Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)We bought two of these to replace Nicro Day & Night Solar vents in our liveaboard cruising sailboat, a Tayana 37. They move significantly more air and seem to be more sturdily built. I like that they have NiMH rechargeable batteries, instead of Ni-Cads -- they should provide much better service.
HOWEVER, the installation instructions are very poor, as is the installation system in general. Despite the fact that they are labeled as "marine" it seems that the engineers have never actually tried to install them in a boat. First, if your mounting surface is more than 1" thick, the supplied bolts are too short. Second, I dare anyone to drill six holes perfectly vertically so that the bolts will pass through a pre-drilled "backing plate" (more on this later), through the deck and line up with the tapped holes in the vent itself. Third, all that's keeping the vent against the waterproof gasket is the force supplied by a 1/16" edge of ABS plastic against the inside of your cabin (imagine if your housing breaks -- how much water could come in through the 4-3/4" hole if you took a wave?). Fourth, the instructions tell you to use 3M 5200 as a sealant (although they never say where to use it) -- the truth is that 5200 itself says that it is incompatible with ABS (use marine-grade silicone instead). Fifth, the hole size and screw drill size are both incorrect in the instructions -- the hole needs to be at least 4-3/4" (not 4-1/2") and the screws are 3/16" (not 3/8"). If you need to buy longer machine screws to go through a thicker deck, note that they are FINE-THREAD (something that can be impossible to find in stainless steel if you are outside the US).
Two issues with the batteries. The ones that were included (with both vents) refused to charge. One set would charge with a regular battery charger; one would not take a charge from any source. This wasn't a major problem for us as I have lots of AA NiMH batteries on hand for other things. But if you don't, the vents would only work during sunny times. Second, the batteries are in a little compartment that is secured with two TINY (eyeglass size) screws -- if you have to change the batteries once the vent is mounted, it's going to be lots of fun to get the screws in correctly -- upside down, overhead -- without stripping or losing them (even with the longer life of a NiMH, I know we'll have to replace them sometime).
The interior "trim ring" (which also serves as a backing plate -- but note that it is bowl-shaped so that only the edge of it goes against the ceiling) is 10-1/2" in diameter -- HUGE! However, you can do without it (use washers on the screws and make your own smaller trim plate).
We finally ended up mounting the vents on the coach house roof just with marine-grade silicone. For our coastal cruising, we think they'll be sufficiently waterproof. If we were heading offshore into potential large seas, I'd want them bolted in.
All that said, they move a lot more air than the previous solar vents we had and thus we're overall happy with them.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sunsei 70440 Solar Vent Stainless Steel Day/Night Solar Powered Vent
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