Solar Vent Hack

[fritzdfk]

Not too long ago I installed a Marinco Day/Night Solar Vent in a hatch cover. It is model #N20703S, a 3" vent. It worked pretty well all summer but now (October) not at all. I am in Alaska so there is not much light let alone sunlight. I wanted to figure out a way to attach a fan to the vent and run it off the boats 12v system. I bought a Noctua computer fan on the advice of a person on this forum. The one I bought is 90mm square. So how to attach a square fan to a round inlet? On Ebay I bought a silicone 4.5" X 3.5" reducer. I think it is designed for high temperature engine applications. The 3.5" side fits the solar vent and the 4.5" side perfectly fits the perimeter of the square fan. You can see in the photo that I fitted small plywood pieces to press in the silicone adapter sides against the fan and used a little caulk to seal the mounting holes. I know the caulk is ugly. Anyway I just wired it up this morning. The fan comes with adapters to vary the fan speed and I chose the lowest cfm which is still somewhat higher that the original solar vent specs. The fan is silent unless I pit my ear right against it.

[coopec43]

"The one I bought is 90mm square. So how to attach a square fan to a round inlet?"

White not cut the square to a round shape, insert it into a tube and attach to the boat "roof"

http://p.globalsources.com/IMAGES/PD...1155740034.jpg


Clive