Ecs vents with solar fan insert

[catmandoo]

I get a lot of condensation in my cabins in the winter here in Greece . Thinking of upgrading the cabin vents with ECS solar fans . Is it worthwhile or is it just having an expensive gadget , ineffective and fails after a couple of years

Any comments or experience with them

 

[ctva]

I used one to great effect on our first boat, Sabre 27. What a difference!! And well worth the £50 I paid back then. However when I needed to replace it about 7 years later on a new boat, the cost was over £100 which when you look at it is just a rip off price. Just this year I've opted for one off of ebay which has an inbuilt battery to provide night venting as well and for £50 including cover and fittings (the ECS is the fan only). I can't provide a link as ebay is blocked in work.

So, well worth it but not at £100!

 

[[2574]]

We've one in our forward cabin fitted in to the main hatch. It's solar powered with a rechargeable battery so 24/7 operation. Been working fine for five years now. The bearing is a little noisy but that doesn't worry me as I turn it off when we are on board as we have the hatch in ventilation mode. Recommended.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

We have one. Basically, it works - the one we have has no battery storage, so it only runs when the sun shines. It seems a bit flimsy, but it has been going for about 3 years now! I did worry because you can't dismantle it to lubricate the bearings, but it is mounted on springs and a bit of a shake now and again to displodge dust seems to be all it needs.

Only problem is that it extends below the bottom of the extrenal ECS vent, and on my boat the internal duct is narrower than the vent, so I can't fit them on most of my vents.

 

[Seajet]

Two immediate snags with the solar insert; it blocks the light which normally comes through the centre of a tannoy vent, and it prevents the use of the closeable type vent with a sliding collar.

I had a day / night solar fan by a different make, as soon as it was a few months old the ' bearing ' spindle wore and it made a right racket, I've heard of ECS jobs doing the same.

 

[GrahamM376]

For manual use when on board, particularlyy in heads, 12v computer fas work well. Minimal cost and mine are still good after 10 years of 9/12 use.

 

[Cardo]

I replaced our two ageing ECS vents with eBay specials, the ones with on/off switches and batteries so they can run 24/7. The first one I replaced has been mostly fine. It runs pretty much all the time and only stops at night if it's been a particularly cloudy/grey day. This one can become a bit noisy after a week or so but a twiddle of the plastic fan piece makes it go quiet again. The second one I think is somewhat faulty. The fan runs a lot faster than the first one we got, but it stops as soon as the sun goes. Essentially, it appears there's no control of the fan speed so it burns up whatever juice is coming in from the solar panel. I'd already sealed the vent in when I realised, so couldn't be bothered to send it back. However, this one's in the heads, so a faster fan speed during the day seems to work quite well, anyway.

 

[Dazedkipper]

My boat came with the ECS solar vent, non functioning. I replaced it, first season it was brilliant, second season very poor, 3rd it was bug7ered. So I got another and repeated the whole saga, then got a warranty replacement from ECS. That one has cra&ped out too and ECS don't even answer my emails about it now!
So in short, avoid like the plague!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

We have one. Basically, it works - the one we have has no battery storage, so it only runs when the sun shines. It seems a bit flimsy, but it has been going for about 3 years now! I did worry because you can't dismantle it to lubricate the bearings, but it is mounted on springs and a bit of a shake now and again to displodge dust seems to be all it needs.

Only problem is that it extends below the bottom of the extrenal ECS vent, and on my boat the internal duct is narrower than the vent, so I can't fit them on most of my vents.

Postscript:

We were at Capricious last weekend, and the fan was going a bits lowly, despite various nudges to dislodge dust and so on. So my wife gave it a shot of WD40, and now it's spinning merrily away again! It's at least 3 years old.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Two immediate snags with the solar insert; it blocks the light which normally comes through the centre of a tannoy vent, and it prevents the use of the closeable type vent with a sliding collar.

I had a day / night solar fan by a different make, as soon as it was a few months old the ' bearing ' spindle wore and it made a right racket, I've heard of ECS jobs doing the same.

Yes that happened to mine quite a few years ago, gave up the ghost after about a year. Was not impressed.