Solar Ventilation Fan

[Dannyboy]

Do any of you fine folks know who manufactured the solar vent in the cabin top of the '86? When I bought the boat, the top cover was missing. As far as I can tell, it's not a NICRO (or at least a current model...),and I'm looking for replacement parts.
Thanks for any info!

[thomeng55]

Hi Danny

I am not sure if I can help but I am in the process of replacing solar vents in my 23. Here's my thoughts.

I have a Nicro 4" vent.  They cost 169 to replace.  I am determining if I can use a Sunforce at 1/2 the cost. How does this help you?  Well.....

The Nicro has a 4 3/4 inch cut out and the SunForce has a 4 1/2 cutup.

Maybe those 2 cutout dimensions will help you determine if it was one of the 2 most popular vents out there. Just measure the opening. It will also let you know if you u can at least use on the the 2 with no additional cutting on the deck... (I hate drilling and cutting my boat... every time I do it pangs me)

Good luck.

[NateD]

I just bought a Sunforce (813000) off Amazon and I can't believe how big it is. The thing is like a dinner plate. Previous owners had installed NICRO vents on my last two boats, but they must have been the mini versions because I was really surprised by the size of the Sunforce, not sure I can find a place to install it on a CP16 without looking weird.

[relamb]

My CP27 doesn't have any vents except the Dorade vents.  I was considering adding one to the head, and have settled on a Vetus mushroom vent PORTOS1.    Vetus makes some other vents with fans, but their fan won't fit this one due to the knob. Their UFO vents will take a fan.
However....I ventilated the boat just fine Nov-June in FL by making a cardboard template to fit inside the porthole, and duct-taping a 12v computer case fan to it.  I ran it 24/7 for months with no problem except the rain eventually disintegrated my temporary cardboard.  Little water got in, because the fan was always blowing out.   I only took it out when I was sailing in heavier weather, and closed the portlight. I will now make a new insert from plastic or plywood sheet.  I stole the fan power by tapping into the lighting fixture in the head.  The future plan is to make an adapter from PVC pipe or something to allow the fan to blow out the vetus vent.  A stainless vent is only $55.  I bought a 4-pak of computer fans from Amazon for $20.  As for solar power, I plan to just add a solar panel big enough to always keep my house batteries charged up despite the fan load.  I want to make sure my bilge pump will run if I'm not around too.

[Bob23]

I have a 4" Nicro on my 23. The first one ran flawlessly for 5 years before it met an untimely end when, in attempting to clean it, I broke one of the tiny wires connecting the solar panel to the motor. Because it performed so well, I bought another. Together with the dorade box mounted cowl vent on the foredeck and an aft facing cowl vent on the small aft deck, the boat gets plenty of ventilation.
Bob23