Hella seems popular, next question is where from? In Lagos for a few more days then off towards spain, anyone know of a shop which does them off the shelf between here and Gib?
Can't help you with Hella outlets, but before you spend your £65 or so don't discount the Caframo 757. We used them in the Caribbean for several years and think they are great; so do others:
From Practical Boating fan destruction test (they tested a huge number of fans): “In our view, the Hella and Caframo fans are superior. The Hella models draw less current but lack the power of the Caframo fans"
From Scott and Wendy Bannerot on Elen, long term cruisers: "For years we stuck with two-speed Hella Turbo fans, but to be honest, we experienced an extremely high failure rate with this model despite the fact that it is one of the more expensive, higher-quality ones available. We went through about 14 of them! We also found the air flow, even out of a healthy one, to be a little disappointing. We replaced two with Caframo 12V "cageless" fans with the soft plastic blades - both blow a huge amount of air, and neither has failed after six years".
We include the Caframo fan in our product portfolio because it meets our criteria of being tried and tested by us in a cruising environment. At £40 we think it's a better choice than the Hella. I offer this advice because I believe it to be sound, not because I want to sell you a fan, no matter what the cynics might think!
JS48 is spot on and they are very popular in the Caribbean. We carry spares for everything and we have a spare Caframo, it's about the only spare we haven't used.
Why not try a motor accessory shop? Plenty available 12 v fans at a fraction of the cost mentioned by other forumites. Also would really suggest getting a 24v would be quieter and would not burn out the motor so easily running on 12v! Just a thought. Stay cool man!
We've got Caframo fans over each bunk and are v. pleased. Low draw, not noisy and can be fixed or portable. I bought another one on the net last year for £22 from a firm at Hamble.
We use 230 volt with an inverter, just got 2- 10" 3speed oscillating fans from a supermarket in Italy for €14ea and they draw 40 watts, plus they are a lot quieter than 12/24dc types.
We run as many fans as possible at night. This keeps you cooler, and you keep yourself covered, instead of displaying your choicest body parts for the little beasties to feast on!
I don't know whether a fan acts as a deterrent or not to be honest... I get bitten morning noon and night regardless!
Our main fan is a standard oscillating desk type running from the inverter. It doesn't draw much and we have it over the bed at night, much quieter than dc ones.
some oscillating fans coming up soon on Lidl....cheap and cheerfull.....at about £3.99...have two myself....work a treat in the wheel house...great big clip to move around....or bolt them down and use the clip to hold your duvet to the rigging to air the rotten sweatty stink....