Ventilation ideas

I need some ideas for ventilation below my aft deck .The generator is there and both mufflers for generator and for engine . When the boat was built the area was used for fish hold . It has good storage but it's kinda funky . I know that paint will help a bunch . But it needs some moving air . Does anyone keep air moving while at the dock when not aboard ?

solar vent

Nicro Day / Night Plus Stainless Steel Solar Vent

I installed 3 of the large NICRO's on my Mainship hatches about 2 years ago they work great.
Bill

Greetings,
Mr. PM. Although possibly not suitable for your application, we have 5 oscillating fans aboard running 24/7/365. They're dirt cheap ($20 or so) and keep the interior cabins fresh for extended periods. The one in the ER is screwed to a shelf. The others are in positions where, if they fall over in a seaway, will do no harm.

I guess a 110 volt fan running on the boat 24/7 is just as safe as running 110 frig . I always worry about fire but we do check on boat at least every three days or so .

The NICRO's are nice they require no power and mine worked right through the winter layup. I also run some Caframo 12VDC fans to circulate air in other areas of the boat. They run off the solar charged house bank.
Bill

Solar sounds nice . I have a 130 watt solar panel but for now I must confess that I'm in a covered slip . The first time in twenty years . I've been working on the boat all winter and the covered slip has been perfect for my projects.I 'm gonna try this covered thang for a while and see what happens.

New 4" inch CFM Inline Exhaust Duct Fan Vent Blower | eBay

4" Inline 190CFM Hydroponics Duct Tube Exhaust Fan Blower 120V W/ Leather Sleeve


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I have one of these mounted below deck in air plenum with a damper mounted to a 4" vent to exhaust air to the outside and run it 24 hours at the dock to control humidity and mustiness. Works great and better then a dehumidifier.

I got the idea from this.


Clean Air Flo, LLC. - Marine Ventilation Systems

I have 450 watts of solar on my Mainship. I will start out with 200 watts and the AirX wind generator on my Gulftstar trawler.
Bill

[FONT=&quot]Those little boat solar vents don't move much air at all. I've installed a SolarStar as they have much higher airflow rates. Fully self contained , no wires to run.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.solatube.com/residential/solar-star[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
It is in the pilot house, the high point of the boat when it is all closed up. I leave the port lights open and thus can have air flowing into the staterooms and up and out. Its been running fora few months now and really makes a difference. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It fits nicely onto a 2ft square Bomar hatch that can still be opened. I will get a cover made for it to be able to ‘turn it off’, in case I end up somewhere cold. I have some leftover ER soundproofing cut to fit into the space underneath for those cold times as well. The Bomar rails hold it in place.

[/FONT]

Wonder whether using the engine space's exhaust fan would be just as effective.

This RV item will open and close by temperature , and has a rain sensor to close it in a shower.

Very quiet with modest DC draw.

Can NOT be stepped on as most marine hatches.

Fan-Tastic Ceiling Fan/Vent with Remote Control - Camping ...

RV Supplies, RV Accessories & RV Parts for Motorhomes, Travel Trailers - Camping World › ... › Fans & Vents › VentsCamping World


Rating: 4 - ‎12 votes - ‎$325.00 - ‎In stock
The Radio Frequency Handheld Remote has you activating the fan and raising the .... I called Fantastic fan company (phone number was included with fan).


Fan-Tastic Vent 4000R Off White Vent with Reverse Switch

Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & moreFan-Tastic-Vent.../dp/B000BRCGNQAmazon.com


I have a Fantastic Fan in my camper. The customer service of this company is as user friendly as it gets. I needed a part to replace on my fan and called the ...

For what it's worth, I've had mixed results from ventilation. Under some circumstances, including some that exist on a boat, it can actually make matters worse. The problem has to do with cool versus warm spaces, and condensation when you move warm air into the cool space.

I first encountered this in a house that we have that is very old with a very wet basement. We always opened small windows to ventilate it thinking it was reducing the moisture. On really dry days it was. But on hot humid days is was just making matters worse. The warm moist air would come into the basement and water would immediately condense on the walls. All we were doing was drawing all the moisture out of the air and dumping it in the basement. We now keep the windows closed and have a much drier space.

So think about this when you add ventilation to your boat. Bilges and hull surfaces below the water line will typically be cooler than the air. Idle machinery in an engine room, and metal fuel tanks tend to be cooler too. Drawing in air may just result in condensation and more of a problem.

This is a tad off the thread, but hopefully not far enough off to get anyone upset.

I know that the primary use of a solar panel controller is to keep the battery from overcharging. That is, regulate the 17 volts (or so) that comes from the panel, so that the battery sees less than that.

But I would like to be able to go directly from the controller to a 12-volt fan, with no battery involved. So the controller would regulate the voltage so long as it was high enough to run the fan, but when it drops to the point that the fan does not see 12-volts, such as the sun going down, then the controller would shut down. The purpose is to run the fan for a few hours during daylight, then let it shut off.

Anyone know if there is such a controller available? I tried googling, but no joy.

Most solar controllers have a load side as well as a battery side to their connection output. The load side will provide 12 volts when the sun shines. Any current being used by the load side will no longer be available to charge the batteries. My concern would be that most 12 volt fans are not really heavy duty enough for long-term day after day operation and use a fair amount of amperage to move of small amount of of air.
If you go this route buy your fans at Walmart, automotive supply place even a truck stop as the prices will be considerably cheaper and that's a good thing because in my experience the 12 volt fans don't last very long.

Check out Morning Star Solar controllers.

Pack Mule said:

I need some ideas for ventilation below my aft deck .The generator is there and both mufflers for generator and for engine . When the boat was built the area was used for fish hold . It has good storage but it's kinda funky . I know that paint will help a bunch . But it needs some moving air . Does anyone keep air moving while at the dock when not aboard ?

Click to expand...

We have been using Hella's 2 speed Turbo 12 volt fans on Hobo and on our last boat. They draw ~6.5 watts and the motors were advertised for 5000 hrs. We left 2 running last summer, on low speed, while we were gone and will do the same this summer. We have Caframo's Bora model 748 also. They're a little nosier than the Hella's so they aren't used in the sleeping quarters. Both fans have worked as advertised although every once in a while we buy one that the blades aren't true and are nosy/vibrate.

2 Speed ‘Turbo’ Fan - Accessories, Fans - Hella Marine


Caframo - Ecofans, specialty fans and heaters, overhead stirrers

Anyone know if there is such a controller available? I tried googling, but no joy.

I believe my old Trace C12 has this feature , will handle 12A of charging.

With a small battery it will operate the fan after sunset, only if desired till a low set voltage is reached.

Insequent said:

[FONT=&quot]Those little boat solar vents don't move much air at all. I've installed a SolarStar as they have much higher airflow rates. Fully self contained , no wires to run.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.solatube.com/residential/solar-star[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
It is in the pilot house, the high point of the boat when it is all closed up. I leave the port lights open and thus can have air flowing into the staterooms and up and out. Its been running fora few months now and really makes a difference. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It fits nicely onto a 2ft square Bomar hatch that can still be opened. I will get a cover made for it to be able to ‘turn it off’, in case I end up somewhere cold. I have some leftover ER soundproofing cut to fit into the space underneath for those cold times as well. The Bomar rails hold it in place.

[/FONT]

Click to expand...

Actually Brian, those small solar-vents do move quite a bit and are fine for smaller spaces. I have one venting the for'd cabin and the flybridge under-dash locker. However, those Solar Star fans like yours are beaut. Haven't been out long, but we have one doing well venting heat out of the roof cavity over one of the hotter (west - facing) rooms at home, and I agree they work a treat, and would be excellent for a larger vessel with big volume and a decent large hatch or area of cabin top to set it into. Ours is even bigger than that one you show, (they come in two sizes), and it takes the space of about 4 std roof tiles to fit it in. But many boats would accommodate that easy. Excellent suggestion.

120 volt bathroom vent fans are cheap, easily installed or replaced and will run a VERY long time. I have one behind my under cabinet fridges that has ran nonstop for 5 years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Vetus ventilation fan, 2 speed.

I have 8 of these, they draw next to nothing, and still pulls out about 70 cubic meter/hour.
Some of the fans are placed so that they circulate the air, the rest extraxts air through grilles or vent covers.

VETUS electric ventilator, type FAN, 12 Volt, 2 speeds - Electric ventilators - Ventilation

FF, any chance you were a pilot in the military? Been awhile since I have heard "no joy". Just idle wonderingly...
Jeff

A fan is so dumb just hook it to the array of right size directly with no controller. It will eat all the watts and shut off at night.

Choice B. Replace the resistor in the controller with a fan. Use the V R dump to run the fan while u power other stuff from a big array.

EE is fun sometimes
Dan

FF, any chance you were a pilot in the military?

US Navy SP 2H , P2 V7 , back in the day when one needed 2K hours to get an airline job.@ Friendly Skys

Down here in the sweat belt, I used to run the AC full time due to condensation & humidity concerns. After paying some big $ power bills, decided something else was in order. Through trial and error, settled on a carpet dryer fan. These produce a "collated" (for want of a better word) and fairly high velocity air stream.

The boat has a very open floor plan - may not be applicable in more confined interior settings. With the fan in the V-berth, directed aft, and air stream directed about 15 degrees above horizontal, it gives sensible air movement all the way to the aft stateroom. That is sufficient air flow to prevent condensation/mold. Worked well for two seasons. The fan is on 24/7 regardless of the season or temp. I got mine at Sam's for $60-70.