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New Found Metals Portlights

c.gustafson

Member II
Hello Mates,

I'm considering replacing the portlights in my '87 Ericson 38-200. If I can come to grips with the price, I lean toward the portlights made by New Found Metals. Any thoughts, recommendations or advice on this? As always, thanks for your input.

Craig
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Craig,

I went with the Lewmar size 1 in stainless.

The NFM ports are well regarded. You need to compare the port footprint vs cabinside height and the port cutout vs the existing cabinside cutout for any replacement ports you are considering. I found the NFM to have a fairly large footprint (the outer edge of the port on the outside of the hull) relative to the actual cutout size. I would have had to go to quite a large NFM port size to get a cutout size larger than my existing cabinside cutouts. On the E36RH, the vertical cabinside dimension is very short and the larger NFM ports would not fit in the available space. The screens on the NFM have issues, see Loren's link. Lastly, I'd prefer a port design with the spigot attached to the outer piece (Lewmar) vs the inner piece (NFM) because there is one less gap to seal on the outside. Although I'll add that I've never heard of anyone complaining about the NFMs leaking.

The Lewmar size 1 (actually all the Lewmars) has a LARGE hull cutout size relative to the port footprint making it ideal for replacing an existing port. The modest port footprint fits on the cabinside easily and you get to expand the existing hull cutout to eliminate any poor fit issues you may have from the factory. The Lewmar screens work fine. The only issue I've had is a water puddle on the outside of the lens due to my non-vertical cabinside. I use a towel to catch the water when I open them. I would only get the Lewmars in stainless. Why do this again to save $5?

Mark
 
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