Any alternatives to Spartan port screens?

[Stan W]

Just got a Spartan catalogue and price list. Come to find out replacement port screens for my "new" CD 28 are $20.00 each (that's $160.00 for the eight my boat takes)! I'll bet Spartan can source these cheesy little pieces of plastic for 1/10th that price. Is there an alternative that won't leave me feeling like I've just been had?



smwheatley@capecod.net

[Larry DeMers]

Short answer is not to my knowledge. I have been looking into getting them made from a better plastic at my friends plastic injection molding operation. He said that the mold would kill us..$500k. But we have ideas of trying to use a wood mold, sprayed with PVA, and then a piece of screen layed in place, while Polyester resin is poured on the mold. Would need to work out a flexible formula for the resin, but once done, that darn thing would last until the screen was punctured.
Now it seems that the plastic becomes brittle in 1-2 years, and it delaminates. Certainly a wasted $20 as they are now.

Anyone else had any ideas? We could all use them, so the market would be -well, small, but of good stock! heh

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Just got a Spartan catalogue and price list. Come to find out replacement port screens for my "new" CD 28 are $20.00 each (that's $160.00 for the eight my boat takes)! I'll bet Spartan can source these cheesy little pieces of plastic for 1/10th that price. Is there an alternative that won't leave me feeling like I've just been had?

demers@sgi.com

[Tom]

Just got a Spartan catalogue and price list. Come to find out replacement port screens for my "new" CD 28 are $20.00 each (that's $160.00 for the eight my boat takes)! I'll bet Spartan can source these cheesy little pieces of plastic for 1/10th that price. Is there an alternative that won't leave me feeling like I've just been had?

Still the best solution I've heard is one posted on this BB about a year ago. I can't remember who suggested it, but it's probably in the archives. He used an old screen as a pattern and had rings cut from the thinest lexan to that pattern by the local glass dealer. Then glued or bolted a piece of screen between two of them. Lexan won't crumble to chips in two years like the Spartan ones do.

I wonder if Bristol Bronze couldn't cast us some out of bronze for less than $ 20? Just a thought.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[Stan W]

A closer look at the Spartan catalogue suggests that, unlike the port screens that came with my boat, the ones Spartan sells now are not made of plastic, but are made of bronze. If that is the case (and the catalogue is not a model of clarity on this subject) the price is more reasonable. However, I still would be interested in a cheap plastic screen to replace the ones I have.



smwheatley@capecod.net

[Russ Campbell]

I have made the screens for my ports. I just bought some plastic sheets ( 1/8th inch thick ) and using a template made from the old screen used a router to cut out the plastic and then just glued the pieces together with the screen in the middle. I made them a little big so that they are snug in the port and then you don't need to worry about the small latches. Mine have lasted 5 years and are still going strong. If you want more specifics just write to me and I'll be glad to help.

Another helpful thing I've discovered is to cut a plastic sign into 4" (or so ) strips and use clothes pins to attach these strips to the ports. This keeps the rain from splashing into the port when it is raining heavy thus allowing you to keep the port open without getting dripped on.

Russ

Just got a Spartan catalogue and price list. Come to find out replacement port screens for my "new" CD 28 are $20.00 each (that's $160.00 for the eight my boat takes)! I'll bet Spartan can source these cheesy little pieces of plastic for 1/10th that price. Is there an alternative that won't leave me feeling like I've just been had?

Still the best solution I've heard is one posted on this BB about a year ago. I can't remember who suggested it, but it's probably in the archives. He used an old screen as a pattern and had rings cut from the thinest lexan to that pattern by the local glass dealer. Then glued or bolted a piece of screen between two of them. Lexan won't crumble to chips in two years like the Spartan ones do.

I wonder if Bristol Bronze couldn't cast us some out of bronze for less than $ 20? Just a thought.

russ@claybycampbell.com

[David Brownlee]

I'm pretty sure the replacement screens are bronze *colored* plastic. In our experience these are less resistant to UV than the original white plastic screens. We now keep the screens in a plastic bag in a locker and only snap them into place when needed.

David Brownlee
CD 31 #1 "Windrush"
Havre de Grace, MD




dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Stan,

A couple of the screens on Hanalei were delaminating or cracked. I experimented with different plastic glues and found that the screen frames are actually styrene plastic! Standard old plastic model airplane glue can be used to put them back together. I took them home, laid them out on a glass table protected with newspaper, glued up the places that need it, and weighted the spots with a piece of wood with a lead weight on top. Fixed 'em right up. Hope this helps....


Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei

[Olli Wendelin]

Stan,

I would recommend making your own out of copper wire and brass screen. You bend heavy copper wire to fit the port. Then overlap and solder brass screening to it.

I saw this in Ferenc Mate's book "The Finely Fitted Yacht", which I highly recommend.

Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC



wendelin@spawar.navy.mil

[Larry DeMers]

You are right..the screens that I have gotten from Spartan for the past 10 years have been bronze colored plastic, which seems to loose it's elasticizer in about 1 year. Anyone tried using model airplane cement on the plastic to stick it back together again?
'course, it will just keep on happening, so that is a rather futile effort.
They were charging $18 for the ports 5 years ago according to my log book, so if they switched (truly) to bronze screen rings, it would be probably 3x that price.


I like that idea of using lexan frames glued together. I might give that one a try.

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer

I'm pretty sure the replacement screens are bronze *colored* plastic. In our experience these are less resistant to UV than the original white plastic screens. We now keep the screens in a plastic bag in a locker and only snap them into place when needed.

David Brownlee
CD 31 #1 "Windrush"
Havre de Grace, MD

demers@sgi.com

[Ken Coit]

Wow! The price of injection molds has gone way up in the last 20 years. I suggest you make an inquiry of an offshore vendor. We used to get molds for monitor cases for less than $50K in Taiwan. The screen frame ought to be simple compared to a monitor case.

Ken

Short answer is not to my knowledge. I have been looking into getting them made from a better plastic at my friends plastic injection molding operation. He said that the mold would kill us..$500k. But we have ideas of trying to use a wood mold, sprayed with PVA, and then a piece of screen layed in place, while Polyester resin is poured on the mold. Would need to work out a flexible formula for the resin, but once done, that darn thing would last until the screen was punctured.
Now it seems that the plastic becomes brittle in 1-2 years, and it delaminates. Certainly a wasted $20 as they are now.

Anyone else had any ideas? We could all use them, so the market would be -well, small, but of good stock! heh

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Just got a Spartan catalogue and price list. Come to find out replacement port screens for my "new" CD 28 are $20.00 each (that's $160.00 for the eight my boat takes)! I'll bet Spartan can source these cheesy little pieces of plastic for 1/10th that price. Is there an alternative that won't leave me feeling like I've just been had?

parfait@nc.rr.com