Nicro Solar vent replacement.

[pjcomeau]

I bought a new Nicro Day & Night Plus Solar Vent (N20604S) for the aft cabin thinking I would just pop out the old one and push in the new one. Oops, not exactly.

The Day/Night plus actually is not one that makes use of the deck plate style. This one you remove old trim, enlarge hole to 4 3/4", screw new mounting plate (after removing it from fan assembly), then screwing fan assembly back on. There is also an optional trim ring you can screw on.

Only realizing this once I got the new fan, I did more research, since I thought I had read I could just push old one out and push new one in, I found out there is another solar fan (also with battery), but designed to go in deck plate and also double the price (sale price). It's known as day/night low profile or day and night 2000 (N20504BRS). The instructions show a deck plate that requires a 4 3/4" hole (which is larger, then existing hole), but I'm not sure if you keep existing deck plate you can push new vent in.

Has anyone tried the new "deck plate" model and just used the new fan? What about the new day / night plus (pushes more air) model (it's more fragile then other model, carefull stepping on it I guess)?

Thanks,

Pierre

[Meerkata]

A question,... how well do these sollar fans work? Is air in the cabin really kept (noticably) fresh? In short, are you totally satisfied that air exchange is worthy, given a 4" hole in the deck?
Have you any pictures of your current installation? Where on the deck is it best located?
Meerkata 1649
Jim Cowan

[Allan.SVCarina]

I mounted mine on the the hatches, this way I did not have to put the hole(s) in the deck.  They seem to work well as I do not notice any foul smells below even when I have been away from her for extended periods of time (One is set to intake, the other exhaust).

[DougP]

I replaced my old dorades with the Nicro Solar vents. One pushes and one pulls the air. It's made a diference in the freshness of the boat, and also helps with condensation.

[pjcomeau]

I installed the new vent today. I have a 1988 model and the setup was a solar vent over the aft cabin (right next to rope clutches). The other side (over the head), there is a small square Bomar/Nibo hatch.

The old vent did not have a trim piece inside, so I decided to keep the original hole (smooth clean finish) and just the old vent, cleaned the old caulking and install new vent. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Nicro suggests an active vent (e.g. solar vent) and an opening (e.g. dorade/cowl vent). My old vent was not working, so I don't know yet if this one solar vent will help/be enough.

[WTunnessen]

Pierre

I also have an '88 with the existing hole and older Nirco Solar vent that needs to be replaced.

From your description, it sounds like you installed the vent with out the white trim plate, since the newer 4" Day/Night 2000 vent requires a 4 3/8 " whole for trim plate but the existing whole is 4 1/2.

So in other words, you just mounted the black part directly to the deck.

How has this been working out?    I called Nirco tech service and they recommened the same approach if you use the new design vent - N20604S.

By the way, the old model vent with the 4 1/2 whole are still available on some web sites.  Model # is N20504S. 

Meerkata - I had a 3" Solar vent on my previous boat - a Tartan 27  - that  mounted on a foward hatch and it made a HUGE difference.

[pjcomeau]

I forgot to take a picture!

That's right!

I removed the old plate and the holes of the new base (black part) matched up (only has 3 holes instead of six, but they matched up perfectly). A good cleanup, fill the three holes you don't need. Caulk as per instructions (I used Life Caulk).

On my boat the white trim was quite redundant, the original hole did not have a trim piece and had a nice smooth finish. The new fan does stick out in the cabin significantly more then before (I did not measure by how much), so you do loose some headroom right under the fan. It's off to the side enough that it hasn't been a problem for me.

I turned on to see if it worked, then turned back off for a day to make sure it got a good charge. It's been working since.

[sharkey]

Reviewing the old information on Nicro vents.

I'm replacing my old Dorades ('91) and want to use nicro solar - I have 8 inch max
diameter to mount them on (where the Dorades are currently mounted) - what size/ solar vents should I use?
Nicro has the dimentions of the mini (7 inches) but can't find the diameter of the standard solar vents on line.

Also - any issues with the nicro day/night?

Thanks!

[Susan Ray]

Doug...Do you know which Nicro Solar vents you used to replace the dorads? and could I see a picture of them on your boat please? Mahalo.

[sunnybp]

 Does this kind of solar vent has built in battery? Any one can post a picture of the vent fan?
I also want to buy a vent fan, I find one type in sunnybp, but I think your type is better than I had found.