Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Cool your cabin for $11.00

Ok, I obviously have other concerns and haven't posted much lately (my boat is still stranded far on the hard). But I'm going to throw something up which you may find of interest..

Camfro fans
$40 each, (X) 2=$80
It helped a little bit..
I noticed that on a hot day while at anchor my vberth is always nice and cool, with the hatch cracked open the breeze tends to blow in an ricochete off the ledge above the door back into the vberth.. but as soon as you enter the head/hanging locker "hallway", it's a lot hotter, and the main cabin is sweaty hot. So I bought a Camaro fan for about $40 for the main cabin.. which helped, but only if it was blowing directly on you.. So then I bought a second one and hung them both in the main cabin.
It was an improvement.

Well, a few weeks later I made an impulse buy on a different fan I saw on ebay. It was a 12v portable ceiling fan from.. China?, Japan?.. or was it Hong Kong?.. I'm not certain, but it was only $11 with free shipping, so I figure what have I got to lose?  So I bought one. There was really only one place it could go, and that was to hang over the dinette table on my Grampian 26..
I tell you what.. it performed better than the two Camaro fans I had in the same area.

(Brochure photo of cabin)
I wish I took some pictures, but I didn't.
To test it out I just ran a piece of wire across above the table (from the bulkhead and across to an existing lamp attached to the aft wall), with the fans hanger secured at center point, then I simply attached the fans alligator clips directly to my battery, and the fan began to rapidly spin (it only has one speed). It is whisper quiet, uses about 5watts, and no worries if you should happen to hit your head or hand in the blades because it can't hurt you at all, it just stops the blades.
Best of all.. it really puts out some air!!
Later I plan to fabricate a narrow shelf across and just above the window for charts and what not, and then attach the fan to the underside of that shelf.
With only the mini ceiling fan blowing it made a very noticeable difference of making the cabin comfortable on a hot day. You can really feel it's breeze especially while sitting at the table, but it also circulates the air very well in the entire area. And, it makes less noise then the overpriced little Camaro's.
I've speculated that I could put a second fan above the aft berth without causing too much of an obstruction, but it's not really necessary.. One above the table does the job.
Like I said, I found mine on ebay, but here's the same exact one at this website: http://www.tmart.com/DC-12V-5W-Plastic-3-Blade-Brushless-Converter-Motor-Battery-Mini-Ceiling-Fan-White_p351453.html

I highly suggest you consider giving it a try yourself.. Well worth $11.00

 

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