The best 12 Volt fan for the cabin?

[GILow]

Caframo Sirocco II.

Quiet enough to sleep under them on low and medium.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by conachair

120cm fan? That's one big computer you got

Anyone tried running a car radiator fan at a lower voltage so it runs slower?

I am of course an idiot. I meant 120mm. I bought a bunch of Artic P12s. Only experimented a little so far as it hasn't been that warm. I did blow two up figuring out the pos and neg connection on the 3 pin plug.

[Cal31]

Originally Posted by conachair

120cm fan? That's one big computer you got

Anyone tried running a car radiator fan at a lower voltage so it runs slower?

Yes, have built two units for forward and salon hatches. I use a PWM motor speed controller. My units are 14" diameter and move a lot of air at about 1 amp on 12v supply. Very good ventilation. Moves plenty of air into the cabin so don't need any other fans. Inexpensive to build and allows DIY customization for your particular hatch size.

[LoudMusic]

I don't even know what these cheap knock off fans are on my boat but keeping them clean is a major pain in the butt. Sounds like when they fail I'm going to be shopping for Caframo Sirocco II.

[wingssail]

We have always used Hella Turbo fans. We have 8 installed and usually carry several spares (now only one). You cannot get more than 48" from a fan on our boat. We've been using these type of fans since they were $65 ea. Now around $100 at Amazon, $166 in Mexico, and joy, I see them for $75 at Defender.

When I go as navigator on other boats I take a hella with me.

They need to be lubricated occasionally (carefully, with very small amounts of very light lube, say wd40. A heavy dollop of 3 in 1 dribbling over the circuit board can cause the resistor to overheat and burn out). Some tricks to disassembly.

They last 4-5 years in our liveaboard situation, and are in use nearly continuously, but we have had some failures.

Because the hellas have been hard to get I have looked at caframos. The Bora looks about as close as I can get to the hellas which I love. A bit fiddly to look at and harder to clean I guess. (ours need cleaning about every month). I have also heard that caframos are not durable, but the hellas are not perfect in that regard either.

So, my vote is hella turbo.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Cal31

Yes, have built two units for forward and salon hatches. I use a PWM motor speed controller. My units are 14" diameter and move a lot of air at about 1 amp on 12v supply. Very good ventilation. Moves plenty of air into the cabin so don't need any other fans. Inexpensive to build and allows DIY customization for your particular hatch size.

Ta, might drop by the breakers yard and give it a go

[Cal31]

Originally Posted by Cal31

Yes, have built two units for forward and salon hatches. I use a PWM motor speed controller. My units are 14" diameter and move a lot of air at about 1 amp on 12v supply. Very good ventilation. Moves plenty of air into the cabin so don't need any other fans. Inexpensive to build and allows DIY customization for your particular hatch size.

Picture attached.

[Woodland Hills]

Another vote for Caframo! We have several 24v Sirocco fans that have been running nonstop for over a year on 32v with no issues beyond spinning a bit faster.

[zboss]

Caframo open blade. Super easy to clean.... we turn them on after install and don’t turn them off except to clean. 6 years later, 3 of my original 6 are still running 24/7.