Solar Vent Installation

[Steve Laume]

Location of the solar vent is determined by what you are trying to accomplish. On Raven we found that the air in the V berth area tended to be rather stale when the boat was closed up. Thus the vent in the forward hatch.

The Lexan drills cleanly and I made a wooden flange for the inside that stiffens up the area around the vent right up to the cross bracing underneath. This makes for a very strong installation. There are not many options to vent this are of a CD-30.

When we are aboard the boat and the hatches are open we don't need the benefit of the solar vent. If it is really hot we rig a wind scoop known as "The Dutch Boy". It moves a tremendous amount of air through the boat! If you are looking for air flow while you are on board i would highly recommend you pick up one of these. You can even angle it forward so that it will exclude rain while still funneling air into the boat.

Our set up with the wind scoop in the forward hatch and the companionway open with the dodger in place makes aq virtual wind tunnel out of the boat, Steve.

[Cathy Monaghan]

".....Location of the solar vent is determined by what you are trying to accomplish. On Raven we found that the air in the V berth area tended to be rather stale when the boat was closed up. Thus the vent in the forward hatch. "

Ditto, to what Steve said about the location.

I installed the solar vent on the port side of the coach roof right next to the mast and even with the dorade box on the opposite side. This location is next to the head and on the way into the forward cabin so it does a good job of providing ventilation up forward as well as for the rest of the cabin. The boat isn't nearly as stuffy when we return to the boat after it's been closed up.

While we're on the subject of stuffy cabins. I found a product called PortVisors. They are similar to the Port Rain Shields that Mike Cyr and Paul Kamins have created for the Spartan ports. So, now you've got a choice between the two products. Whichever ones you choose, they'll allow you to keep your ports cracked open, even when it's raining -- though I wouldn't leave them open if I were locking up the boat for a week. CLICK HERE for more info regarding the PortVisors.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Maine Sail]

1- Venting Location - What do you want to achieve? Is this an exhaust or an intake? Do you already have a dorade that takes air in? If so then using a solar vent in a strategically placed location to "turn" the cabin air and the best location to do so should be a consideration that need to be made.

2- Exterior Location - Attention should always be made to FUTURE deck mods. I have been involved in more solar vent fiasco's than I car to have been. Many of these were because a PO never thought about any future potential rigging or deck mods.

Where would a life raft go? What if you want to eventually lead all halyards and lines aft? Where would the deck organizers go and where would the lines run? Is it possible that you may install a cabin heater in the future that may need a Charlie Noble stack? What is in the deck for wiring? here's an example of why that is important..
[img]http://www.rogerlongboats.com/images/Rats.jpg[/img]

3- Deck or hatch - There are pros and cons to each but having worked for a couple of summers with a marine surveyor I would have to give the nod to hatch mount based on success rates. Of the many boats we surveyed a very high percentage of boats with deck mounted vents experienced core moisture. One area that many over look is the location of the mounting screws for the solar vent. Often times owners had removed some core and potted the 3" or 4" hole but then then mounting screws went directly into balsa because they did not dig it out deep enough.

Pros Deck Mount - Chose your specific location, often better access to sun if mounted over the main salon.

Cons Deck Mount - Permanent hole in deck and headliner that may match a product no longer on the market ten 15 or 20 years from now. (been there), removal and repair/closure of hole can be VERY costly, into the thousands of dollars to match non-skid, gelcoat and headliner. If not properly prepped/installed core damage can result, if it leaks, even when properly potted it may cause damage to the headliner, more likely to get stepped on by crew.

Pros Hatch Mount - Not a permanent installation as the hatch glass can easily and relatively inexpensively be changed out, no chance of either core or headliner damage from leaks, less likely to get stepped on by crew.

Cons Hatch Mount - Less available light, does not help when hatch is open but if open does that really matter?, can't choose location - you get what you get, if mounted in a centerline hatch in main salon solar activity can be reduced by boom, if installed in a hatch either polycarbonate or acrylic, most of commercially available hatches are acrylic even though CD used some polycarb Bomar's, careful attention needs to be paid to drilling machine screw holes into it or crazing can result acrylic slightly worse than polycarb, If you have Bomar series 100's, as many CD's do, the cross bars installed to prevent foreshortening/flexing of the polycarbonate may prevent centering of a vent for aesthetics and may even prevent it on smaller hatches..

[Tom Keevil]

We have pieces of thin acrylic that serve as effective rain shields on open ports. They are just rectangles that we cut so that they arch up and stay stuck in the open port, wedged against the nubs that hold screens in. We install them only when it is raining, so they don't block ventilation otherwise. They take up virtually no storage space, and are really inexpensive. We got the idea from this board, but it was so long ago that we can't remember who to credit with the idea.

[tjr818]

I have purchase an Airhead composting head. It requires constant air movement to keep things "fresh". It comes with a very small muffin fan that draws practically zero from the battery. If I use that I need a place to drill an 1 1/2" hole in the cabin top (or maybe side) of my CD27. I also have a Nicro solar vent that I could use, but it requires a 3 1/2" hole. Where is it safe to cut one of these holes on a CD27? I am afraid of weakening the mast support if I go through the cabin top, or the chain plates, if I go through the hull just below the rail with the 1 1/2" vent. Where would be a good place for one of these holes?

[sfreihofer]

Tom-

I'm interested in what you're talking about, but I'm having a hard time envisioning what you're describing. Can you give more description, or perhaps post a photo of your rain shields?

Thanks!

Stan Freihofer
1981 CD 25 #794
S/V Pearl
Ft. Lauderdale

We have pieces of thin acrylic that serve as effective rain shields on open ports. They are just rectangles that we cut so that they arch up and stay stuck in the open port, wedged against the nubs that hold screens in. We install them only when it is raining, so they don't block ventilation otherwise. They take up virtually no storage space, and are really inexpensive. We got the idea from this board, but it was so long ago that we can't remember who to credit with the idea.

[Tom Keevil]

Stan, they are simply rectangles of acrylic that I cut up. I'm not at the boat now, but I would guess that the acrylic is 1/8" thick, and the rectangles are maybe 6" x 14". This means that they are a few inches longer than the open ports. The thin acrylic is easy to bend. If you bend them into an arch, they will fit into the ports, with the top of the arch facing upwards. If you fit the right and left sides of the plastic so they are on top of the little bronze nibs that stick out half way up the sides of the port, the arched plastic will stay in place, with the top of the arch pressing against the top of the port, and the edges pressing against the nibs. You can then push the plastic outboard enough that water lands on it and runs off, rather than running into the port. It is important to tip the plastic down a bit, so the water doesn't run back into the boat instead.

This is not a permanent setup for a boat on a mooring, so much as something to use when you are aboard and it is raining. A nice feature is that the flat pieces of plastic take up virtually no storage space.

We use these in the Pacific Northwest, where contrary to popular belief, rain is not much of a problem. In the summer it hardly rains at all, and when it does rain, even in the winter, it usually is pretty light (though it may last a long time) - we rarely get the kind of downpours such as you see back East. A Florida thunderstorm may be more of a challenge for this simple setup.

[trapper]

I also have a solar vent that I have had for several years and I cannot get anyone to install it. My CD22 had a solar vent installed in the hatch and it did not overhang. I am pretty sure it was a nicro 4" vent. I am not sure, but I think the hatch is about the same size on the 22 and the 25D.

I guess it is harder than I thought. But, it is still on my list. It really did a good job keeping the mold away on the 22.