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E32 - replacing primary cowl vent w/ solar fan

Geoff W.

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
Anyone ever replace the primary cowl vent (the one ahead of the mast) with a solar fan / other ventilation device? Living aboard and cooking with an alcohol stove has put me in multiple situations where we've set off the CO detector, and clearly we need to consider better ventilation. The farther we get into fall/winter the less I'm going to want to (or be able to) open the hatches, though some clever rigging of tarps may assist (and nothing says "liveaboard" like tarps bungied all over the deck.)
 
N

nquigley

Sustaining Member
My E32-3 came with that modification.
There's a unit that fits directly into the cut-out in the dorade box. It works well, and these little fans last many years (4 yrs+ on this boat).
Don't remove the protective bars though - they stop jib sheets hooking under the edge of the solar fan unit during a tack and help guide the clew around the mast.
 
M

michaelsanders

Junior Member
cowl removal

I am in the process replacing the dorade box forward of the mast on my 1986 38-200 with a hatch. Not because I wanted more ventilation. The terribly designed box leaves the plywood core exposed to moisture, and in my case, termites. They ultimately destroyed just about my entire cabin top. I wanted to go sailing, but now I am about to have my boat transported to my property to complete the dorade elimination and give it a full cosmetic refit inside and out.
I'll probably share some pictures of the damage one day. They still make me curse the surveyor I hired.
-Michael
 
GrandpaSteve

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
nquigley said:
My E32-3 came with that modification.
There's a unit that fits directly into the cut-out in the dorade box. It works well, and these little fans last many years (4 yrs+ on this boat).
Don't remove the protective bars though - they stop jib sheets hooking under the edge of the solar fan unit during a tack and help guide the clew around the mast.
Click to expand...

I've been considering this. Can you post a picture?
 
Geoff W.

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
michaelsanders said:
I am in the process replacing the dorade box forward of the mast on my 1986 38-200 with a hatch. Not because I wanted more ventilation. The terribly designed box leaves the plywood core exposed to moisture, and in my case, termites. They ultimately destroyed just about my entire cabin top. I wanted to go sailing, but now I am about to have my boat transported to my property to complete the dorade elimination and give it a full cosmetic refit inside and out.
I'll probably share some pictures of the damage one day. They still make me curse the surveyor I hired.
-Michael
Click to expand...

That's quite unfortunate... I have heard about similar issues on the 35. I believe the 32-3 has a protected interior dorade that should (hopefully) limit that issue...

2nd GrandpaSteve's request to see pics from ngquigley! I'd definitely leave the steel bars for the reasons mentioned previously, but also because it's where short crew members stand to zip up my mainsail cover :)
 
GrandpaSteve

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
Geoff W. said:
That's quite unfortunate... I have heard about similar issues on the 35. I believe the 32-3 has a protected interior dorade that should (hopefully) limit that issue...

2nd GrandpaSteve's request to see pics from ngquigley! I'd definitely leave the steel bars for the reasons mentioned previously, but also because it's where short crew members stand to zip up my mainsail cover :)
Click to expand...

I am the short crew member on my boat and I need to stand on them to attach the main halyard!
 
toddster

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
The expensive solar fan that I installed lasted less than three years. Expensive new batteries didn't solve the issue. Even when it still worked, there wasn't enough "solar" in the winter to keep the fan running. Well, it was still a vent. Until the O-rings spontaneously deteriorated and it started leaking. I was very unhappy with it. But it was set into the old hatch, which I replaced, so it's history now. Well, to be accurate, it's junk out in the woodshed now.

I'd consider instead adding a cheap muffin fan to the existing vent, powered off the house battery. Also consider whether you have good cross-flow. Even with the powered vents, an inlet and an outlet at opposite ends of the boat are recommended. I seem to be having good results with the v-berth vent and the q-berth opening portlite.

Oh, from looking at snow-melt patterns, it seems that the greatest airflow out of the cabin is probably through the furnace chimney.
 
Geoff W.

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
toddster said:
The expensive solar fan that I installed lasted less than three years. Expensive new batteries didn't solve the issue. Even when it still worked, there wasn't enough "solar" in the winter to keep the fan running. Well, it was still a vent. Until the O-rings spontaneously deteriorated and it started leaking. I was very unhappy with it. But it was set into the old hatch, which I replaced, so it's history now. Well, to be accurate, it's junk out in the woodshed now.

I'd consider instead adding a cheap muffin fan to the existing vent, powered off the house battery. Also consider whether you have good cross-flow. Even with the powered vents, an inlet and an outlet at opposite ends of the boat are recommended. I seem to be having good results with the v-berth vent and the q-berth opening portlite.

Oh, from looking at snow-melt patterns, it seems that the greatest airflow out of the cabin is probably through the furnace chimney.
Click to expand...

Do you have any recs on ways I could make my furnace chimney cap less likely to catch the sheets? I'm considering some sort of low profile stainless vent but don't know if there's a structural reason the chimneys are shaped the way they are. Mine catches the sheets constantly if the lazy sheet tension isn't just so.
 
Geoff W.

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
Thanks, Loren - just sent them an e-mail for full dimensions. That looks close to what I need. I figure a couple strategically tied bits of cord will work temporarily in the meantime :)
 
Tin Kicker

Tin Kicker

Sustaining Member
Moderator
For well under a third the price of the Marinco vents, I installed one of these in each of the hatches.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I1D4S9C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Work great and have prevented a mold issue. I installed them in the hatches as a temporary fix because I'll be replacing the plexiglass in each this winter and want to find new locations for the solar fans. They don't block too much light but I'd like them to be more out of the way. The problem with going directly onto the dorade box is that the base of each fan is wider than the top of the dorade.

One idea is to build a new Trex, fiberglass, or teak cap for the dorade tube that a solar vent can sit on. I'd like to use this as an overboard vent for the head.

Another idea is to just ditch both solar vents and install three 12VDC computer fans into the dorade and each of the vents on the transom. I've got 350W of solar so these would be powered off a battery powered "anchorage bus."
 
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