Caframo Fans

Now don't get me wrong here, I like the fans. They move enough air and don't require a a lot of amps to keep them going. Yet to sell any product as marine and not use tinned wire is IMHO a mistake. Then too, for a year or so the plastic blades they used just blew up. If I would get my fingers in the turning blade, the blade would self destruct. Finally Caframo must have fixed the problem because since 2010 the blades we've gotten have been fine. The other issue I have, and of course some would say I'm getting picky, is that there is no way to open them up and clean or repair them. They are 90% disposable. The blade can be replaced. The base can be replaced as well as the spring that keeps the unit from going round and round in circles. But nothing else is replace or repairable.

Now we also have a 20 year old Caframo Fan. It is an ac unit and the blade never gave me any issue. Only in the last year when the unit fell over and the motor kept turning did it melt the blade where the shaft fits in to the center. I tried one of the newer 12 volt blades that I have as a spare and unfortunately it is not the same diameter and didn't fit the ac unit.

After 4 years of cruising one of our 3 Caframo fans was making more noise than we wanted to hear. I tried to place a toothpick in between the base and the fan to quiet the rattle but that worked only for so long., Seems that the fan shaft was loose. So I replaced it with a newer one and tried to take the fan apart. I did get it opened up. But I destroyed the body in the process. Seems that the body is not a snap together body but a glued together body. The motor of course isn't repairable at all but I could have vacuumed out the carbon and dust and added a drop of good oil. Obviously that isn't what Caframo wants. I did however manage to kept the switch ( I like the micro switch) and the rest of the unit ends up either in a land fill or being scavenged in Panama and taken to a recycler.

I like the looks, I like the open soft blades, I like the color. I don't like the wiring, I don't like that I can't open them up for cleaning and maintenance, I didn't like that the blades fell apart (past tense) , and I don't like the small rattle they have on their base. So I give the Caframo 12v fans a B and I'll most likely buy another one or two. Caframo Fans - Grade B

Grade B...

All images © 1990-2021 David Kall