Stainless Cowl Vents on Ericsons

[Andy Rogers]

Has anyone used stainless steel cowl vents as replacements for the original rubbery-plastic ones? The vents on our 1984 E38 are looking terrible but I'm wondering if stainless is a bit too much on an Ericson.

Andy

 

[Loren Beach]

SS Vents?

I wonder if going to rigid vents would not also mean adding an SS guard over each vent to prevent lines from catching on 'em?
The nice thing about the "soft" plastic vents is that they can take some walking on or line snagging and usually survive.
Loren

 

[Geoff Johnson]

Last year I got one from Mariner's Hardware (http://www.marinershardware.com/) to replace the oval vent forward of the mast on my 32-3. Looks great, stays shiny and took only about 15 minutes to install (had to enlarge opening in dorade box slightly with a file). Because that vent had a guard already, there is no problem with lines snagging. Another advantage is that the vents come with a screw-in plug in case you want to seal the hole during a storm. Since Mariner's has now come out with SS cast versions of the low profile vents on the fantail, I plan to replace those too.

 

[Sean Engle]

I've got them

My boat came with SS vents - painted white on the inside. I have them put away right now (and the box closed and covered) to prevent water from coming in during our wet-wet winter....

They're nice (and from what I've seen, expensive), and I don't think there's any issue of lines catching - the SS guard is already in place....

Lining the inside of the dorade vent with epoxy is a spring project....

//sse

 

[Geoff Johnson]

The dorade vent on the 35 seems to have a design defect when it comes to moisture. The 32-3 dorade has a polyethelene container/liner which prevents this problem (I hope). As for the cost of the SS vents, I just tell my wife that everything for the boat costs $25. Now she doesn't even ask anymore.

 

[Sean Engle]

$25, eh??

Ummm, more like $25 x 12... each. I figure I'm going to scrap the hell out of the inside of my boxes (they've got a bunch of the PO's silicon goop in them), and then make up the catsup grade expoxy and seal them as best I can....

Is anyone interested in my taking a picture of the vents in place?

//sse

 

[Sean Engle]

Picture

Actually, if you go to the owner's profile, and zoom on that God-awful picture of my boat when she was new (yeeeech!) you can see the SS vents in place. They look kind of big to me - like elephant's ears - so I'm not convinced....

//sse

 

[Geoff Johnson]

But how are you going to tell everyone your boat is really an Alden if you don't have SS vents? BTW, why is everyone so shy about posting profiles? Are there really only five Ericson owners?

 

[Brisdon]

I don't like cowl vents that aren't atached to the top of a dorade box because one has to be very careful about leakage into the cabin. Also I don't like the look of dorade boxes on boats with modern lines like the Ericsons. I installed a solar powered Nicro vent to air my cabin and I am really happy with it. I got the squarish one with the highest capacity. It doesn't leak a drop even with spray and rain and what not. Also, I don't trip over it.

 

[Sean Engle]

??

You installed solor venting into the dorade box? Did you do two units?

//sse

 

[Loren Beach]

??i]Originally posted by Brisdon [/i]
I don't like cowl vents that aren't atached to the top of a dorade box because one has to be very careful about leakage into the cabin. Also I don't like the look of dorade boxes on boats with modern lines like the Ericsons. I installed a solar powered Nicro vent to air my cabin and I am really happy with it. I got the squarish one with the highest capacity. It doesn't leak a drop even with spray and rain and what not. [/QUOTE]
I am glad you have had such good luck with this model of ventilator. I gave up on the Nicro vents years ago due to leaks around the press-in bases (except for some I sealed with silicone upon insertion). On my Sept delivery trip from Astoria to SF, the boat had two of the vents you describe and both squirted water into the cabins every time a wave top splashed over us. I hated 'em! Our weather was clear, but we were in very heavy air for 36 hours off the northern California coast. I have the non-electric Beckson vents on my own boat, and they seem much more weather-tight. As to the looks of the dorade boxes, I thought that they were smoothly molded in to the Ericson housetop, not added on. Of course, the "looks" is all subjective, anyway.

Loren in PDX

 

[Brisdon]

I had no idea there were so many villagers running up the hill to the Nicro castle with burning torches in hand. I admit to a certain hatred for the little units with the snap in ring, but the big squarish one with the caulk and bolt base is pretty darn leak proof. The inch high ledge that's on the inside behind the visible vent slots does a pretty good job of keeping the old green stuff out. When I installed mine I cut back the balsa around the 4 3/4 inch hole and filled it with epoxy so that if my caulking ever broke down, the water would be in the cabin before it was in the substrate of the deck. Works for me, but then I'm so clumbsy anyway, the big round cowls wouldn't have a prayer in hell.

 

[Martin King]

Originally posted by Brisdon
I don't like cowl vents that aren't atached to the top of a dorade box because one has to be very careful about leakage into the cabin. Also I don't like the look of dorade boxes on boats with modern lines like the Ericsons. I installed a solar powered Nicro vent to air my cabin and I am really happy with it. I got the squarish one with the highest capacity. It doesn't leak a drop even with spray and rain and what not. Also, I don't trip over it.

Not all Ericsons have modern lines. The cruising 31 and 36 are
traditional cruising designs and look great with dorades and
ss vents.

 

[Mindscape]

Geoff - did you replace the fantail vents on your 32 with the stainless ones from Mariner's?

Which model did you use for the oval vent forward of the mast?

Thanks for in advance for the info. Appreciate all the feedback and info you've provided on this board. As a new Ericson owner (haven't even sailed her yet!!) this site has been very helpful.

 

[Geoff Johnson]

Yes, I replaced all the vents with stainless models. Apart from esthetics, the SS aft vents are more functional because they can be easily swiveled to catch the breeze when the engine is running. As for the forward vent, I used the round 3" model. I don't believe the oval was in production when I purchased it. I attach a picture.

 

[Mindscape]

Thanks Geoff - I notice you replaced the original traveler with a longer Harken version. Any comments on how this may of helped sail control?? Do you think the longer traveler is worth it? If this was covered in another thread let me know and I'll find it. (I seem to remember reading about it)

 

[Geoff Johnson]

There is another thread explaining how I installed the new traveler. Yes, it was absolutely worth it because with the earlier Schaefer model I had to climb around the dodger to muscle the traveler car along the track. Now I can do everything from inside the dodger. My boat came with the longer track so I just replaced what was there. That too is definitely a plus because with mid-boom sheeting and a longer track I almost never have to use a vang (which I cannot keep in place because it interferes with the forward opening main salon hatch). If you do not have the long curved track, it would be much easier to install straight track with risers from Harken ($$$) or Garhauer as a replacement. However, while the straight track is better because moving the car does not change the tension on the main, I think the curved track looks better.

The coach roof should be able to support the load on the main, but make sure you have backing plates under the risers. I calculated that the load on the mainsheet could go as high as 2500 lbs on the 32-3 using the formula from the Harken website. (I made it into an Excel spreadsheet, which it attached as a zipped file, so you can see for yourself if you have nothing better to do.)

 

[Geoff Johnson]

Here's a photo of the straight version of the Harken traveler using Garhauer risers. The boat is Gravity Storm (see profiles on this site). One problem with this version is that the control lines are so high it is hard to get them under the dodger.