Venting console

I have a console that is going to need ventilation based on the water heater under. Sorry, locations are limited.

I need an active or passive vent system that can work witbout allowing salty, damp coastal air back into the console area.

I found some simple plastic labyrinths, but those really don't stop damp air from entering. The biggest demand is to dissipate heat as the console narrows to only like 3" at the top and I expect it'll get really warm there and the helmsman will be right there and get warm as well, so need to shoot the air out the side some.

I can provide more details, but a sidewall vent, perhaps thermostatic control might be best, then I can set it for say 110F? and keep the electronics safer. Lower than that and the thing might run too much.

 

Any exhaust fan will indirectly draw in the same moist salty air you’re trying to avoid.

 

Yes, I know.

Here is the console. It ends in about 3" at the top and a lot of heat is headed here.

 

A well insulated water heater will not emit a lot of heat, unless it’s fossil fueled, in which case the chimney should carry away the excess. Just vent it down lower, or maybe along the left side?
I’d hinge that entire helm panel at the bottom for easy access to the wiring, maybe just tip it out a bit when the w/h runs?

 

The console is accessible thru the shower. You can see the water heater below and the autopilot pump is above.

 

Take some XPS foam, wedge it in above the water heater, separating the bottom compartment from the top one. This will prevent hot air to rise, and you don't need any ventilation. If you find XPS to difficult to shape, take a thick plastic bag and shoot it full of PU foam from a can, it will seal up the space and the bag will prevent the foam from sticking to everything, so you can remove it if you ever need to work on the wiring.

 

heat sources---
Water heater and lines
17000 btu boiler, its exhaust and thru hull
Autopilot pump
The displays themselves and the ap processor unit

Isolation sounds simple, but this is a demountable boat and I need to be able to run the steering lines, transducers, engine data lines, trim/throttle/clutch wires and others out of the console if needed.

Even the boiler exhaust runs thru the console is is not supposed to run through a bulkhead insulated in such a fashion. It runs through a 4" square open hole which will allow ambient boiler heat into the console.

Surely, someone has had to air to air or a/c a console with more electronics or a warm area under it...

 

All you need is a shelf, dividing the upper from the lower compartment, not tons of insulation. All lines, wires, etc. go trough holes in the shelf and then get plugged with a bit of foam. It's not structural and must not be glued in, it just has to fit tightly.
Anyway, you can find the safe operating temperature of the electronics, it's either printed on the label or in the manual, they are usually safe well above 140°F.
If you really want active ventilation then a vent with a computer fan extracting air from the console will do the trick. You just have to make sure that water can not get in, I would have the exhaust in the top cubbyhole just inside the door. If you have a solar vent for te bathroom, I would just plug an exhaust hose into that.

 

I think I will pc fan with thermistor here in blue. They come with a probe and I can set the thing for say 120F and avoid trouble. The thru hull exhaust is above the water heater at the place where all the nema backbone and stuff like ap pump live which is about 10" below the angle change.

I went with a 12vdc rv exhaust fan for the bath. There is no place to duct anything, the beams are transverse and ceiling is 1.5". For now just an air gap. I may need an inch of xps up there when I get to Texas.

 

I would do as others and put a proper divider between the hwh and console spaghetti. You really, truely, deeply do not want little copper wire bits to find their way from the console down to the water heater - ever. Put the blower in the hwh compartment. You want to minimize air exchange near exposed electronic, particularly on a homebuild. You can run a duct from the divider up to a convenient exit on the console to isolate console from air exchanges. Try to avoid routing high-amperage circuits through the console.

 

I have the boiler exhaust routed thru the console mess. There wasn't any other options. It is a tiny house on steroids with system needs...autopilot, inverters, bms, mfds, water heater and boiler and associated hoses.

The 17000 btu boiler exhaust is only a foot or less from the Furuno mfd and that is the heat I want to dissipate as much as the wh. I can baffle that area I suppose, but generally open air is best..

 

Boiler exhaust next to Furuno... things are crowded...boiler exhaust has 20" clearance to opens and this is how it ends up here..

 

So the boiler vent is something 22mm lagged flex vent. Arrange the boiler combustion air to reverse-flow along the exhaust plenum. Use hose clamp standoffs to hold vent off console. Install a partition to isolate boiler vent from the rest of the console and form a plenum. You now need a combustion air inlet near the exhaust. They make single fittings designed to prevent recirculation. That handles the boiler heat problem.

 

Boiler combustion air is on the same side of the console as the planned heat escape. I appreciate all the comments, even if I seem disagreeable.

Plan is to install a cpu style fan and set it for say 125F.

Should add boiler combustion air is a closed system.

Intake air for the fan will come from the cabin inside and the conduits with engine controls.

A more ideal system would be an hrv, but none are small enough.

I can also filter the cpu fan some.