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Old 21-06-2018, 09:22   #1
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Marine Fans

I have several Bora fans I believe they are called, very expensive and actually seem to be cheaply made fans.
I’m not impressed, so I have started hunting for a better mouse trap.
I think I may have found one. This Soccer ball looking fan really does draw 2.5 W on low and 21 on high, I have measured it. It’s a native 24VDC fan with a wall wort transformer, my measurements included the losses from the wall wort, so if run directly off of DC it will use even less power. I think I plan on a 12 to 24 VDC convertor myself as I’m a 12V Boat.
For a comparison the Homes Blizzard fan beside of it pulls 35W on low and about 45W on high, and is louder and doesn’t move as much air, it is however much cheaper. It is 120 VAC only.
Anyone else found any really good, quality fans for use on board?Click image for larger version

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Its this fan
https://www.amazon.com/pureFlow-Blad...less+fan&psc=1
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Old 21-06-2018, 09:35   #2
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Re: Marine Fans

The open frame Camfrano fans are quite, move decent air, low power and very easy to clean. Plus cheap.
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Old 21-06-2018, 09:48   #3
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Re: Marine Fans

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The open frame Camfrano fans are quite, move decent air, low power and very easy to clean. Plus cheap.


I find those little guys the most evil fan you can buy. They vibrate on high and you get whacked by a fan blade all the time.
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Old 21-06-2018, 09:54   #4
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Marine Fans

That Soccer ball thing moves way more air, and draws less than an amp at mid power, draws less than 2 amps (12 VDC amps) wide open, and oscillates. No Marine fan I have ever seen moves near as much air as this thing does too, it’s not small though.
The Marine fans I find way overpriced.
https://search.defender.com/?express...s=1&Trigger=ac
I don’t find them cheaply priced, but most seem cheaply made
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Old 21-06-2018, 09:54   #5
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Re: Marine Fans

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I find those little guys the most evil fan you can buy. They vibrate and you get whacked by a fan blade all the time.
We have 6 of them and none vibrate. As a child I learned to fear fan blades. These ones don't hurt when they hit you. Still best to mount them out of the way. Fans get really grimy if you use them for 12 or 24 hrs a day. The enclosed ones are a pain to clean. The enclosure also reduces flow.
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Old 21-06-2018, 10:06   #6
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Re: Marine Fans

They don't hurt but is scares the crap out me every time it happens. We have but 2 and they both vibrate on high. I think multi blade fans make less noise and I thought a ducted fan worked better?
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Old 21-06-2018, 10:06   #7
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Re: Marine Fans

We installed the Caframo fans and hardwired them to 12v system. The blades are rubber and you can stop the spinning blade with your finger. Yes, the blade might hit you when you are trying to turn it off, but honestly, you are getting startled, not hurt. In fact, we used to stop the fan by sticking our finger into the blade, then reaching for the button with the other hand.

We found they moved plenty of air in a small aft cabin. I bought two and installed one to see how it worked. We never installed the second because the one did the job in our case.
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Old 21-06-2018, 11:38   #8
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Re: Marine Fans

https://www.defender.com/product3.js...0148&id=108161

I have 4 of these. Loud as a bi-plane, moves about the same amount of air. I love ‘em!! They draw 1.2amps though, but on a hot day they’ll blow the sweat clean off you.
Wish they had a way to slow them down a little.
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Old 21-06-2018, 11:47   #9
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Re: Marine Fans

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https://www.defender.com/product3.js...0148&id=108161

I have 4 of these. Loud as a bi-plane, moves about the same amount of air. I love ‘em!! They draw 1.2amps though, but on a hot day they’ll blow the sweat clean off you.
Wish they had a way to slow them down a little.
We have had 2 of those fans and neither of them lasted more tha 6 months before complete failure. Both had the oscilation mechanism fail within 6 weeks.

Now we run all Camfrano fans in the cabins. We also have one Hella, but don't like it as much as the Camfrano.
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Old 21-06-2018, 12:00   #10
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Re: Marine Fans

I’ve had great luck with mine, sorry yours konked out so soon.
How much air does the Camfrano move compared to the Guest? I might buy a couple.
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Old 21-06-2018, 12:36   #11
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Re: Marine Fans

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The open frame Camfrano fans are quite, move decent air, low power and very easy to clean. Plus cheap.


We agree they are great. Have been using them for the past 15 years. Many times in the tropical summer they are on 24/7. Usually we get 5-6 years or more. When leaving the boat in Baja for the summer years ago we left a couple running 24/7 and we are using one of them still

Good luck with your search

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Old 21-06-2018, 12:42   #12
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Re: Marine Fans

I took 12v computer fans, put them in a teak frame with a switch and a brass yoke to allow them to rotate on 2 axis. A on-off-on switch with a resistor makes them 2 speed. Draws well under an amp and moves lots of air, and the frames match the interior woodwork. Fans easily and cheaply replaced if the die. Generally last about 5 years. Sorry, no photos handy.
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Old 21-06-2018, 12:58   #13
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Re: Marine Fans

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I took 12v computer fans, put them in a teak frame with a switch and a brass yoke to allow them to rotate on 2 axis. A on-off-on switch with a resistor makes them 2 speed. Draws well under an amp and moves lots of air, and the frames match the interior woodwork. Fans easily and cheaply replaced if the die. Generally last about 5 years. Sorry, no photos handy.


I had thought of that as well, good Noctua fans have a MTBF of 150,000 hours, that is something like 20 years if you never turn them off. I have not done the math, but it’s a long time.

My boat came with the guest fans, only one or two worked and them not for long, they were noisy when they worked, drew lots of power and compared to the power they drew, didn’t move much air.

That’s the thing ,the one I linked to moves huge amount of air compared to a Marine fan, and yet draws 1.6 amps at full tilt.
It will blow air across the whole Salon and draw about 1 amp.
I know, I measured it, cause I didn’t believe it possible myself.
But it really does draw 2.5 W (.19 amps at 13V) or 21 W (1.6 amps at 13V) and high speed is too high.
That is the difference, the Holmes fan which is just a common regular fan, draws three times the power, yet doesn’t move as much air.

Three things I care about on the boat. Noise, power consumption and how much air it moves. Marine fans are of course regular bladed fans and are no more efficient than their desk fan brothers, this soccer ball fan must use a different way to move air, and do it more efficiently than a regular fan blade. I assume a type of squirrel cage?
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Old 21-06-2018, 15:01   #14
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Re: Marine Fans

We used to buy Hella fans. They did a good job, did not have a very long life. We experimented with a number of off brands. The ones with metal screens, all rusted. The enclosed ones, as Paul L mentioned, are a major nuisance to clean.

Nowadays, we vote our shekels to Caframo. The blades, soft, firm plastic, are easy to clean. On low speed, they are quiet. I'm satisfied with them, and their durability.

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Old 21-06-2018, 15:05   #15
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Re: Marine Fans

a64, I looked at the Soccerball fan on your link and the picture with the hand in it makes it look huge. Is that true? Since you’ve had both styles, Guest and Soccerball, how do they compare? The Guest is about as big as I can do on this 36’ x 10’6” boat.
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