Mildew and Nicro Products

[tcapron]

Hi. I have a late 80s 29 ft Beneteau in East Florida. It's reasonably clean and I have just finished replacing all of the headliner. I'm planning on replacing all of the cushions and doing a thorough clean for mildew while the new cushions are being made in hopes have having a "fresh" start once they are done. I've read several of the posts on removing mildew and this is of significant concern for me as my girlfriend is allergic and has a hard time sleeping on the boat at present.

My question is regarding best practices for keeping the boat mildew free after I'm done. Are the solar vents from Nicro recommended? Do they leak??

I also noticed Nicro's Environmental Air Purification System

Does anyone have experience with this product? Anything else I should consider.

Thanks!

[sailingdog]

The key to preventing mildew and mold on a boat has two basic parts:

1) Eliminate all the leaks you can. The drier the interior of the boat, the less likely mildew or mold is likely to get a foothold.

2) Ventilate the boat well. Use material under the cushions to provide an airgap and allow any moisture there to escape. Have louvers and, if possible, small fans, in the various lockers and stowage compartments. Use solar powered vents to move air in and out of the boat.

Ideally, you should have several fans—some set on intake, others on exhaust, and they should be setup so that their is fairly decent airflow through the entire cabin if possible. If that isn't possible, setting up each cabin with its own intake and exhaust fans is another solution.

If you do this, you shouldn't need anything else. BTW, wiping down surfaces with vinegar or lemon oil will help kill mold/mildew spores and prevent them from re-occurring. IIRC, 3M also recently marketed a mold/mildew prevention spray for marine use that is designed for use on hard surfaces.

[nickmerc]

I installed a Nicro day night solar vent. The first on I had lasted abotu two months before it stopped working. I called Nicro and they sent me a new one. Supposedly the batteries had some problems. The second one is fairing much better, but with all of the snow and cloudy days we had here recently the fan doesn't always run. I will be contacting Nicro again in the spring if the problem persists. I have not been completly pleased with the vent, but I have been pleased with the customer support.
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WANKMYHUGECOCK

[sailingdog]

BTW, I've had Nicro solar powered vents on my boat since 2006, when I bought the boat. They've been working fine. The batteries can be a problem, but I replaced them with a decent NiMH rechargeable and have not had any problems since then.

[T37Chef]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

BTW, I've had Nicro solar powered vents on my boat since 2006, when I bought the boat. They've been working fine. The batteries can be a problem, but I replaced them with a decent NiMH rechargeable and have not had any problems since then.

Same for me, the original batteries didn't last long, but a search on-line turned up some good lasting rechargeable NiMH batteries that have lasted almost two years now. In the winter, I do notice the fan stops by midnight, but that may be more to do with the cold than the lack of sunlight?

[scottyt]

my current boat has vents on the transome, i was thinking about putting computer fans over the vents and a small bank of rechargable AA batteries and small solar panel to charge em. i would think a 7.5 panel would charge 8 AA's and power the fans pretty well. now lucky me i dont have any mold issues if i just leave my top hatch cracked, and the hatch is still rain proof when cracked.

most rechargables are 2600 or less MA, so a 8 would be 31 watts max ( at 12 volts ), so 7.5 watt panel should charge the batteies in 4 or so hours. or charge the batteries and run the fans all day.

[MJBrown]

Had Nicro in the forward hatch on our last boat. The compaionway boards had vents in them so the fan would draw air thorughout the boat. Never any problems with moisture build up. As for it leaking, the only time in 7 yrs we ever got any water, and it was a very minimal amount, was when we buried the bow a couple of times on one trip.

[mdbee]

A few months back there was another thread about Nicro vents. I think it was here, may have been on another board...

If I remember correctly, some people had a problem with the newer, cheaper ones. The earlier ones seemed to have a better record. The older ones are still around is some places, they are close to $300.00

I opted to use a "muffin" fan (you can find some that only draw .08 amps / stealth, around $15.00 - $20.00) They flow a lot more air, (note these fans rated CFM not CFH like the Nicro vents - huge difference) My small flexible solar panel will keep my batteries up without much trouble.

It will be connected to a Nicro "manual" vent ($30.00) with an air duct.

[tcapron]

Thanks everyone! Anyone have any experience with Nicro's Air Purification System?

[tcapron]

I found it here:

Nicro Environmental Air Purification System | Marinco