Amtrak Solar 80 Watt 12-Inch Exhaust Fan – Gable Mount, Galvanized Steel, Waterproof – Quiet Solar Ventilator for Attic, Garage, Chicken Coop, Greenhouse, RV – Fan Only

Seems like a low key headline..... however if you have spent any time looking for solar powered fans, you know this is an amazing statement.Instal couldn't be easier. Fan runs. I installed it on a very cloudy day. It ran, but it wasn't impressive. The sun came out for just a second and this fan started humming! Sound was whisper quiet, and the fan was cranking. The thing moves a ton of air. My one complaint is the leed wires. Too short! Overall though, this is a great fanI'm using a big 'ol house panel. So I have too much power. I'm blocking 2/3's of the cells. EDIT: we ended up hooking 2 fans up to each panel with no shading. They work great!EDIT: After install...... 1 fan works great, 1 fan blows the wrong direction, 1 fan doesn't work at all. This project just went from sweet to fail in one afternoon. The one that works, works great. Definitely better than the plastic ones out there. But 1 out of 3 working just aint right. EDIT 2: Went out with electrician to look at fans. Problem was a simple fix. The fan blowing backwards had it's lead wires mixed. The blue wire was actually negative on this fan :0( Easy enough though. These lead wires are only 6" long.. Annoyingly short. The fan that didn't work simply had a bad connection.

Great fan. Very easy to wire up. Have hooked up to a 100w panel. Sounds like it will fly off the wall. One safety issue is that you can touch the blades so I used a disposable grill grate from Safeway and make a little protective barrier so no fingers get lost. I also installed an automotive switch to cut power to the fan. I had installed a gable vent but quickly learned the openings were not enough for the volume of air that the fan was moving, it was actually pushing air back into the shed so I had to rip it out. I didn’t want to spend any more money so I made a new vent with some scrap steel I had lying around. Used a vice to bend it into shape and some snips to cut it to length. Now my shed is at least 10 degrees cooler than before. You may here some rattles and stuff the first couple of days running the fan. Just be patient and they will work themselves out eventually, it’s very thin metal so it needs to settle a bit. I went crazy trying to fix it and gave up. Then a couple days later no rattles at all. It’s a good fan, pretty good quality, time will tell how reliable but for this summer it will definitely be a big help here in Hawaii where humidity is just crazy.

This is a 12vdc automotive cooling fan mounted in a sheet metal enclosure. That isn’t a bad thing, the fan motor is sealed, and is designed (as far as we know) for long duty cycles. I put it in a 20x22 metal building, and it moved the temperature from chain-gang punishment box to tolerably hot. Using a drum fan on the floor, I can work in there now. I’ve only had it over the summer, so I don’t know how long it will last. If it fails, I’ll update the review.Powered it with a 100 watt solar panel, and in full sun it runs like it’s an airplane taking off.

Poor quality, not recommend, may be radiator fan is better but need to see review before knowing.

Not the most powerful I've seen, but it works fine. After installing in my greenhouse, I have learned a few things:1) I used a 50W solar panel and I'm wishing I had gone with 75W instead. The slightest bit of shading on the panel and it doesn't produce enough power to keep the fan running consistently.2) Depending on how you mount the fan, you may have to reverse the polarity of the motor by reversing the wires where black is "hot, and blue "ground."3) The wire connectors from the motor are useless. They are 18 gauge and the feed from the solar panel is 10 gauge. That's like trying to put 10 pounds of crap in a five-pound bag. I just cut them off and used a couple heavy duty wire crimps instead.

I expected a direct replacement. This fan is larger & did not fit without major alterations. Yes, it worked okay once the alterations were completed, but this (the fact that this is a different size fan) should be pointed out in the description.

I use this fan to exhaust air in a metal building to keep it from getting so hot. It does a pretty good job. I originally hooked it up to a 12 volt battery with a 45 watt solar panel. Unfortunately, I misplaced the thermostat they sent me so it would just run all the time until it drained the battery. Since I mainly just need it while the sun is shining I wired it directly to the 45 watt panel. When full sun is on the panel this fan really moves. It is supposed to be rated for up to an 80 watt panel but I'm not sure it wouldn't take off. It has been running every day for several months and I have even ordered a second one for another project.

I recently installed 4 of these in my greenhouse, each individually connected to an 80W solar panel. At low speeds, 3 of the 4 have a constant squeak which I have not been able to rectify by silicone spray lubrication. Awaiting response from Amtrak re solution. Quite noisy and incessant.