ventilation

[BobCT]

I posted a while back that I added a permanent bilge exhaust fan using a 3" computer fan. This keeps the air constantly flowing out of the cabin bilge. When I re-made my cabin steps, I found a way to run flexible hose under the steps and then I put a 3" plastic vent under the coaming storage box in the cockpit. This never shuts off (expect for winter storage) and draws fractions of an amp.

For whatever reason, there was a 4" hole that looks like it was cut at the factory behind the VHF radio on the right side of the helm. I only noticed it because I removed the left side panel inside the cabinet, above the electrical panel (mid cabin reference).

I decided to take advantage of the pre cut hole and have now installed a 4" fan with a vent cut into the cabinet panel and run the same way with flex hose/vent exiting near the Stb side coaming box. I wired it up to the accessory switch at the helm. This moves a lot of air so I'm going to leave it running whenever I leave the boat at the slip and the cabin will be constantly vented. I'm probably going to reverse the rotation on my solar hatch vent and let the suck air into the cabin and the fan handling the exhaust.

By shear luck, the fan is the exact same size as a dryer vent/flap unit that would install on the outside of your house. I removed the flaps and used the frame as my mounting flange. This makes the flex hose hook up easy. There are a million different ways to do this but for low draw, long life (20,000 hours), inexpensive ventilation, computer fans are a good choice in the cabin area.

The total cost for two with all the mounting "stuff" is less than $75.
Bob

[BlueBelle]

This is a great idea. I intend to run a 3 inch computer fan from the bilges to a 'spare' exhaust vent hose next to my regular bilge vent. Cabin ventilation may be a bit trickier, but worth pursuing with your computer fan idea.

Thanks.