Good Old Boat Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022
Simple Solutions
A Solar Vent Save Installing a new motor in a dead solar vent was far more satisfying than the alternative. BY BRADLEY STEVENS
S hortly after buying my 1975 Tanzer 26 in 2011, I installed two 4-inch Nicro solar vents, one above the saloon, the other above the V-berth. Recently, one of the vents died. Since I bought the vents between 2012 and 2014, I naturally assumed that fixing the broken one would just be a matter of replacing its battery. Each vent had a single NiMH C-size 2800 mAh battery that produced 1.2 volts. I decided to replace both of themwith EBL 5000 mAh batteries that produced the same voltage. Increasing the mAh is an added benefit, because the fan will run longer on a given charge. Plus, a two-pack of them from Amazon was only $8.99. So far, so good. But after replacing the battery, the vent’s fan still wouldn’t run. Testing with a multimeter showed that the solar panel was putting out a solid 1.4 volts. This led me to conclude that the motor had died, meaning the whole vent needed replacing. Imagine my dismay to learn that the new vents cost $160 to $170. Worse still, since my Nicro vents were made, the company had been purchased,
and the new vents no longer fit my existing base plate. And, there’s no replacement motor. So, unless I wanted to shell out the cash for a new vent and base plate, I was stuck. Or was I? Searching various sailing online chat boards, I found a cryptic note about replacing the motor with one from another manufacturer, which gave me hope. Following that lead, I purchased a small DC motor from a company for $15 (it has since gone out of business due to the pandemic). I ordered the motor with wires already attached, which turned out to be a good choice since space inside the Nicro motor housing is quite tight.
To reincarnate the solar vent, I first removed the three screws in the top to detach the entire vent unit from the base plate. I brought the unit home, where I could work on it without worrying about losing small parts (hint of experience here). After removing the solar panel and battery, I slid the battery contacts out and removed the motor retaining screw. Next, I removed the switch cover and retaining ring from the bottom and pulled the switch and the motor out of the housing. With all the components removed, I used a soldering tool to detach the wires from the old motor and battery contacts. The next step was to cut the ends of the old wires
off and strip about ¼-inch of the coverings back from the new ends. Now it was time to resolder all the connections. The white wire from the solar panel was connected to a one-way diode, then to the motor; another wire ran from there to the battery contact. I didn’t want to disturb the prewired motor connections, so I soldered the white wire and diode directly to the battery contact, along with the red motor wire. The black wire from the solar panel runs to the switch, and another black wire runs from the switch to the other battery contact. That wire was a bit too short after trimming the end, so I added 2 inches of additional wire to make sure it would reach the
The old 4-inch Nicro vent after removing it from the boat, at right. The old motor in the housing. Note the set screw (top left) and diode (top right), at far right.
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