Marinco Solar Powered and Passive Vents

Wow, total upgrade from the original Nicro Solar Day and Night Vent! When Marinco purchased the Nicro company and began selling Nicro’s vent under the Marinco name, Marinco engineers eventually realized they needed to completely redesign the vent. Note, Marinco has been purchased by Brunswick. Marinco’s new design makes it possible to change the battery pack (4 smaller batteries wrapped together) from within the cabin without having to take the whole thing apart from the top. However, re-soldering the wires to the battery pack is required. The new solar panel is about 1/3 larger. The deck opening is slightly larger in diameter. The new motor is more powerful, and the fan blades do not have to be switched out to change the direction of the air flow. Instead, there is a switch that simply reverses the motor spin. Also, there is a very small light underneath with on/off switch for looking at switch position. The light is very faint, though. I think it better serves as a partial indicator of whether the batteries or motor have gone bad. Time will tell whether the motor will last much longer than the ridiculously cheap and low quality ($2) motor that Nicro was using that caused so much angst over the years. The last motor on my Nicro Solar vent only worked for about six months, and there was not a readily available replacement, nor could a new motor be installed without having to cut the motor housing apart and make a screwy repair with hot glue. There was a repair kit for the original model, but the same removal/installation problem existed. Thus, owners usually had to buy a whole new solar vent. I was forced to buy whole new solar units about 5 times in as many years. Unfortunately, Marinco repeated Nicro’s policy of not making it feasible or even possible to replace the motor. Worse, there is not even a repair kit available for the new solar vent. That is a huge negative that will hurt Marinco’s/Brunswick’s reputation and again force customers to have to purchase a whole new unit - perhaps worse because the new unit costs so much more than the original design. Hopefully Marinco will address this continued problem by upgrading the unit further to make it possible to replace the motor - and actually provide the replacement. How about it, Marinco?When I installed the new model, I discovered that the large donut shaped gasket that goes between the boat deck and the main vent structure has too large of an inner dimension. Thus, when screwing on the unit to the deck flange, the gasket is forced to stick out into the open air. The only way to prevent the gasket from moving out is to glue it to the deck first. Also, the deck flange is too deep. It protrudes a couple of inches into the cabin. There is a second flange that attaches from below, but it cannot be used because the upper flange extends so far down. The vent itself extends about three inches below. Watch out for your head. Marinco needs to provide a thickly padded ring to go around it to protect your head. One more problem is that the installation instructions are bare minimal. Marinco did not even put diagrams in to show how the pieces and gaskets are placed. I highly recommend using a lot of sealant in the deck hole and under the large gasket. Do not seal the on top of the gasket because it would prevent you from removing the vent if needed. I called Marinco about all of the above. Marinco (which, again, is now owned by Brunswick) is very aware of consumer complaints regarding the motor. However, it is still the company’s policy to make people buy a whole new solar unit instead of designing the unit to be able to have a new motor put in. After all, the little motors would only cost customers a few dollars - whereas a whole new solar unit is closer to $200. Much more money to be made. There is a two year warranty from the manufacturer. Fortunately, Amazon makes it very easy to show proof and date of purchase. Wow, I spent four hours calling and writing about this solar vent. Sure hope my efforts help.

I'm not sure why folks complain so much about this fan. If you can't figure out how to install this thing from the included instructions, you probably ought to have someone else do it for you. Come on, it's not that hard and most of it is intuitive anyway. Also, this thing isn't an exhaust fan, not designed to suck up cats and other small animals; it's just to keep some air movement in the boat (well, that's where I'm using it). Granted, the light isn't much, but I didn't buy it for that. Actually, it adds a little bit of light in the darkest part of my cabin, right over the head. It's been going strong for several months. Will it last for a really long time? Probably not and I wish it was less expensive, but there aren't many alternatives.

Needs FULL sun or it doesn't work.

I've owned different models of these vents in the past. The battery's only last a couple of years and I'm okay with that. This model has an issue that bothers me. While in operation in bright sunlight the fan makes a high-pitched whine that is very irritating. When the sun goes down and it operates on batteries, it works fine and is nearly silent. One other issue, if you accidentally touch it on the base, you will shut it off it might not realize it as the fan keeps spinning. So, be careful where you locate it when installing it. Other than that it's attractive and seems well made. It should be all of that for the price! But it could be better.

Nice vent, instructions not so nice, i looked on there web site and they said it was a Direct drop in for the Nicro powered vent, it’s not.The housing is 1/4 wider than the new flange for the 4” White model, once I widened the hole and got flange in with clear silicone with there gasket, I had to slowly turn the vent to screw on to the flange, threads a very fine and hard to get started on to of my trailer.Once installed I went to put on inside flange and found a 1 inch gap it would not cover, I went and found a 4 1/4 round marine toilet ring, that works perfectly to fill the gap and make a snug fit, there so called led light is for battery testing, it gives off no usable light in total darkness.I sealed the entire unit with silicone clear, I want to make sure no leaks from gaskets, waited 3 days of sun before turning the blowers to take heat out of my 25foot trailer.They look good, Solar panels 1/4 bigger than the one I had in before with the Nicro solar vent, at least these vans have replaced with batteries I installed two of them, One front one rear pictures follow.

This product exceeded my expectations for air flow. We had two solar vents installed on out sail boat, a 26 foot one. With the solar vents failing to do their job, I though of switching to passive vents that fit in the same hole size. These fit fabulously, but the 3" ring that I bought sepperately did not. It was to wide, and this unit did not sit well within it either. (Part # Nicro N10866) So I used some GE silicone to put it onto the outside of the boat, and used the provided screws to adhere it to the top. No issues, not warping, and great seal, no water coming in. After replacing it, the next day, the smell of mildew was almost non-existent, temperatures improved dramatically, being more realistic with outside temps. It used to be a hot box in the cabin, not anymore.

This seems like it probably works just fine, however moving the dampener will quickly alert you to the potential for failure. I felt that this unit would likely break or simply not fit as i had intended so i did not install it. That being said, i do think it would work just fine for its intended purpose if installed in a hatch or companion way slat. I also appreciate the clear top because who doesn't like more natural light in their cabin area?

For a marine application, I am disappointed in the quality of the stainless used. After 1 short month exposed to normal elements on the new england salt water, it is already starting to show signs of pitting.

Excellent quality and the retaining bar was a great bonus

Only works in direct sunlight not residual and is louder than I was hoping. Probably wouldn’t buy again

Looks like a well built product, sent it back decided to get the Nicro solar powered battery backup fan

I had to buy another vent because the first one wouldn’t charge the battery after I took it apart I found the wire to the solar panel was broken. I didn’t bother returning it as I had already tore it apart

The product works but in comparison to other extractors on the market it’s better quality at a price that’s more that double.