----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Hulin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 6:29 PM Subject: [canals-list] Solar powered ventilators?
>I wonder if anyone has experience of solar powered deck ventilators, > as available at: > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Solar-Ventilator-Deck-Vent-Ideal-for-Boats-Caravans_W0QQitemZ220082497711QQihZ012QQcategoryZ15263QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem > > I am thinking of fitting one to my small narrow cruiser to help > reduce condensation in the cabin, and I wonder how well the solar > panel works. (snip) We tried one to ventilate the toilet compartment on "Gamebird" (26' Sea Otter). It seemed to work for the first year, but the fan got slower and slower during the second year, until it wasn't even turnng in full sunlight. A temporary cure was achieved by changing the perspex cover. (There was one supplied with the fan unit, which was the Vetus one, made to fit inside the Vetus vent, so the cover was only about a year old). The replacement cover was machined and polished in the lathe before fitting, to make it thinner and more transparent. By winter, it had stopped working again and I removed it.When I get a round tuit, I'll experiment with a replacement motor and replacement (larger) solar panels. The original motor seemed to be designed to run on about a quarter of a volt, and the panel supplied abot half that with the motor connected. IMHO, the basic problem was insuffcient area on the solar panel, which was a circle about 3" diameter. OTOH, assuming that the panel in the advertised one is about the same size as the cutout area, that would give a panel about 4 times the area of the Vetus one, which might be enough to get the thing to work. At £30 it's probably worth a try. -- Iain
