We bought and installed 10 stainless steel NFM ports in December (six 7x15 and four 5x12), so I thought I would do a little review to help other h37c owners make their mind. Here it is.
Pros:
-They look awesome !
-They look awesome, really, inside and out !
-They don’t cost as much as the boat !!! Ten ports, with screens, hardware (screws), delivered to your door for $ 3,050. (We saved a ton by buying them while we were in the US, shipping and customs costs were outrageous to have them shipped to Canada.)
-Your boat looks like it’s worth so much more !
-Wow you can actually see outside ! No more opaque, cheap, brittle, plastic lenses. The boat feels bigger inside too, since there is always a lot of light coming in.
-The cam locking mechanism feels really solid, it’s night and day compare to the thumbscrew mechanism on original Pompanettes.
-I can close the 10 of them in less than 45 seconds, with the lights out, something very useful when it starts pouring rain in the middle of the night. In other words, they are always open to let the breeze in. We used to be afraid to break the lenses on our old Pompanette, so we avoided playing with them (we actually broke two lenses this year, and replacement lenses where back order, this is why we finally ordered NFMs).
- The sizes are a perfect fit for our h37c, all you need to do is slightly oversize the drain cutaways (I should mention that you will most likely have to recore the whole cabin side area, this is something you should really think about before starting this job). We used a rotozip to enlarge the drain cutaways, but you need some practice with this tool.
Cons :
-VERY IMPORTANT, before installing any port, verify that the screws holding the hinges are tight. On the second port we installed, the screws where loose (very), so the hinges had a lot of up and down play, so much that the lens frame was resting on the two lower cams when closed (see video). We had to remove the port to tighten the screws :cussing:. Guess what, had we not checked the others, we would have had to remove 4 other ports.
-Drains are not adequate for the angle of our cabin sides. Water pools in the window, you need a towel to open them. Mildew will eventually grow (done after 2 months even if we never leave water in there) were the gasket is glued to the window (this is another area where quality could be improved) and between the port and the screen (because believe me you will not want to remove the screens to dry this area). It also means I will need to cover them during winter, ice will lodge in there and may damage them.
-There seems to be more than one model for the same size, with different bolt pattern, verify before you start drilling :cussing: (see picture). We had three 7x15 with 1 hole between the hinges and three with 2 holes. Model change maybe ? (My guess is that it must be cheaper to make them with one less screw.)
-It seems that when they run out of fasteners to assemble the hinges, they just use whatever they have on hand. One of the six 7x15 ports has some fasteners that do not belong there, the SHCS are smaller, so you need a smaller allen key to tighten them, anyway the hex nuts are too small to stay in place (see picture)... Overall, you see that they save a lot using cheap labor in china, and it shows in the assembly.
-If you order the screens, do not use the supplied tool to adjust the hinges :naughty:, your knuckles will not survive the operation and you will have to clean all that blood off those cushions :cussing:. Instead , open the window and use a wrench from underneath (see picture). This operation is a pain in the b**, plus plan on being there the first time it rains, you will need to adjust them again and again (just use your garden hose if you are not in the Bahamas and you don’t need to pay 17$/day for water).
-They are not comfortable to sleep with…
(I they where in my bed when we did the crossing of the Gulf Stream).
-The spigots are welded and glued in place, rust spots appears once in a while around the welds (not too big of an issue, you need to clean them with compound).
-They could really make your life easier by offering you the drill jig, counterbore bit and butyl tape which they all have at a very decent price when you place your order (I found out about it after I placed my order, their website has a lot of areas that are hard to reach).
-Did I say that their website is a nightmare ? I found once how to adjust the hinges and cams to install the screens, and I’m still trying to find the link to this day.
Overall, once installed, you forget about the cons I mentioned (except for the water pooling because of cabin side angle), these are very nice ports. I would never go back to the old ones, in fact we should have changed them at least 5 years ago. That said, if we had not been in the Bahamas at the time of the installation, I would have sent back some of the ports, I do not like the fact that the bolt patterns do not match, and really don’t like the mismatching fasteners on one of the ports.
Please note that the ports were temporary bedded in silicone, as we will need to remove them to recore the cabin sides, job we could not (and sincerely did not want to) do in the Bahamas. Apparently water had been leaking for a long time, a previous owner had took some of the ports out (the tool marks in the gelcoat are from that previous removal) and instead of recoring the sides, he chiseled the rotten wood out and replaced that with a bunch of silicone (we took the equivalent of 4 tubes worth on one side, most of it had never got to cure !!!). So be advise that installation might not be straight forward.
For a proper installation, I highly recommend this link:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/nfm_port_lights&page=1
video of the loose hinges:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXVYnhRBPo0
different bolt pattern:
mismatching hardware:
water pooling:
adjusting the hinges with a wrench:
overall:
Pros:
-They look awesome !
-They look awesome, really, inside and out !
-They don’t cost as much as the boat !!! Ten ports, with screens, hardware (screws), delivered to your door for $ 3,050. (We saved a ton by buying them while we were in the US, shipping and customs costs were outrageous to have them shipped to Canada.)
-Your boat looks like it’s worth so much more !
-Wow you can actually see outside ! No more opaque, cheap, brittle, plastic lenses. The boat feels bigger inside too, since there is always a lot of light coming in.
-The cam locking mechanism feels really solid, it’s night and day compare to the thumbscrew mechanism on original Pompanettes.
-I can close the 10 of them in less than 45 seconds, with the lights out, something very useful when it starts pouring rain in the middle of the night. In other words, they are always open to let the breeze in. We used to be afraid to break the lenses on our old Pompanette, so we avoided playing with them (we actually broke two lenses this year, and replacement lenses where back order, this is why we finally ordered NFMs).
- The sizes are a perfect fit for our h37c, all you need to do is slightly oversize the drain cutaways (I should mention that you will most likely have to recore the whole cabin side area, this is something you should really think about before starting this job). We used a rotozip to enlarge the drain cutaways, but you need some practice with this tool.
Cons :
-VERY IMPORTANT, before installing any port, verify that the screws holding the hinges are tight. On the second port we installed, the screws where loose (very), so the hinges had a lot of up and down play, so much that the lens frame was resting on the two lower cams when closed (see video). We had to remove the port to tighten the screws :cussing:. Guess what, had we not checked the others, we would have had to remove 4 other ports.
-Drains are not adequate for the angle of our cabin sides. Water pools in the window, you need a towel to open them. Mildew will eventually grow (done after 2 months even if we never leave water in there) were the gasket is glued to the window (this is another area where quality could be improved) and between the port and the screen (because believe me you will not want to remove the screens to dry this area). It also means I will need to cover them during winter, ice will lodge in there and may damage them.
-There seems to be more than one model for the same size, with different bolt pattern, verify before you start drilling :cussing: (see picture). We had three 7x15 with 1 hole between the hinges and three with 2 holes. Model change maybe ? (My guess is that it must be cheaper to make them with one less screw.)
-It seems that when they run out of fasteners to assemble the hinges, they just use whatever they have on hand. One of the six 7x15 ports has some fasteners that do not belong there, the SHCS are smaller, so you need a smaller allen key to tighten them, anyway the hex nuts are too small to stay in place (see picture)... Overall, you see that they save a lot using cheap labor in china, and it shows in the assembly.
-If you order the screens, do not use the supplied tool to adjust the hinges :naughty:, your knuckles will not survive the operation and you will have to clean all that blood off those cushions :cussing:. Instead , open the window and use a wrench from underneath (see picture). This operation is a pain in the b**, plus plan on being there the first time it rains, you will need to adjust them again and again (just use your garden hose if you are not in the Bahamas and you don’t need to pay 17$/day for water).
-They are not comfortable to sleep with…
(I they where in my bed when we did the crossing of the Gulf Stream).-The spigots are welded and glued in place, rust spots appears once in a while around the welds (not too big of an issue, you need to clean them with compound).
-They could really make your life easier by offering you the drill jig, counterbore bit and butyl tape which they all have at a very decent price when you place your order (I found out about it after I placed my order, their website has a lot of areas that are hard to reach).
-Did I say that their website is a nightmare ? I found once how to adjust the hinges and cams to install the screens, and I’m still trying to find the link to this day.
Overall, once installed, you forget about the cons I mentioned (except for the water pooling because of cabin side angle), these are very nice ports. I would never go back to the old ones, in fact we should have changed them at least 5 years ago. That said, if we had not been in the Bahamas at the time of the installation, I would have sent back some of the ports, I do not like the fact that the bolt patterns do not match, and really don’t like the mismatching fasteners on one of the ports.
Please note that the ports were temporary bedded in silicone, as we will need to remove them to recore the cabin sides, job we could not (and sincerely did not want to) do in the Bahamas. Apparently water had been leaking for a long time, a previous owner had took some of the ports out (the tool marks in the gelcoat are from that previous removal) and instead of recoring the sides, he chiseled the rotten wood out and replaced that with a bunch of silicone (we took the equivalent of 4 tubes worth on one side, most of it had never got to cure !!!). So be advise that installation might not be straight forward.
For a proper installation, I highly recommend this link:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/nfm_port_lights&page=1
video of the loose hinges:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXVYnhRBPo0
different bolt pattern:
mismatching hardware:
water pooling:
adjusting the hinges with a wrench:
overall:
