Guest 900 Oscillating Cabin Fan

[jviss]

I have two of these on my boat.

One runs perfectly and almost silently. The other is noisy, and the oscillating mechanism is not working, and makes grinding noises at some angles.

I looked into repairing it or replacing it. I can't find an exploded view or parts breakdown. It seems Guest was acquired by Marinco, and this fan is not on the Marinco site, 'though there appear to be some available in distribution.

Before I pull the trigger on buying a replacement, I was wondering:

1. has anyone ever fixed one of these?
2. is there a more efficient option available, for the same air movement, with oscillation?

Thanks very much,

jv

 

[dlochner]

I have one, it is noisy. Look at the top of the fan for the oscillation control.

 

[jviss]

Yes, I know where the oscillation control is; when I activate it on the one in the main saloon it not only doesn't work, I get a grinding noise. And also, the fan motor is kinda noisy. The same fan in the aft cabin is beautifully silent, even when oscillating, save, the expected "whoosh" of air.

I toyed with fixing the main one, but life is short, and the summer is shorter.

 

[kloudie1]

I really like my Caframo Sirocco.. Does not oscillate, but is very quiet and draws about half the amount of current that the Guest does.. I was suspicious about the low current draw listed so I measured mine and it is indeed what they claim. The mount allows the fan to be easily pointed where ya want it; the built in timer works great.. They are a little pricy but West Marine has 'em on sale right now
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/cafr...u_gT05VpWnaZvhvjR_o7BR_511gtWewBoCjkAQAvD_BwE

 

[jviss]

Thanks Claude. Yea, I see the Guest 900 draws 1.2A, about four times what yours does! But while yours pushes 240CFM, I can't find a flow spec for the 900.

We know it moves plenty of air, and like the oscillation. But I'd like to save power, too. There's also the issue of the different mounting footprint. But worth a look.

 

[jviss]

Interestingly, the Sirocco II is the same price, but moves only 140CFM on high at .34A (slightly more than the original Sirocco).

Did it really require 6 screw holes to mount?

 

[capta]

I've been through just about every fan on the market, including the Guest, big rig cab oscillating fans, RV fans, other Caframo fans and even built my own out of computer cooling fans, seeking the most air movement with the least noise and power consumption. So far the Sirocco is the best I've found.
An oscillating fan will always be the noisiest because of the oscillation mechanism. I don't know how you got so lucky with your 1 Guest. Up until a month or so ago I had a half dozen oscillating fans under the bunk as spares, but we finally threw them away.
We have had really great service out of O2Cool 10"12-volt fans. They are big and move a lot of air quietly with low consumption, but are a pain to install and require quite a bit of dismantling to clean them. I have not found any oscillating fans that I could suggest, sorry.

 

[kloudie1]

I think it was 4 screw mounting.. a plate mounts to the surface then the fan locks onto the plate; might be a coupla screws that hold the fan body to the plate..
I think these little oscillating fans have the same motors and mechanisms and could be used for repair..? You could probably retrofit the Guest fan blades and guard. I used these for several years before I got tired of the noise. Some searching n auto parts stores might turn up a better/closer fit..
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Zone-Tec...hment-to-either-the-Console-or-Dash/188629593