Louvered side air vent

[chesapeake albin]

The vent on the side of my 96' 28 TE collects rainwater. There is a collection box with two 3" hoses that must be broken.
The vent is 5.675" x 14" I can not find this or the box that goes with it. Could anyone help me find this?
Also, why does this vent allow rain to enter anyway? It is on the side of the pilot house and all the water from the roof runs down the side and right into this vent. Even if the collector box wasn't racked it would still fill up the bilge. I am considering changing it to a louvered vent that opens down rather to the front? What are the thoughts on this?

Thanks and this is a great site, Thank you for all the answers.
Travis

[djpeewee]

Not sure about the '96 28TE, but my '04 had the same problem with leaking... if you are referring to the vent on the starboard side of the pilot house. I have seen some 28 TEs with no vent there, or on the port side. Anyway, the starboard side vent was leaking pretty badly into the shelving behind the helm chair when we bought the boat. After taking the vent and collector box out, I found that the collector box was installed upside down and not sealed very well. It was also cracked around the connection for the vent hose. I was able to replace mine with the Seadog Line replacement vent and collector box. Make sure you buy the correct collector box as there are different models for port and starboard. If you choose the wrong one it will leak at the vent hose connection. They are slanted upward horizontally so the water drains out the vent and not into the bilge. They are made cheaply out of ABS plastic so use the right sealant and handle them gently.

I don't know if I would swap this out for a down facing vent. The forward facing ones provide quite a bit of air flow for the engine room and bilge while under way.

[catalina_mike]

The air flow is important for engine room cooling. I think I saw a post about manufactures recommendations on ambient air temperatures in the engine space. I really haven't paid that much attention to mine other than correcting the hose locations and crushed hoses...

[Jeremyvmd]

Interestingly enough I looked at photos of my boat (nowhere near it at the moment) and on mine the vent is pointing backward. I'll have to check on the leaking issue, but would it be worth flipping the vent around?

[BobHaze]

I just checked pictures of my '01 28 TE and the louvers definitely point aft, as they should.

[Pitou]

On both of my TE series boats I've had water intrusion from the SeaDog louvered vents.

On the 28 my water intrusion was from the port side where the vent was mounted below the rub rail behind the midship cleat and facing forward. The water was minor and only occurred in a heavy sea. The vent itself was properly sealed to the hull and there was no collector box and a 4 inch hose was just crammed into the vent with the hose terminating in the bilge next to the stem side of the engine. There was a matching vent on the starboard side, but mounted against the pilot house on the trunk just fore of the most rear railing stanchion and was not a problem. Both of these vents were SeaDog part #331290-3 .

On the 31 I have the exact same vents mounted on the trunk facing forward. The only difference is that Albin sprung for the collection boxes. Water was coming in not through the attached 4 inch hoses, but from a crappy install and cracked collection boxes that were reversed and upside down holding water. As DJ pointed out these boxes are left & right which pitches them downward with the hose connection hole forward preventing forceful water flow with the vents facing forward. When I took them out and apart, I discovered that both boxes were tilted upward instead of down and that the sealant for the mounting was not continuous, but had small breaks along the top. Fresh rain water was being let in and collected in the boxes and found its way into the bilge through the sealant leaks and cracked collection boxes. I ordered two new collection boxes and installed everything properly with the vents facing forward and issues solved. This is actually a pretty good system if installed properly.

The height that you describe sounds correct, but the width is certainly puzzling. The only one with that width is Atwood, but the height is significantly less. maybe you'll need to adjust your cutout size with some fiberglass work.

I've attached a links to the boxes.

I found the collector boxes difficult to locate, but did find them at Go2Marine. They also carry the matching stainless and plastic vents.

Collector Boxes (3 inch & 4 inch):
http://www.go2marine.com/product/27111F ... d-abs.html

Hear is a link to the vents with dimensions that are sold at Go2. This is a pretty complete selection with the exception of Whitecap or Vetus which do not have anything in the dimensions that you posted.
http://www.go2marine.com/search.do?q=lo ... _button=Go

[djpeewee]

Interesting. All of the outside vents on Trygon point fore, and all of the internal ones (under the gunnels) point aft. A quick search on Google Photos confirms this on other 28TEs (like Toyrific), though there are others that are opposite. So much for consistency.

I agree with Pitou that the system works pretty good if installed correctly. Also, the direction of the vent is independent of the collector box. Make sure the box is installed correctly, slanting downward to the outside of the boat, and then you can install the vent whichever direction you like.

[chesapeake albin]

Thank you everyone for the replies

I am aware of the weird vent size, I can not find it.
Is there a way I can use the old vent with a new collector box? HOw are these two attached?


Thanks

[Pitou]

Thank you everyone for the replies

I am aware of the weird vent size, I can not find it.
Is there a way I can use the old vent with a new collector box? HOw are these two attached?


Thanks

As I reread your post, it seems that you have the complete system, but something is leaking. Possibly the box is installed upside down or the box and louver or hose and box were not sealed properly. I'd try to remove everything intact first for evaluation and possibly being able to reuse the parts and seal things properly. LifeSeal would be the right sealant for this job.

If the old boxes cannot be salvaged, I'd order the two smaller SeaDog collector boxes and I'm sure that you can adapt your existing louver vent for installation.

Here's one suggestion for mating your existing louver to the SeaDog Box:

If you end up going with the SeaDog Box I'd get the one that accommodates a 4 inch hose and replace those too. The more air the better.

The collector box and louver vents are designed so that the collector box sets in the cutout first. Be sure to use sealant between the box flange and the hull. The louver flange sets inside the Collector Box using sealant and screws. As your louver vent is longer than the collector box, you will need to cut a approximately 7/8" off of the perimeter top and bottom inset flange of your louver off so that your louver sets inside the collector box as intended. I would not notch the collector box to accept your longer louver as the box is somewhat fragile plastic and you will create a water infiltration point and the need for sealing the void. You can now insert the louver into the collector box. Using the existing louver screw holes as a template drill holes through the collector box . Use sealant on each screw. On the backside of the louver where it is larger than the collector box you could cut a thin piece of plastic or starboard and attach it inside the hull to fill the void and prevent water infiltration. I'd make it the dimension of the outside flange of the louver vent so that you can pick it up with the screws coming form the louver. If you use Starboard, it is not compatible with a lot of sealants so I would contact them for the best advice for using a sealant that is not permanent. When you insert the hose be sure to use sealant on that too!

If you cannot salvage your existing parts, what I've suggested will work, will be the least costly, will let the box and louver system work as intended and leave your boat looking cosmetically correct.

[TimQ]

DJ,
I only have the cockpit louvers under the gunwales. I was considering replacing them with exterior louvers to reduce engine noise.
Are both needed? I was told by a Soundown rep to do this for sound reduction.

[Nancy]

I only have the cockpit louvers under the gunwales.

Same with ours.

[djpeewee]

Our 2004 Flush Deck has 3 louvered vents on the outside and the usual ones in the cockpit under the gunwales.

Do you hear that much engine noise coming from the cockpit vents while under way? I am not sure it would be worth the effort to port the inside ones to the outside. You could probably do better at quieting things up by applying some sound deadening matt like this - http://www.fisheriessupply.com/soundtec ... -composite. I used it on the generator compartment and it worked pretty well. I do still get some noise coming up through the cockpit louvers - nothing too bad though.

[Norseman]

Does anybody have a source for the louvered vents under the gunnels?
Found the crosspiece in one of my rod holders missing, had to remove the vent to access the rod holder and found the vent broken.
Tried a couple local marine stores and google, no cigar.

7181A52D-F43B-40BB-9343-F7E944DF9D45.jpeg

[Norseman]

F546DE21-AD8C-4094-B443-6963FDF75D61.jpeg

Got it on eBay from a seller named searayman13
All good.

[ESpiegel]

Where do the vent hoses connected to the pilot house Louvers go? I have a blower on each side of my engine compartment that connect to the lower vents (below the rub rail), through the blower, then just hangs down on the hull. I had the Marina install the ABS collector boxes, but there’s no vent hose connected. I can install a vent hose, but where does the other end go?
Thanks,
Eric