Cabin Fan Recommendations Needed

[chala]

volume of air moved = power used. More or less

[jstevens]

I think we need to be a little carefull when talking about Caframo fans. They make a lot of different models, which have very different characteristics and prices. I've replaced all but two of my Hella Turbo fans (these refuse to die) with Caframo Boras. These are pricey at WM ($80), but I suspect that it is not the model HD was selling for $25. I tried the one WM sells for $25, but it moved little air, was noisy (especially RFI noisy) and died within a year.
I like the Boras for relative silence and low current drain at the lower settings, and good air movement on the high setting. I have one Bora blowing on me at this moment while my cabin thermometer reads 86F and I am very comfortable. I have another Bora fixed over my berth, 4" above my head. At the low setting I can barely hear it and it provides enough cooling on most still hot nights. I have had two die in a little over a year and the one in the head right now is making noises like it wants to die as well.
One feature of the Bora I had forgotten until another cruiser reminded me of it - the auto-turn on feature when I transmit on the SSB around 12 mHZ. On an off-shore passage, when checking in with Southbound II it is really nice to have the fan come on at the same time, knowing I'll be waiting more than a few minutes to talk to Herb. How did Caframo know I wanted that feature?

John

[motion30]

You found 12v fans at home depot ? The one near me did not have any

[chrisferro]

I installed a Caframo Sirocco and I've been very pleased with it. It has 3 power settings (the lowest setting isn't low enough, though, in my opinion. It's a little too powerful and loud, but not a big deal.) On high it's very powerful. And it has 4 timer settings (2 hours, 4, 6, and 8 hours) so you don't have to worry about it staying on forever and draining the battery. You can set it for 2 hours and go to sleep and it'll go off automatically.

Another slightly annoying feature is the bright blue LED lights that will keep you up, but I solved that with a little tape!

I think it also pulls about .5 or .6 amps.

Overall it's a great fan...

Chris Ferro
Electrosense

[HopCar]

I'm a fan of Caframo fans as well. I have several of the battery (D Cell) fans in my hurricane supplies. We lost power for a couple of weeks after Andrew hit Miami and they really made the nights bearable. I would set one to blow on me at low speed while I slept. One set of batteries would last several days. They also have a 12 Volt adapter. The 747 is the one to use if you you want a fixed mount.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Those are the ones I use and I've been very impressed.

Rich

Second this. I have one and it moves more air with less power than other, because there is no guard. However, though the blades are harmless, if they hit anything it tends to ruin the blade hub. They MUST be placed were they cannot be contacted by accident.

[beau]

I bought an after market car radiator fan and connected it to a pulse wave modulator speed control unit and run it on low speed it is quiet and moves a lot of air.

[DeepFrz]

What a clever idea. Should last a lifetime.

[s/vfootloose]

The ones Home depot had were the model 747. These are the same ones WM sells for $50.00 but it appears they discontinued them. They have a cigarette plug but it is easy to cut it off and hardwire them in.

[MalibuC]

Originally Posted by beau

I bought an after market car radiator fan and connected it to a pulse wave modulator speed control unit and run it on low speed it is quiet and moves a lot of air.

How much power does this fan draw?

[Greg S]

I just looked at Hot Wires's web site (Port Fan, 12 volt cabin fan) and discovered that they are once again making their 12v cabin fan. We love these fans; they are compact, efficient, quite and move a lot of air. Plus they are portable so if you need to air out a separate area you can just move one to do the job. Our galley fan also does double duty as an exhaust fan for the stove.

[S/V Alchemy]

I would pause before buying a fan named "hot wires", but hey, to each his own.

Now I have to go switch on my engine. It's an "Atomic Bomb".

[zeehag]

my brother found a 10 inch fan 12 v and battery operated and he made a conversion for 110v, also--is O2cool.... moves lots of air and was cheep-- he found it in a non marine thrift store in phx. is AWESOME!!!!!
i found some 12v fans in walmart for 9.99 last yr.... beats marine pricing. last about 3 months of constant use. clip on anywhere.