Marinco solar vents-Junk?

[dan t.]

About 5 years ago I bought a marinco day/night 4 inch solar vent. the first one had a defective light switch and the fan hit the housing, I sent it back . The second one had a dead battery but after sitting in the sun for a while it seemed to work just fine.
Jump ahead 3 years (covid and a hip replacement) I finaly got it installed, it worked for a month, bad battery. I replaced the battery, it worked till september 2023 when I parked the boat for the winter.
May 2024 launched the boat ,the fan would only work for 10 minutes at a time, checked battery voltage and solar panle output, around 6 volts .
I tried turning the fan by hand, stuck a pencil up inside to turn the fan, very stiff, obviosly the bushings are seasing up.
I checked the Marinco websight, the motor is nor serviced, what a POS.
Looking on the internet the reivews are not good.
Does anyone else make a good quality solar vent?

 

[Grub54891]

Quality is not what it used to be. I've taken other fans apart, oiled the bushings with gun oil or sewing machine oil, it does not varnish up over time. 3-1 oil will. Sometimes you have to drill a small hole in the back bushing housing to get the oil in, seal the hole with a dab of silicone. People throw away fans because they get slow and junk, I salvage them.

 

[cyclops222]

Your unit worked for years. Bet a new unit does not.

 

[dan t.]

Your unit worked for years. Bet a new unit does not.

It worked for about 5 months =Junk

 

[briangcc]

Fan itself is probably replaceable. If you're able to get into the unit, the fan probably has a part number, voltage, and rpm on a sticker. Amazon/Google/Ebay for replacements.

To replace it may be as simple as unplugging the old and connecting the new or it may require some soldering skills.

Depends on how much time/effort you want to put into it.

**Had to do the same with a Lionel power supply. Didn't hear the fan running and the case has triangle head screws - screw driver set was available on Amazon.

 

[dan t.]

Yes think the next step is take it apart and see if I can find a replacement motor, if not try to lube the bushings.
I have tried lubing bushings on small motors before with limited success.
Just very disapointed with this thing considering what I paid for it, too bad I didnt get it installed before the warranty ran out.
Thanks for the feed back.

 

[cyclops222]

Buying new and installing later. My life also.