Nicro Marine Solar Day/Night vent

[Elysium_Van_Isl]

They were on sale in Victoria, BC...so maybe the US stores didn't offer the same deal.

...and now that I have opened up their website I can't even find them listed. Strange!

BTW Jonelli - my original fan was fairly close to yours. Just a few subtle differences. I too had to cut the plastic to get at the motor. I used a Dremel, but in the end I think it won't work. I can't get it all to go back together in a 'solid' way. I had planned on using epoxy to put it back together.

Mine is shelved as well, and now I regret not having bought 2 at the $100 off price.

 

[jrowan]

Seems like a lot has already been written about the Nicro vent, but I'll throw in my experience. I have bought & installed these on every boat we've owned (4), as you can't have too much ventilation in a cabin. You either get a good one, or a dud, which seems to be a 50/50 chance. I have had them go bad within a month, or like my current one, it has run flawlessly for the past 3 years. All rechargeable batteries last about 3-4 years max, so eventually you have to replace the batteries, or it will only work in the daytime.
Ironically, if you change one letter to "Necro" which is latin for dead, then it may be predicting its average reliability!

 

[Patrick Boylan]

I can't figure how to get to the battery. The instructions say to remove the solar array to get to the battery remove the 3 screws around the array cover, be careful not to lose the screws' o-rings.
As usual, they should have put the "don't lose the o-ring" warning 1st, but I was able to find all 3 of them after I dropped them and reunited them with their screws.
The trouble is that doesn't release the solar array from its stainless steel cover, which has 4 tabs holding it onto the array and motor. I hesitate to try to pry those tabs up, but at this point that seems to be the only way to get inside.

Westies end of Mar beginning Apr 2015 just had another sale on these, $99.99 from regular $184.99, so that's $85 off. Was the $100 off in 2014 Canadian dollars? Curiously both the 3" and 4" plastic and stainless steel covers are the same price. Defender has them $157 or $167.
I bought 2 of the stainless steel covered 4 inchers for my Hunter 27. I have a super mechanic fellow sailor, and another one who's above average, both of whom say they'll have no problem installing on my main and forward hatches. I've read some comments that say they're useless, and 2 of them don't matter since they move so little air that you can't get them close enough together to make one of them influence the other. The spec says the 4 incher will move 1000 cubic feet per hour, more than the zero cfph I get now.
I have no openable windows, so I bet they'll be better than nothing. Especially when raining water, or mosquitoes, I hope they'll help give some relief when folks go below and close both hatches. One on intake the other on exhaust.
Whether they'll be worth the discounted price time will tell, I'll let you know in a couple of years.

 

[Elysium_Van_Isl]

Westies end of Mar beginning Apr 2015 just had another sale on these, $99.99 from regular $184.99, so that's $85 off. Was the $100 off in 2014 Canadian dollars?

That's right. Canadian dollars....we use them up here in Victoria...

heh heh...sorry, couldn't resist. Too many times have I stood in line at the store and listened to - "No, no, I want my change in American dollars." But sir, we use Canadian dollars in Canada. "Well those are useless to me."

All kidding around aside - a year on and my fan is working really well. Guess I'm part of the 50% win crowd. I'm going to hit WM at lunch today and see if they are on sale up here too! That would be great.
I know people have said there's no way the suck/blow philosophy can be effective, but we aren't trying to hit 100% scientific efficiency with these things. Just general air movement. My goal is still to have one fan pulling in air from outside and one pushing air out. They will have solar panels pointing different ways, so when one is slower due to poor light, the other might be better off.... Just my opinion anyway.

Your description of accessing the battery sounds like what I did last fall. I took mine out to charge it fully up and to put corrosion inhibitor on all the contacts. I just can't recall about those tabs though.
I'll be pulling mine apart to replace the battery this weekend, so can report back on Monday if you like....

 

[Patrick Boylan]

Remember the sale I'm talking about here, Philadelphia, ended a couple of weeks ago.
I had left one of them in the box in the boat, the other I had at home exposed to what little sun the back porch gets. I didn't want to leave it in the middle of the back yard. The instructions said to keep it in full sun for a couple of days to get a full charge before using it, but apparently the back porch doesn't get enough to charge adequately. I can get the blades to spin when I walk out into direct sun, but not when I go back onto the porch.

I'm at my club now waiting for my super mechanic friend to show up. I'll give you a report if he helps me get it apart, and I'll gladly read your report, especially I'm interested in what you consider a good corrosion inhibitor, and where to put it.
Of course my desire to open it up is so I can figure out how to replace the battery now when I don't need to rather than later when I panic because my wife's complaining about the mosquitoes.

 

[Elysium_Van_Isl]

Hi Patrick,
I popped the unit apart and snapped a couple pics. If yours is the same as mine - once you have unscrewed the top, just insert a small screwdriver into the little 'slots' to pry up the panel and expose the battery. The extreme closeup pic shows one of the slots.
I use a product called "CorrosionX" to keep all the wires happy. I just dab a little on the battery contacts and on any exposed wire. A little goes a long way with this stuff. There are a few different products that will do the same thing if CorrosionX isn't available. Our mechanics at work use something called FluidFilm on battery terminals, etc for their heavy equipment and swear by it.
Hope this helps. Happy sailing!

 

[chrisings]

I had that same non-"rebuild-able" fan in my boat. Threw in the towel last year and bought a new unit. Just fyi the mountings holes on mine were different. I filled the old holes with epoxy. Just shy of one year in and the thing works fine.

 

[Patrick Boylan]

Elysium_Van_Isl, I finally did the unthinkable. I took one of the ventilators to West Marine and asked them how to change the battery. They were mystified too, but worked it out finally.
The first 2 steps they did the same as me
1. remove the 3 screws
2. pry off the stainless steel cover
3. bend the plastic frame away from the glass solar collector
4. gently wiggle-lift the solar collector off of the plastic base.

My glass solar collector does not have the slots you show in your photo.

By the way, my super mechanic who was going to install for me has abandoned me for the past 2 weeks. I don't hold out much hope that I'll find someone skillful enough to install before I plan to cruise Philly-Cape May for 2 weeks starting May 16, so I'll have to go without the ventilators' calming breezes.
One BIG problem I have is that my hatches have ribs less than 4 inches apart, so I need to be creative about how to drill and fill the holes. On the plus side it's easy to remove the hatches, the main hatch just slides off, the forward hatch needs only 2 rings and klevis pins removed. So whatever work I need to get done we can do in the shop.

 

[Elysium_Van_Isl]

Man, things are just NEVER easy on a boat.....we need the patience of a monk, the determination of Churchill and the ingenuity of...well...MacGuyver.
Good luck.