Dorade

[Lance Jones]

This may sound like a stupid question; but, I'm known for that....

I guess the sudden flurry of questions is driven by spending all my time on the boat now.

Question: How do you open and close the dorade vent?

[Braxton]

Thank you for asking this as its been bugging me as well.

I anxiously await an answer....

[Craig Illman]

reach your hand up from inside the cabin, gently pull down and twist to lock. At least, that's the method with Nicro dorades. I don't know about the Vetus dorades.

Craig

[Lance Jones]

As usual, simple and sensible.

[Ron Hill]

Guys, Susan and D. Gill : The Vetus Dorades (C34s 1986/87/88) are a little different than the Nicro vents.

As I recall, there is a brass nut above the knureled opening/closing knob, that locks it in place.  The reason I say "as I recall" is because I got tired of doing that gyration, just to open/close it.  
I screwed in a 4" Beckson plate over of the Vetus bottom plate and jammed the Vetus innards in the OPEN position.  If I want it closed I screw in the Beckson plate.

Wrote that up in the Mainsheet many years ago.  Good stuff in those old Tech Notes!!  A thought

[Tom Soko]

Lance,
The knurled knob under each dorade should be turned counter-clockwise (as viewed from below) to close the mushroom vent.  If the shaft is corroded, you might find that the knob unscrews before the vent will close.  What you will then have to do is to take the scoop off above decks, and manually close the vent.  Once it is closed, you can put a bit of waterproof grease on the shaft, and work it back and forth.  Once the shaft works easily, you can re-install the scoop, tighten the knob on the end of the shaft, and you are good to go.  Hope this helps.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : One of the least looked at items on a C34 is the screen that's in those dorade vents.  Take out (unscrew) the knureled knob and then you can remove the stainless screen.  You'll be surprised at the amount of matted junk that's inhibiting the flow of air!!  A thought

[Lance Jones]

Great ideas and suggestions. Hey, as we get promoted through the ranks on this forum, when does the paycheck start arriving?

[Jim Hardesty]

Excuse me, this is a bit off the topic.  I have a 2001 MKll.  Somewhere in the model changes the dorades were done away with.  My question is would it be worth it to add a dorade and where would be the best place to put one, or two?
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Jim : The dorades stopped with the MKIIs.  You could install them in the same place as the MKIs. 
A friend had a couple of large deck voids and solved that problem by installing a "head size" hatch on either side (over the galley & Nav table).  That's another thought.

[David Urscheler]

I replaced mine with 3" Nicro Solar vents after the second one went overboard. I have one on intake, the other on exhaust. The air in the cabin is noticebly fresher.