoses that force are through the bilge while the boat is under way. If you look in front of the windshield, you should see the intakes. I believe it's USCG required, but not sure for how long now though. I do now that my old 89 Regal, and just about every boat I've crawled through since, has had some sort of ram-air bilge vent system.

[IDBoating]

I wondered about that, but didn't see any intakes so presumed that wasn't why they were there. I'll look next time I have access to the boat (in storage now). Thanks for the clarification.

...which raises another point. In studying the bilge blower and venting system in the engine compartment, it appears that the blower's exhaust and the fresh air intake both pass through that fancy grille in the back. That means the exhaust and intake are right next to each other. That is a classic setup for recirculation - just sucking in the same air you exhausted moments before. I'm surprised Tige would set it up like that. On my existing boat, the exhaust and intake are on opposite sides of the engine compartment cover, separated by several feet.

Actually, if those front two hoses are fresh air intakes, they could have used the entire rear grille as an exhaust and drawn in fresh air from the front, thereby forcefully removing fuel fumes from the entire hull space and not just the engine area while waiting to first start the engine. Odd.

[mikehayburn]

I Have the same hose vents in my 06 24v.. if you look in front of the windshield you should see slots were air can pass threw forceing air down into the lower part of your boat.. It creates circulation beneath your floor and into your engine conpartment to minimize gas fumes etc. Atleast thats what i was told. Hope this Helps and I could be wrong..

[Canyon Lake Tige]

Are they needed...I want to remove mine to make room for amps and speakers

[chpthril]

Are they needed...I want to remove mine to make room for amps and speakers

Yes, they are needed That hose is cheap, so replacing it with longer hose to route around amps and subs/speakers is easy. If you do a search, i've posted a few Tiges where I have relocated the hoses around the stereo goods.

[dom w. forte]

I wondered about that, but didn't see any intakes so presumed that wasn't why they were there. I'll look next time I have access to the boat (in storage now). Thanks for the clarification.

...which raises another point. In studying the bilge blower and venting system in the engine compartment, it appears that the blower's exhaust and the fresh air intake both pass through that fancy grille in the back. That means the exhaust and intake are right next to each other. That is a classic setup for recirculation - just sucking in the same air you exhausted moments before. I'm surprised Tige would set it up like that. On my existing boat, the exhaust and intake are on opposite sides of the engine compartment cover, separated by several feet.

Actually, if those front two hoses are fresh air intakes, they could have used the entire rear grille as an exhaust and drawn in fresh air from the front, thereby forcefully removing fuel fumes from the entire hull space and not just the engine area while waiting to first start the engine. Odd.

The two ducts in the front are the intakes , the two in the back are exhaust, it is a flow through system the only thing we change here in fla, is we remove the port side rear duct to let heat out , because as you know heat rises and wont escape the engine area causeing fuel perculation.

[IDBoating]

The two ducts in the front are the intakes , the two in the back are exhaust, it is a flow through system the only thing we change here in fla, is we remove the port side rear duct to let heat out , because as you know heat rises and wont escape the engine area causeing fuel perculation.

So if you made this change to my boat because it was in FL, should I change it back to stock now that I'm quite a few degrees of latitude north?

Also, it's not clear to me what was changed. I see one hose running from the grille to the blower, and I see another hose running from the grille to the floor of the engine compartment. What was changed?

Thanks!

[dom w. forte]

So if you made this change to my boat because it was in FL, should I change it back to stock now that I'm quite a few degrees of latitude north?

Also, it's not clear to me what was changed. I see one hose running from the grille to the blower, and I see another hose running from the grille to the floor of the engine compartment. What was changed?

Thanks!

We dont change them until we know where the boat is going, yours should still be stock with one to the blower and the other open to the bilge.

[IDBoating]

As noted above, that's precisely what I found. Thanks for the clarification!

[embo]

Keep the questions coming....learning a lot WABoating.