Solar & Battery Powered Hatch Vent Fan???

[luckylady22ft]

I have a solar and rechargeable battery powered vent fan on my forward hatch. It is at least several years old (boat is 1988) and could be of that vintage, so it has had a good run. It had been working fine with the same battery of at least two years but then the AA battery was dead and the fan would not run and the light would not work. I put the dead battery in my charger but it would not hold a charge, so I replaced it with a new fully charged battery and the fan ran for several days and then it was dead, then recharged and ran some more, then dead. Obviously, it appears the solar cell is not charging the new rechargeable battery. There are no obvious broken wires etc.

Do solar cells go bad after years of operation?

Unfortunately, there is no brand on it and I cannot find the same vent fan unit on the internet for a replacement. Does anyone recognize the brand and do you think I could replace just the solar cell?

I have attached photos for your review. The top part outside the hatch is 8 inches diameter while the inside housing part containing the fan, light and switches is 4.25 inches.

I would appreciate any ideas of same brand replacement, repair, replacement of the cell, or should I try to find a total replacement that will fit the existing diameter etc. I do not want to replace the hatch just to get a new fan. Thanks

[Sternwake]

I have Nicro 4 inch vent of 2001 vintage. It used a C sized battery.

The motor itself started clicking annoyingly after a few years, worse when cold, and when the Nicad failed a NiMH battery worked inside of it.

Ultimately its airflow was always way too little for my desires(1000 cubic feet per hour), and I ran wires upto it and made a step down ring to force the flow of a 4.75 inch/120mm computer fan through the aperture. Later on I removed the motor and battery for lesser restriction to airflow.

I've gone though various fans, but have settled on a 120mm x 38mm Delta dual ball bearing 190cfm fan on a voltage bucker as a speed controller, 190 CFM, 11, 400 cubic feet per hour, but I rarely run it at full speed.

Check out the Nicro offerings they offer 3 and 4 inch versions, either of those might drop into your fitting.

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...144&id=3857882

[Franziska]

Here à suggestion which worked for us.

Install a small computer vent into the housing and wire it to your battery bank. If you have a larger solar cell panel already its just as much renewable energy as if there is a tiny solar cell in the vent itself.

Computer fans are capable to run years nonstop. Usually they are 12volts.

[luckylady22ft]

Franziska, thanks, good idea. I can do that. I have a solar panel and battery.

[Franziska]

Your welcome! Glad to help.

[Bill O]

If you bypass the battery does your fan run during the day? Could also check if there is ant V at the battery terminals during the day.
If you have V or your fan is working during the day, your solar is still working.
On previous boats, we've had solar fans that only worked during the day and they did a fairly good job.

[clakiep]

Originally Posted by luckylady22ft

I have a solar and rechargeable battery powered vent fan on my forward hatch. It is at least several years old (boat is 1988) and could be of that vintage, so it has had a good run. It had been working fine with the same battery of at least two years but then the AA battery was dead and the fan would not run and the light would not work. I put the dead battery in my charger but it would not hold a charge, so I replaced it with a new fully charged battery and the fan ran for several days and then it was dead, then recharged and ran some more, then dead. Obviously, it appears the solar cell is not charging the new rechargeable battery. There are no obvious broken wires etc.

Do solar cells go bad after years of operation?

Unfortunately, there is no brand on it and I cannot find the same vent fan unit on the internet for a replacement. Does anyone recognize the brand and do you think I could replace just the solar cell?

I have attached photos for your review. The top part outside the hatch is 8 inches diameter while the inside housing part containing the fan, light and switches is 4.25 inches.

I would appreciate any ideas of same brand replacement, repair, replacement of the cell, or should I try to find a total replacement that will fit the existing diameter etc. I do not want to replace the hatch just to get a new fan. Thanks

I had a funny experience in the nineties : I bought two solarcell driven hatchfans and installed then in the cabin roof of my custom build 44' catamaran. I thought it to be a genious installation : in the morning with the sun comming up they started to exaust air sucking in cool air from underneath the bridge belly. I worked marvelously for about a year. Then I ended up with a powerfull wake-up system in the morning and through the day: the bearings wore out and the vibration was amplified by the resonating wooden built hull and cabin roof. I tried to open the units to replace them, but there was no way. I had to tape the perfectly well working solarcells over !

Claus - ocean tramp of the eighties

[Captndave1]

I have a brand new Nicro 4 “ solar fan still in the box, $100.00 +shipping and it’s yours.

[lvictorlucas]

Be careful of the Nicros that have been made in the last 5 or 10 years. There quality has gone downhill tremendously and you can find many write-ups of them failing after a year or two. I had an original model and it lasted for 10 years with only a change of the rechargeable battery once a year. If you can find one of the old ones at any price and put in a modern rechargeable battery it would be well worth the money.

[Checkswrecks]

I've got two off-brand ones to get rid of, just make me an offer in a PM. The bolt circle is 8" and they have less than 6 months of use.


I did something similar to what Franziska wrote, in using computer fans. They are powered off the boat batteries, which are on a little 50W solar panel. They take so little power that a 100 Ah battery could power them for almost 2 weeks of no solar. One is in the head ceiling vent and the other is in series with the bilge vent. I think I have less than $15 in the set.

Looking up, this is the one in the ceiling vent of the head before putting the liner back up and making the wiring permanent:


The one in the bilge vent duct is to the left of the silver clamp, glued between two PVC shower drains. The yellow wire is for the regular bilge fan and the red/black is the computer fan.






Other than the fans form Amazon and using regular marine grade Anchor wire to the switches, everything came from Home Depot.

[SV__Grace]

I have 5 Marinco day/night solar fans, 3 are 4" and 2 are 3". In each location the space tolerance is too tight to replace with the newer models, which are larger, so I've been struggling to keep my existing fans going.

Some things that might be of interest about keeping the older fans going-

1. Be sure to close the vents if you are bashing. Both my bow V berth area fans fried from salt water.

2. The newer fans are more powerful, @4 volts rather than 1.5 of the older ones. The newer models are larger with larger/higher voltage battery and solar panel, have a light switch and directional switch. I bought one to see if I could make it work in the space or cannibalize it, no joy.

3. I previously cannibalized parts from older fans that I replaced (motor, solar panel, etc), but that doesn't work with the new models because of the voltage difference and I don't have the patience/expertise to use whatever gizmos are needed to modify the voltage and the size of the solar panel and battery is much larger in the new models.

4. I successfully replaced the motor with a $2.00 Chinese hobby motor from Amazon. I got a package of 5 for $10. which means I have spares for years to come. Just have to be sure the voltage is in range of the battery output and the motor it's replacing, and that the shaft is long enough. Soldering the wires is easy, just be sure the wires are hooked up to spin the shaft in the desired direction- just two wires, and you can change the rotation if you hook them up wrong. The new models have a switch to change direction, the old models come with different blades for that purpose. The motor housing is much smaller, so a bit of sticky stuff on the bottom (I used butyl tape I had on hand, but anything that works) and foam stuffed in the sides works well to keep it in place.

5. I'm in the PNW and except for summer, most of the year there isn't enough sun to fully charge the battery and run the fan overnight. Eventually the battery goes dead and won't work until there's enough sun in a day or two to overcome the deficit. For that reason, I'm planning to install 12v computer fans with a switch inside the tube.

As the first step in this project recently I finished sourcing the parts.

Here's a round computer fan from Amazon that fits
the 4" tube perfectly and these work well for the 3" tubes. I have a bunch of these switches from other projects that are small and white (color match) and will do the job nicely.

[rcolesny]

I found the motors to replace the squeaky ones. But I cont find the batteries for less than $30.00 each! I found good prices on Ali-Baba if I buy at lot o 100 !!!
Any idea where I could ind "C" batteries NI-MH C2800 1,2V ...