Nicro Solar Vents dying on me

FishFinder · #1 08-03-2009

Well I'm on my 3rd Nicro Day/Night Solar Vent, and now this one too has died and needs to go back. This last one lasted me 2 months. Same symptoms every time, battery inside has plenty of voltage and is charging just fine. But the motor doesn't want to turn. Nicro has been good about replacing them but it's costing me $15 a pop to send these guys back to the factory and then I get to wait for the new unit with a hole in my deck. Whats the deal with these things?

At this point I'm wondering if a simple cowl vent would be a better solution. Would rather not have to mount a big dorade box on deck though.

kptmorgan04 · #2 08-03-2009

funny you just posted this as I have had the same problem. Mine both lasted a little longer, a year and a year and a half... well after I replaced one of them after three days.
I called Nicro and they were very helpful, with no questions asked.
I have to wait for the first to come back to send the second one in because I only have one vent cover made.

midnightsailor · #3 08-03-2009

Ditto here . Nicro day-night vent turns but screaches and wobbles making all kinds of noise, battery died too. This vent is just over a year old. I guess I will try calling Nicro too and seeing if they will repair it. Seems to me they would come up with a better solution then to just keep fixing them with out fixing the cause. Rick

JimsCAL · #4 08-03-2009

Sounds like they have quality control problems. My 15-year old Nicro solar unit is still running fine. have had to replace the battery a couple of times, but that's to be expected.

scottyt · #5 08-03-2009

i think they keep fixing these things because they can fix it as many times as needed till the warranty goes out. then people buy them again because they know if they have a problem they will get fixed. if i can buy a solar powered light for my yard for 4 bucks, why does it cost way over a 100 for a $5 motor and fan blade.

SEMIJim · #6 08-03-2009

The Nicro on our boat was on her when we bought her two seasons ago. The battery contacts were all corroded and when you took it out of the light it stopped right off. So I replaced the battery with a new NiCad battery from Radio Shack. It runs fine, but it doesn't run long when taken out of the light. When we race, I pull the Nicro out and put a cover plate in place so crew doesn't trip over it or step on it. When I pull it out from down below, it isn't running anymore.

There's supposed to be a cover that's held on by screws to hold the battery in place and that's missing on ours. I have duct tape holding the battery in place

. I wonder if Nicro would send me a new part?

From what I'm hearing, I hope ours keeps running. It sounds like their quality these days is horrible.

Jim

huguley3 · #7 08-03-2009

The nicro that came with my boat was pretty much toast. I put a new one in a few months ago and mine is dead as well. I can give the motor a push and it will spin for a little bit. I need to check the battery and the panel to see if its charging.

Thanks for the heads up that it may need to go back!

T37Chef · #8 08-03-2009

I have only had a problem with the original battery that came with the unit, once I replaced the battery (from the local Radio Shack) they have run fine 24/7 for the past two years.

I am glad to hear they're handling the returns and hopefully diagnosing the problems.

sailaway21 · #9 08-03-2009

I replaced mine this spring and it's running fine so far. I've have heard that they've had some motor problems and somebody here related that they are supposed to have a handle on that now. From my experience, when they start making noise...the end is not far off. It's not the battery, it's that the motor is going and using more amps to turn the fan. The solar cell then provides just enough juice to keep it running in daylight but not enough to charge the battery.

There is a thread around here somewhere on replacing the motor with a commonly found one for those units out of warranty.

tonybinTX · #10 08-04-2009

Same here. I've returned mine to WM twice and it's out again. They mentioned they were seeing many come back with the same problem. I need to take it back one more time before the warranty runs out!