Best Cabin Fan?

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by Canibul

Interesting idea. I know the muffin fans you're talking about, and the MTBF is pretty high. As for mounting, are you familiar with 3D printers? I know I could come up with a manually adjustable swivel wall mount for one of these pretty quick. I've been designing and printing ABS part and gadgets for the boat and I am going to put a 3D printer on board. It's a great tool. I drew up and printed three Lewmar hatch stop blocks just this morning. A fan mount would be a piece of cake.

Cool idea. My nephew, recent EE graduate from Oregon State, bought a 3D printer but couldn't resist messing with it - he has yet to print anything. His father (my brother) has been waiting 6 months for a plastic tray for his coffee maker, and the file is online, but son hasn't fixed his fixes yet. I'm not holding my breath from that direction...

For bulkhead mounting I just cut some teak into a wedge the width of the fan, then screwed through it with the two bottom corner screws. No adjustment but stout.

I don't think mounting personal fans directly on the bulkhead is the best way to go. I bought a brass-plated lamp gooseneck with brass base for mounting with three screws, but I am still trying to come up with a clean attachment to the fan. The ends of the gooseneck have 1/8" IPS (straight pipe thread) so I need an attachment to the fan body that is either threaded or has a hole for the male thread and room for the nuts. Any ideas? ABS would be a good material.

Edit: previously I just hung the fans from handrails or portlights, which served well enough, but I want something a little nicer and permanent.

Greg

[Capt'n Ricko]

I've done a little bit a' net researchin' an.... that AIR BREEZE seems like a good "Plan B" for the S/V Second Wind... it does move alot of air... iffin me batteries be full... an... the heat be oppressive... I can see it

Thanks for the Info!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SVAndante9

Thanks so much for the info. I was hesitant about the "uncaged" ones having stuck fingers in the back of our old hella. It didn't cut off my fingers but it was more than a startled sensation! But I'm liking the price and size of the smaller ones.

Cheers,
Alison

The blades on the Camfaro 747/757 have a soft outer edge that flexes if it hits something (like a finger)...this also adds entertainment value as a plus of these fan...I sometimes stick my finger in one deliberately....my GF still jumps everytime. ;-)

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Capt'n Ricko

I've done a little bit a' net researchin' an.... that AIR BREEZE seems like a good "Plan B" for the S/V Second Wind... it does move alot of air... iffin me batteries be full... an... the heat be oppressive... I can see it

Thanks for the Info!

Oh, one more side benefit to the Air Breeze. I made a frame and set a similar fan (30 years ago so predated the Air Breeze) in the forepeak hatch blowing up so worked like a household attic fan. If a light rain popped up in the middle of the night the breeze would blow the rain up and keep you dry. Of course wouldn't work in a hard rain but quite effective in a little drizzle.

[The Garbone]

I have one of these. Moves quite a bit of air at low amps. Don't know the CFM.

Has a base but we tend to hand it from the handrails.

O2 Cool Portable Tent Fan with Emergency Device Charger and Auto Adapter by O2 Cool

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018EGJNE/..._wW48sb0K7DXX8

[Canibul]

[QUOTE=CarinaPDX;1460356 The ends of the gooseneck have 1/8" IPS (straight pipe thread) so I need an attachment to the fan body that is either threaded or has a hole for the male thread and room for the nuts. Any ideas? ABS would be a good material.

Greg[/QUOTE]

Sure. CAD up a frame that encloses the fan, has tabs for the four mounting holes, and a fitting for your pipe thread. Easiest would be to just design in space for some flat nuts. They could be recessed into the "holder".

I bought one of the early PrintrBot printers from a Kickstarter program. Crowd financing. Putting the thing together was a challenge. A box of parts and no manual. But after a while it started making sense. And that was the easy part. If your nephew is a double E then he's already familiar with CAD programs. What's the holdup?

My first project was just a replacement knob for my wife's Crock Pot. Since then I've done lots of projects with it. Dozens on the boat alone. Printing up a little catch to hold my engine room hatches open while I'm below. Getting rid of the bungy and metal hook routine. I get a fair bit of email about this stuff when I post photos on the blog. Lot of interest out there. I definitely want one on the boat, too.

OSU? I did some work for those guys way back. Tracked a submersible around the bottom of Crater Lake looking for hydrothermal vents. Deep Rover. Fun trip.

[Canibul]

Check out what other people have already designed up and printed on Thingiverse.

I always do a search there before drawing up my own stuff. Can save some time if someone has already done it and uploaded the design.

check out Thingiverse at Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects and type "120mm fan mount in the search box". I bet you find some ideas.

and then look around that site a bit and see what the 3D printing community is up to. Some pretty neat stuff.

[CarinaPDX]

OK, that just blows me away.

This design would work, except the thread would either have to be changed in the program or the hole drilled out and tapped. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:39894

Now all I need is a 3D printer...

Greg

[BrettB]

I bought the Camfaro 747 after reading this thread and mounted them on both sides of my salon, replacing the fans that were there before. These are so much easier to clean but pick up a surprising amount of gunk. One is not too noisy and not a high pitched whine like the previous finger slicers, however the other sounds like a mini jack hammer. Any idea how to make it quieter? It seems to dislike certain angles.

[JPA Cate]

BrettB,

Would a rubber pad under the mount do it for you? We keep trashed tire inner tube which gets used for both galvanic isolation and to decouple the sound.

Ann

[HeavyOne Bag]

Originally Posted by Canibul

Interesting idea. I know the muffin fans you're talking about, and the MTBF is pretty high. As for mounting, are you familiar with 3D printers? I know I could come up with a manually adjustable swivel wall mount for one of these pretty quick. I've been designing and printing ABS part and gadgets for the boat and I am going to put a 3D printer on board. It's a great tool. I drew up and printed three Lewmar hatch stop blocks just this morning. A fan mount would be a piece of cake.

Could you share the .stl file for these Lewmar Catch Blocks? Thanks!

[Eventide]

I have been a live aboard since the late 70s and have constantly been on the look out for ways to keep cool while at anchor. I have been through many of the more popular, albeit now expensive, fans that we all know about.


Just recently I read an article at janice142.com about new technology fans that are inexpensive (under $10), powerful, quiet and rechargeable just like my cell phone.


So I went out and bought three of them. I have to tell you that I love them and that they might be a game changer for me when it comes to boat fans.


Inexpensive Fan Option article on janice142


This is the link to the article that I read about these great fans. Worth a look.

[Bycrick]

I had a number of the Hella fans, until the finally stopped running after several years. Since timely replacements weren’t available, I got a couple of the 5” computer box fans. I discovered that you can easily cut enough off the Hella fan housing to just slide the box fan in from the back and tack it with hit-melt glue. An out-of-the-way electronics store had some small magnetic-reed switches. Waterproof. The fans last 5-7 years, running almost all the time. Buy the brushless ones with ball-bearings, readily available for under $10. Some of them are much noisier than others, though. But they’re all interchangeable and the quiet ones go where it doesn’t matter. Draw about 500 ma.

[wingssail]

We have been using Hella Turbo fans since before Cafranos came on the market.

We have seven installed (and three spares). There is no place on the boat where you can get more than 48" from a fan. We like to stay cooled. When I do a delivery or a race as navigator I take my own Hella Turbo. On low they keep us cool and are quiet. Amp usage is negligible.

I know how to disassemble them and properly lubricate them and we get about 5-7 years out of a Hella Turbo.

As for Cafrano, don't want to switch and I definitely don't like their looks.

[akopac]

Been using the same 6 inch 12V .33A brushless RFI-Less computer fans for years. The 12 gauge copper wire bail is adjustable. At the helm or while reading at anchor I often put it over my head and put a wet rag rolled around my neck and/or one on my head. They seem to never wear out. At some point I need to put a finger screen on them.