Wood stove fan on wallas

SeaSpray · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:03 am Post subject:

Is the wallas supposed to be totaly quite while cooking? Mine has never been. I thought the fan was supposed to run all the time. If it is supposed to stop when you lift the lid can someone tell me where to check to find the problem?

Thanks,
Steve

Alyssa Jean · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:51 am Post subject:

The built-in fan should turn off when you lift the lid. There is a switch that is triggered at the rear of the lid. Can't remember exactly where it is, but I do remember tweaking the little tab that presses on the switch a little once as I had the same problem intermittantly.

MOOSE · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:29 pm Post subject:

We have the two-blade model. At first you'll swear it isn't moving any air at all, but when you put your face near it you can feel the breeze. We left the solar vent fan on all night too and with the combination of heat and ventilation the cabin was nice and dry in the morning. Having said all of this, the overnight low was only 52F. It'll be interesting to see what happens as temperatures approach freezing later in the month. But I'm sold on the Ecofan - warmth with silence while you sleep!
Al

Sea Wolf · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:49 pm Post subject:

Al- (Moose)

How's that hinged fan you mounted in the companionway to the v-berth working out? It's the easiest way to push air into the v-berth that I know of. Is the volume of air too much, too little, or about right? Did you try to add a two speed or infinitely variable switch? Just curious! Joe.[/list]

MOOSE · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:13 pm Post subject:

The hinge-mounted fan above the v-berth entry is noiser than hell, Joe, it sounds like a B-52. Consequently, it hasn't seen much use. I haven't quite decided if adding a variable speed control is worth it or not. There are times though when a little bit of air movement up there would be worth a lot, like on hot, muggy nights.

I can't say that the little Ecofan actually blew any air all the way from the Wallas to the V-berth, it just isn't that powerful. But I do think that it kept the air circulating in the cabin and that over the course of a long night it couldn't help but diffuse some warmer air into the berth.
Al

CAVU · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:48 pm Post subject:

Steve,
Mine does the same thing. I believe the switch is at the lower left hinge, because if I nudge the lid slightly down on the left side, the fan shuts off.

DodgeRam · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:48 pm Post subject:

Yes Steve the wallas is suppose to be quite when lid is up . Mine work find first couple of time I tried it. Then it start to have the fan on when the lid was up. If you look on the left hand side when lid is up , you will notice a wire that goes in the center of the hinge, mine has a white heat resistant shield on it . If you gently move it left or right (I don't remember) it will stop I believe that is where the switch is . On my next trip to the dealer I will have them to check this problem so it work when properly. Gary

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:52 pm Post subject:

Our lid needs a jiggle sometimes to shut the fan off but we had a chance to test the all night use this last weekend. We don't have the eco fan so we used a little 12v O2 cool fan on low blowing across the burners and it worked great the first night but the second night we woke up about 3am to the smell of smoke and found smoke coming out of the wallas exhaust. (a bit was wafting back in an open window) I shut the wallas down and restarted it to find it was giving a low voltage warning and shut it down again. We were at about 12.3 volts so I guess that is about the point which the wallas gets unhappy and was likely starting to run poorly and smoking badly. After getting the motors started and on the run later that morning, we turned the dial to 6 and started it back up and it ran just fine with no smoke for the rest of the trip. Has anyone else had the smoke arrive at low voltage and we were running it at "0" on the dial or where 0 would be. Are others running them overnight at a higher setting using the eco or other fan? We run kleenheat always.

Greg

starcrafttom · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:42 pm Post subject:

I would not think that the low battery is the couse of the smoke. It will keep it for re-lighting but should not shut off. I dont think the stove likes to run on low and I would run it no lower then half. Your stove most likely sooted up from a low flame or not enought income air. that is what caused soot more then anything else in any gas stove. lack or air and to much gas will result in soot.

When we used a wallas to heat at night i ran the unit on half power and never had it shut off. are problem was gettin the thing to start. hope this helps

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:10 pm Post subject:

Thats the behavior I would expect Tom, with only startup really being affected by a low voltage condition. It probably needed to be run above the "0" setting to keep it running well for long periods although we didn't have that trouble the first night. It ran for 11 hours on that setting the first night then was run at higher settings the next day followed by the extreme low setting again the next night for about 7 hours before smoky showed up. I could try it at 2 next time and see what result we get.

I do have a safety tip to share. Like many of you I'm sure, we have numerous 12v powered accessory items on-board and most of them have chargers that plug into 12v sockets. Well, many look the same and I used the wrong one over the weekend.

I grabbed one of the four chargers to plug in the 12v fan and the little light came on (charging) and all seemed well. About 5 minutes later, we smelled smoke and it smelled like burning rubber or plastic. The wallas was running so we checked over/under/around that unit for sources and nothing was burning. I had to follow my nose around the boat to the 12v fan and the little waft of smoke exiting the rear of the fan (not running). There was a melting black spot just above the rechargable battery chamber and that spot was blackening before my eyes. Short story is.. I used a 12v charger for a led light instead of the 12 to 7volt charger for the fan but they both look basically the same with a lighter plug and cord. So be carefull and maybe put some labels on like chargers or you may end up with an extinguisher in your hands.

Fan still works but I will likely replace it just because of the overheated circuit and likely weakness it has caused.

breausaw · Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:49 pm Post subject:

We have been using the two blade Ecofan for 3 years now, quite satisfied with its performance. Granted it doesn’t push a lot of air but helps out with circulation. If left on the hot burner for too long even on low settins you’ll have to move it because it starts jumping around, it has a spring on the bottom that lifts it up when the heat it too high.
On really cold nights we leave the Wallas lid down, my son loves the worm air when sleeping on the cabin birth, and the noise tolerable up in the v-birth.
After spraying 3 layers of Delta-T up in the V-birth we may be leaving the Wallas off on marginally cold nights, the condensation problem is almost nonexistent now.