Air Vents

[Love MACs]

Has anyone ever used these? They are advertised on Macgregorowners.com for $10 less than West Marine. And they say that they provide more airflow than solar??? Just wondered what others think before/if I purchase.






Allan

[The Mutt]

Almost any 12 volt vent could claim more airflow than solar, solar won't work during the night, I don't have this style of vent, I'm currently building/installing a bilge vent, if I need more airflow then I'll look into this style of vent.

Glenn

[NiceAft]

Allan,

Solar vents with battery back up overcome the problem of working at night. They are expensive though.

The vent you posted looks like it may be a wind powered vent (Correct me if I'm wrong, and then skip the rest of this post ).
A wind powered vent will not move enough air to satisfy you, and on a windless day at a slip, or at anchor, will not move any air at all.

There must be a place on-line that sells vents at a lower price than WM.


Ray

[kmclemore]

Yes, this is a wind-driven vent, and indeed windless days are the days when you need the ventilation the most, so I don't think I'd install this one. I went for a solar vent on mine and the rechargeable battery works well on it... usually keeps it going well into the night and often into the next morning. And it has a plug to close the vent entirely if you need to keep the heat in. I'm happy with it.

[Love MACs]

Where and what kind did you get km? Thanks guys for the input and I think I will just pass on the "air" vents. Maybe I will look on ebay for something?

Allan

[NiceAft]

I don't have a vent, but I have been thinking about it for the last four years. I just don't have the need. If I was to purchase one, it would be a 4", stainless steel, solar powered unit with a battery. Nicro looks like it make a nice one in its "Day/Night Plus Solar Vent". Due your due diligence and make certain you really know what you're getting.

I know over the years this discussion has been had more than once. Yet I can not find any of them while doing a "search". Maybe someone else can post with better information?

Ray

[Hamin' X]

Try this:

Advanced Search Terms "Nicro Vent"

~Rich

[kmclemore]

I bought a white Nicro vent, Allan. This one:



... and placed it on the deck just to the left and slightly forward of the mast.

This model is no longer made by Nicro, but they have a new line of them that look like this:

[kmclemore]

Here's a pic of mine installed... I'd take a better pic for you, but my boat is buried under a tarp and snow!

[Love MACs]

Thanks, but for $149.00 Little out of my price range just now as am buying necessities and even I can't justify that expense for now. That money could buy a lot of batteries for our two fans in the cabin. I was thinking about it for just air circulation when the boat was slipped and use the fan and our windsock that the PO left for us to use during the day. But Thanks for all the info and the pics km. I really appreciate the help


Allan

[NiceAft]

Kevin, Rich, or any other moderator,

I apparently searched under "search', not "advanced search". It is time to explain the difference between the two:!:

Ray

[kmclemore]

Not sure there *was* a difference, Ray... I thought they'd both pull similar results. Advanced gives you additional options, of course, like searching for words with a particular poster, but it should pull similar results.

And Allan, I got mine on eBay for cheap... I didn't pay list... you might check there once in a while to see if somebody is unloading one from an abandoned project.

[Hamin' X]

When I use Advanced Search, I usually limit the result to topics. The regular search window will default to posts, so you can end up with hundreds of entries. Also, with Advanced you can specify a member's post that you wish to search, as well as other options.

~Rich

[curtiss]

You might want to check out this site. The solar vent with battery is quite a bit cheaper than the what you are looking at. I bought one but haven't installed it yet. It looks good out of the box and works when I take it out in the sun and the battery keeps it going when I tried it out of the sun. I figured it was worth a try. http://www.northstaranchors.com/

Curtiss

[bradhill]

I bought and installed a Nicro Stainless Steel solar day/night vent five years ago for my 1996 . The previous owner had done zero modifications so the entire boat was a project.

I opted for the higher air movement from the four inch (4") model and installed through the forward hatch. I felt that I could probably find a new hatch if I made a big error easier than patching the deck.

Installation was simple; just cut a 4 3/4 inch (4 3/4") hole with a really big hole-saw bit from the rental store. Slide in the sleeve over the rough fiberglass hole. The vent goes into the sleeve.

The Nicro solar vent has a size C rechargeable battery that runs the unit 24 hours per pay. In fact, I leave it running during the winter break to keep moisture under control on my . Same, orignial battery is still working strong. One thing that I found to be interesting is that the unit does not have any method to lock it to the mounting. As it is on my hatch, it could be removed and the hatch unlocked from outside (reaching in).

I also found that If i accidently step on the unit, it has not broken the way a plastic one might.