Posted 2011-04-06 11:32 AM (#132676) Subject: Adding fans to horse area
Member
Posts: 26
I just bought a 2009 Kingston BP with dressing room (yay! ) and was thinking of putting in a fan for the beastly summer days. I'd like to set it up so it doesn't require running the truck to power the fan, so how exactly would I do that? Most of the fans I've found online only have a cord that you plug into the cigarette lighter outlet and no way of hooking up to an external battery or other power source...
Posted 2011-04-06 12:01 PM (#132677 - in reply to #132676) Subject: RE: Adding fans to horse area
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342 Location: Ohio
I have thought about this as well. Although, I'm not really sure that a fan would do more to help cool than leaving all of the windows open, except when you're sitting in traffic. My experience with fans is that they draw a lot of power and can drain a battery very quickly.
Like you said, most fans that you find are plugged into a 12v cigarette lighter plug. This is do-able, in fact, may be better in case one burns up you can easily/quickly replace it. You can find the add on cigarette lighter plugs at walmart that mount to a surface and have 2 leads (pos and neg) coming off the back. It would be pretty easy to wire these to a battery or battery bank to run them. You could always add a toggle switch in there to turn them on/off.
I had seriously considered getting a couple solar battery chargers (about $60-75 a piece) and mounting them on the roof to keep the fan battery charged.
At the bottom of this link, you will find the horse trailer fans that just have wire leads on them. This may be a better option than the ones using a plug.
Posted 2011-04-06 2:21 PM (#132680 - in reply to #132676) Subject: RE: Adding fans to horse area
Member
Posts: 26
Thanks! I'm in the DC area, which is notorious for traffic jams occurring at the most inopportune time of the day, even on weekends. This particular trailer also doesn't come with roof vents, but it does have a window in the bulkhead wall and one directly across in the dressing room, so the airflow is pretty good... when we're moving. At a standstill on I-495, not so much. :)
Posted 2011-04-06 4:26 PM (#132683 - in reply to #132676) Subject: RE: Adding fans to horse area
Member
Posts: 32 Location: Paige, Tx
I have fans in my trailer. They are 12 volt, working off the truck battery, I don't have a LQ trailer, it is a weekender and works off of 110 only. I turn them on all the time and have never had a problem. I haven't left them on over night with the truck not running but they are fine to go to lunch for an hr or something like that. OR so far never run the battery down. Most of my friends saw this and had them added to their trailers. Nancy
Posted 2011-04-06 10:53 PM (#132700 - in reply to #132676) Subject: RE: Adding fans to horse area
Elite Veteran
Posts: 714 Location: Minnesota
Check in a truck stop, or better yet a school bus company. The fans you want are used in school buses as defroster fans. Most operate on two speed switches.
They did a better job of making noise than moving air. If you wern't directly in front of it you couldn't feel any air flow.... Drops without screens on both sides are hard to beat. At least the hot air can natrually rise and flow out, forming it's own draft. Those fans are circulating hot air. I now have 20" AC powered box fans installed all I got to do is fire up the generator that lives in the back of the truck.
Adding fans to horse area
) and was thinking of putting in a fan for the beastly summer days. I'd like to set it up so it doesn't require running the truck to power the fan, so how exactly would I do that? Most of the fans I've found online only have a cord that you plug into the cigarette lighter outlet and no way of hooking up to an external battery or other power source... 
