[Rhodes22-list] gasket for mounting solar vent

[Jesse Shumaker]

I finally got back to this project and finished it.  Here are some notes
others may find helpful when installing a solar vent fan in the 3" hole for
the anchor rode.

Below decks when I screwed on the base of the fan, It didn't mount flush
against the roof of the cabin, so it didn't put enough pressure to
sufficiently compress the silicone gasket that I was using above the deck. 
To address this, I bought a 4" PVC pipe connector and cut off a 3/8" of that
so that I had a 3/8" deep 4" diameter pipe.  I cut this in half so I could
fit it around and between the base of the fan and the roof the cabin.  It
was a two person job: one person to push down on the fan from above and
compress the gasket, and another below to tap in the two pieces of PVC pipe
that served as a giant washer.  Now the fan is on nice and snug.  Thanks
goes to my brother for thinking of using the PVC pipe piece as a washer.   I
put sealant around the gasket which should keep the water out.

On another thread (link below), I had posed the question about keeping the
bow lines and anchor rode off the fan.  The suggestion from Peter and others
was to install chocks.
http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/hatch-on-foredeck-tp56302.html

I ended up getting 6" chocks that had 3 holes each, since this would be more
secure than smaller chocks with only two holes.  I decided against
installing them on the toe rail since Graham made the point that the toe
rail is not solid fiberglass (appears to be similar in thickness to the rest
of the deck) and even once I removed the wooden board that covers the edge
of the deck in the forepeak, I couldn't easily access the underside of the
toe rail.

I got a 12"x12"x1/2" HPDE (also known as Starboard) from Amazon.  I cut this
into mounting blocks for the chocks.   I doubled it up so there are two
blocks under each chock (for a total depth of 1").  I went for the 1/2" HPDE
since it was a lot cheaper than the 1" HPDE. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ILJZNY

I sanded the edges of the tops of the blocks to be rounded so that ropes
would not chafe against it.  I also got thin steel plate at Ace Hardware and
cut that into size for backing plates below decks.  I painted those with
Rustoleum before installation.  Finally I used stainless 4" #10 screws with
washers and lock nuts to bolt it all together, and bedded the chock blocks
against the deck and the chock against the mounting blocks with silicone. 
3.5" would have been ideal but I couldn't find that length.  3" was too
short.  I had to get the 4" screws on Amazon since I couldn't find them
locally.  I'll probably add some silicone caps on the end of the screws,
and/or I might use a hacksaw to cut off excess length.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C69MV9S

Side note: since purchasing the screws from Amazon, some other local sailors
recommended a couple of other sources for hard to find hardware:
www.boltdepot.com
www.fastenal.com (there are also local locations Nationwide)

Thanks to Graham and Peter especially for the tips on the installation for
the chocks and block mounting suggestions.  I'm satisfied with how it came
out and it seems quite solid.

Finished photos:
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/FanAndChocks.jpg> 
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/FanUpCloseOnTop.jpg> 
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/ChocksUpClose.jpg> 
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/ForepeakRoof.jpg> 



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