Intermittently operating Head Fan?


Kimo

Kimo

Member
RESOLVED - See below
Hello
The Head fan / Smell sucker in the head of our 31pc only operates intermittently. Sometimes I can't get it to come on at all. Today it came on when I operated the rocker switch (the one next to the head LIGHT rocker in our boat) and then it stopped after a few seconds. Flipped it again and it came on, then went off. I see from the wiring diagram that the dash panel breaker for the head fan is labeled BLOWER, while the bilge blower is labeled just that - BILGE BLOWER. The BLOWER breaker is obviously set, since it gets power and I'm not resetting it, but I'll cycle it a few times when I'm next at the boat to clear any ghosts in the machine.
In the meantime, the diagram includes something called a Level Sensing Pigtail # 7425 that seems to be connected in series.
Anybody have any idea what THAT is? Any other ideas as to why the fan may operate intermittently?
Thanks
Kimo
2000 31pc
 
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eric_b said:
Sounds like a bad switch.
Click to expand...

Yes, maybe.
Let me do some more troubleshooting, and then some hunting.
I do recall a thread not long ago describing the Decora-style switches as still readily available at either the blue or the orange big box store.
Thanks.
 
I think it's fairly easy to eliminate the switch as a problem simply unscrew it and connect the wires directly to each other

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toofast said:
I think it's fairly easy to eliminate the switch as a problem simply unscrew it and connect the wires directly to each other

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yep. Just need to get down there to do a little more troubleshooting. Thanks.

Any idea what this "Level Sensing Pigtail # 7425" that appears in the diagram might be?
 
Good Morning!

I had the same problem on my 36 PC and just got out there yesterday to take a look at it. In my case, it appears that the fan motor was serviced at one point and the negative wire was loose. I re-did the wires on it and it works great again. The motors themselves are very inexpensive as well. The location for mine is just before the waste tank on the starboard side (rear)... Right by the accumulator tank. As far as the level sensing pigtail, I am not sure what that might be. Would love to know tho!

Thanks,
Wade
 
Thanks Wade
At least temporarily, cycling the breaker several times seems to have resolved the issue.
Rarely do these easy fixes “stick” for me, so I will likely need to go down the same road as you.
Thanks for the guidance.
 
My pleasure, Kimo! I had some time to work on mine yesterday since I can't get my engines started. LOL Good luck on everything!
 
Kimo said:
Thanks Wade
At least temporarily, cycling the breaker several times seems to have resolved the issue.
Rarely do these easy fixes ?€œstick?€? for me, so I will likely need to go down the same road as you.
Thanks for the guidance.
Click to expand...


"Temporarily" turned out to be transiently, which turned out to be not at all. So I'm resurrecting this.
Can't even seem to find the head FAN motor itself on the 2000 31PC.
I see a vent tucked up aft of the toilet behind the bulkhead, but that is nearly inaccessible.
Is the fan motor down in the engine room? Obviously I can't just turn it on and follow the sound now.
Thanks!
 
RESOLVED
Thinking it was likely the Legrand duplex rocker switch, I removed the face plate with a plastic spatula - bracing for the inevitable Crack! but it came off with just a little finessing.
I immediately observed that the switch was quite tight to the bulkhead as Formula had left very little slack for the loom containing the four wires to the switch.
I pulled up on them slowly but firmly and got a little more slack, maybe an inch, and when I accidentally threw the fan switch with a stray knuckle and darn if it didn’t come right on.
I wiggled things around to see if the previous short would come back - and it didn’t. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I put things back together and will chalk it up as RESOLVED (at least for now).
I suspect that a butt connector had crimped slightly or that the loom needed some strain relief, and it got just enough from my limited access ‘fiddling’.
I will say that if the break is down further behind the bulkhead then the fix is going to be challenging as the head-side direct access is only the size of the bulkhead cutout for the switch. I suspect you’d need to come in from the galley side of the bulkhead which, in this 2000 31pc, would entail removal of a 3’x2’ mirror. That would likely be ‘best case’.
Fingers crossed that my fix will last another 20 years.
 
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