Blower vent grills

[Painkiller]

My blower vent grills fell apart on my Sundancer 380. I found some new ones at replacementboatparts.com (great deal and great service). When I pulled the old vent grills off I could not put the new ones back in and attach the blower vent hose because the hose attaches above the grill hole and the grill hole is exactly the same dia as the grill. You cant access the hose and vent grills from inside the engine compartment. Has any one replaced these before and if you did how did you attach the hose to the grills? Thanks. Tim

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm not sure of the exact setup in your boat, but... can you loosen up the hose down in the bilge? Cut any zip ties holding it in place. Then, feed the hose out through the vent hole, attach hose, then feed the vent/hose combo back in?

 

[Painkiller]

Thanks for your reply. The problem is that if I connect he hose to the vent grill I cannot put the hose clamp back through the hole because it is larger than the hole in the boat - see #27

 

[Lazy Daze]

Asprin, your picture isn't showing up (at least for me). But, is it a SS band clamp, or a zip tie? Usually they are zip ties. If there is not enough room, can you notch the fiberglass for the zip tie to get through? Again, I don't know if this will work for you, but I've done this in the past on some boats. I'm just thinking that this might be easier than dealing with everything from the bilge side which would likely require much more "to do".

 

[Painkiller]

Asprin, your picture isn't showing up (at least for me). But, is it a SS band clamp, or a zip tie? Usually they are zip ties. If there is not enough room, can you notch the fiberglass for the zip tie to get through? Again, I don't know if this will work for you, but I've done this in the past on some boats. I'm just thinking that this might be easier than dealing with everything from the bilge side which would likely require much more "to do".

Good idea. The clamp is ss. I will pull the hose through and take off enough fiberglass to be able to put it back through the hole. Thanks

 

[Painkiller]

I ended up using a dremel to enlarge the hole . I then pulled the hose through the hole and attached the new vent grills with a plastic pull tie. Put sealant on the flange and stuffed it all back up into the hole and screwed the vent in. Thanks for your help.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You're welcome. Dremel's are great tools - I've had one for almost 30 years... crap, has it been that long? Wow. :smt101