Aft Berth Ventilation

britinusa · September 20, 2016, 06:58:14 AM

Any suggestions on the best way to vent the aft berth?

We have AC on the boat but the aft berth does not enjoy much of the benefit.

So I'm looking for options to vent the aft berth.

Some ideas so far:
.. Install a fan in the lower aft berth door panel.
.. Install a blower fan inline tube from the aft berth into the head (blowing from the berth)
.. Install a fan in the bulkhead between the galley and the aft berth (just below the windows)
.. Install a fan to blow from the aft berth in one of the access holes in the bulkhead at the foot of the berth (are those two holes standard?)

Any suggestions, would really like to get some cool air into the aft berth.

Paul

Stu Jackson · September 20, 2016, 12:50:08 PM

Why do you need to? Serious question. Do you sleep there? Do you have regular guests?

britinusa · September 20, 2016, 01:28:10 PM

We have owned Eximius just over a year and did not want to have overnight guests for much of that simply because we did not feel ready to make them comfortable. Recently we have had a guest on board, overnight and realized it's not an issue. Except that the aft berth is not as comfortable as the cabin / v-berth where we have the AC.

We plan on having family & friends stay overnight quite often this coming year, so taking the trouble to get the berth comfortable for guests is important for us.

Paul

George Bean · September 20, 2016, 06:04:26 PM

We have a MkII boat so our lay out is a bit different from yours. We installed a fan on the teak trim piece just below the head liner. Getting power to it was a problem. We wound up snaking wire from the galley (we now have task lighting over the stove!) We also took the opportunity to install a 12v receptacle in the aft state room so guests can recharge phones.

KWKloeber · September 20, 2016, 08:02:11 PM

For anyone doing the same, Blue Sea has a really sharp dual 12v receptacle - one side 12v the other side a dual 2 amp USB. I installed 3 of them on a J/120 this year. The owner(s) wet their collective pants when they saw them, because they could charge their iPad, phone, and have a fan plugged in to boot.

-kk

KWKloeber · September 20, 2016, 08:28:43 PM

Interesting, I thought a pad charged on 2 amp. learned something new, not an apple person.

-kk

Noah · September 20, 2016, 09:41:32 PM

I have deleted my previous post on Blue Sea dual USB ports as it was bad info about iPad drawing 3.5 amps. The issue I run into with my Blue Sea dual socket is it allocates the 2 amps across both sockets so an iPad drawing 2.1 amps and a phone drawing less amps plugged into Blue Sea outlets at the same time do not give as speedy a charge as if you just plugged in the iPad charger and/or your phone charger into your 110 v. outlet. It will work either way, but takes longer when charging with 12 v Blue Sea dual sockets.

KWKloeber · September 20, 2016, 11:32:50 PM

I misspoke about the 12v receptacles -- they were 2.1 amp shared as you say. I was miss remembering the Hubbell duplex 120v / duplex USBs receptacles I also installed -- the USBs are 3.8 amp shared.

The only way to get double 2.1a from 12 volt, is to swap out the 12v outlet side for another USB outlet in the duplex mount. That would work ok if there was another location where a double 12v (and no USBs) would be useful.

-kk

Jim Hardesty · September 21, 2016, 03:22:35 AM

Ken, A question. Does the USB receptacles draw current when not being used?
Jim

britinusa · September 21, 2016, 04:45:50 AM

This is what I have installed at the Nav Station

I like the idea of adding them around the boat!

Paul

KWKloeber · September 21, 2016, 06:14:42 AM

Jim,

There's a blue led on the USB side, but I don't know if there's other current draw - I'll ask my guy at BS. Ii put them on a separate circuit and breaker so it can be turned off.

-kk

Ken Juul · September 21, 2016, 06:36:08 AM

We use a clip on fan on the door jamb to force air into the back cabin. At bed time, move the fan just above our heads to blow on us all night. I wired it through the light circuit, yes sometimes it may run a little slower that way.

KWKloeber · September 21, 2016, 07:04:09 AM

Paul,

The V meter is blue sea? I hadn't seen that before. hmmmmmm.. I have ideas forming.

-kk

Lance Jones · September 21, 2016, 07:20:36 AM

Back to the topic at hand...
When I installed the A/C in Kitty's Cat (16k btu), I ran a 4" line down the port side into the head. From there, I t'd it and ran a length to the foot of the aft cabin. Works great! This summer, I installed a 4", in line, duct-fan to force more cool air back there. I hard wired that into an extra breaker on my 120vac panel. So, we can actually use the fan alone without the a/c running. I have also installed a couple of 12v fans back there. Is it perfect? No. However, one can sleep back there in a Florida summer in relative comfort.

KWKloeber · September 21, 2016, 07:29:12 AM

Quote from: Noah on September 20, 2016, 09:41:32 PM
I have deleted my previous post on Blue Sea dual USB ports as it was bad info about iPad drawing 3.5 amps. The issue I run into with my Blue Sea dual socket is it allocates the 2 amps across both sockets so an iPad drawing 2.1 amps and a phone drawing less amps plugged into Blue Sea outlets at the same time do not give as speedy a charge as if you just plugged in the iPad charger and/or your phone charger into your 110 v. outlet. It will work either way, but takes longer when charging with 12 v Blue Sea dual sockets.

Noah, there's a BS #1045 duplex USB, which is 4.8 amp total, and looks like it will fit in the standard plate (like alongside a 12v outlet.)

The duplex I installed were actually Marinco, not Blue Sea.

-kk