Installing fans in an SO36i (the easy way)

[Trevor]

Hello,

Sometimes in hot climates it is nice to get a bit of air circulation in the cabins and saloon so I decided to install some fans.

A quick look at the Jeanneau service manual indicated that Jeanneau use a standard wiring harness and although we did not get factory installed fans, the wiring harness is already there. This wiring comes from the fused distribution panel so once the wiring is located, installing the fans is extremely easy. ;D

We have the 2 cabin version so in our model the pre-wiring exists for the port and starboard sides of the forward cabin, port and starboard sides of the saloon and also the aft cabin.

The photo below is the forward port side cloths locker with the rear panels removed. They are very easy to remove with two screws at the bottom of the lower panel and 4 screws for the upper panel. When the backing panels are removed it is all revealed. You can see the cable with the connectors ready for the fan to be connected to hanging down in front of the water filling tube. There is NO need to remove any of the panels with the lights (as I did) in the forward cabin or saloon.



This shows the port side saloon fan installation.

This shows the forward port side cabin fan installed. The rear panels on the clothes cupboard have not yet been replaced so you can see the fan is one side and the wiring on the other side of the mounting panel.


Last but not least the fuse must be installed to complete the circuit to the pre-wired harness.


This picture shows the fuse holders on the distribution panel. The fuse I installed for the fans is the second lowest fuse on the left hand side of the upper panel. You can see it looks slightly different to the factory installed fuses. I chose a 10amp fuse for this job. The book recommends a 6 amp but I only had a 10. For these circuits a 10 amp fuse will be fine.

The same procedure is adopted for the starboard side and the aft cabin.

Does any one know what fans Jeanneau use when factory installed? Although the fans I installed push plenty of air, they are very noisy so you would need to be very hot to use them. ;D

Happy installing.

Trevor

[MalcolmP]

Hi Trevor

Many thanks for yet another informative and useful project. If you agree I will upload into hints and tips (also just remembered that I overlooked your mast wiring project last month )

Don't know if Jeanneau use Hella as OEM but these fans are the best I know of:

www.hellamarine.com/?t=3&View=FullStory&productID=238&pcid=44

Not cheap but quiet

Do you know what the "Aux" switch on the panel is normally used for? I don't think mine is connected to anything

very best

Malcolm

[Trevor]

Hi Malcolm,

By all means put it on Hints and Tips if appropriate.

Thanks for the lead on the Hella fans. I might see if I can get those and see if I can get the noise level down.

The "Aux" switch on my boat was not used for anything. I actually wired the autopilot through it to start with because I thought it may be good to power down the autopilot if power was running low. I then realized that the autopilot in standby mode draws so little current it hardly matters so I rewired it to the Nav switch.

I have now used the Aux switch to power the TV set and distribution for the TV antenna and it works very nicely.

Kind regards,

Trevor

[Don Reaves]

Practical Sailor reviewed cabin fans most recently in the April 2008 issue. They rated the fans for sound, amount of airflow, current draw, and warranty. The top rated fans were from Hella, Hotwire, Fan-tastic Vent, and Caframo.

The manufacturers' web sites are:

hellamarine.com
svhotwire.com
fantasticvent.com
caframo.com


You can find Practical Sailor online at www.practical-sailor.com/. They sell article reprints for a modest fee.

Don

[Trevor]

Many thanks Don,

That is really good information,

Regards,

Trevor

[Andrew Watt]

On my 36i I have 3 caframo fans with suction base. At about $50 they are excellent value and plug into the cigarette lighter sockets. They have 2 speeds and can be placed just about anywhere in the boat. Originally, they were purchased as a temporary measure, but they are so good I will probably not bother replacing them.

Andrew

[krawall]

Hi,

just finished installing some Hellas on Vega.

One thing to look for when installing fans is to allow plenty of space _behind_ them to draw good amounts of air. When I look at your pictures, they are installed in corners whey they look neater and obstruct less, but they are moving less air and are more noisy than if you allow space behind.

Just my thoughts,

Tom
S/Y Vega

PS: I can take pictures of the places where I chose to install them.

[jamestown]

Trevor, I am about to do the fan install. 2 questions. First, what switch on the panel are the fans wired to? Second, is it a big problem to remove the shelving, etc from the starboard forward locker and aft cabin locker to be able to then remove the back paneling for access to the wiring?

Steve

[jamestown]

Trevor, on my 39i there are actually a couple of interesting items on the fan wiring.
First, there is indeed one connection inside the back of the forward port locker, but the drawing indicates this is for the port saloon. There is a second one, for the port forward cabin, underneath the paneling where the light is. Second, there is only one on the starboard side, and it is behind the small panel ABOVE the starboard locker. There are two Allen large lag bolts underneath the top of the cabinet that need to be taken out to remove this panel. The drawing says this is for the starboard saloon. There is no indication in the drawing or in fact for a second one for starboard forward, although you could easily connect two fans to the one set of wiring. The wiring for the aft cabin is also behind a similar small panel above the aft cabinet. There are three large Allen lag bolts there. No need to take either starboard cabinet apart.

I don't know if the 36i is any different. Thanks so much for these very helpful tips. Don't know why Jeanneau doesn't publicize these little things, since they go to the trouble to install them.

Steve

[Trevor]

Hi Steve,

The back panels in the cupboards was really easy to remove. I don't remember seeing any allen screws but maybe the 39i is different to the 36i.

It's very handy to be able to use the existing infrastructure in the yacht to maximise the potential of whatever you want to install,

Regards,

Trev

[jamestown]

Maybe the 39 is a little different. The wires on the starboard side aren't behind the cupboard itself, but behind a little panel above the cupboard, and there are Allen screws, large ones, fixing that to the top of the cupboard. As stated, on the port side there is an additional set of wires for the forward port side fan under the panel that holds the lighting. That may be different for the 39 also, I don't know. It really is a good setup, just strange that they don't publicize it, as with the really handy ammeter display you discovered on the main panel. I wouldn't know about either of but for your posts!!!!!

Steve

[jeffkoch]

We have a 2004 49i and I've have looked all over for the fan wires. I have taken off the inside panels from both aft cabin clothes lockers but didn't see the fan connectors. Jeanneau claims the boat is wired. Any ideas?

Jeff
sv Avalon

[Tigidal]

I want to dust off this prior thread to see if anyone has installed fans on their 9 series boats, and whether the wiring setup for them is also installed from the factory.  I'd like to install a few on our 379, but am not at the boat to investigate.  

This is a link to the post in the Hint and Tips section, with the archived pics..  www.jeanneau-owners.com/hintsandtips/cabinfans.html

Thanks.

[scarlet]

Hi Guys, 

I'm on a 2007 42DS.  I couldn't find the fan connections and decided to use the cabin lights circuit.  The lights have all had an LED conversion and the fans I'm using only take around 0.2 to 0.5 amps.

The fans I have are Caframo Sirocco units.  Very quiet 3 speed multi position with timers.  Not cheap but very good.  However they have a problem which surfaces after about 2-3 years use.  There's a mechanical rotary joint in one of the gimballs which gets dirty and gives intermittent use.  Needs a tap every so often.  This was pointed out by hazo in 2012.

Finally pulled it apart and bypassed the joint with a wired connection which is OK provided one limits the rotation to say +- 90deg.  It's a bit of a fiddly job with some fine soldering and a bit of extra wire from near the circuit board but worth it.  They are the best fans I've found for quietness.

Cheers,  Kel on Scarlet Lady in Turkey.