TRI CABIN AARON, VENT QUESTION. ODD CONFIGURATION ON MINE

[aaronbocknek]

while looking at perry's tri cabin this past weekend, i noticed something odd with the bilge vents. on his boat, and every boat i've looked at on yacht world, the forward double layer vents face aft, the midships double layer vents face forward and the single aft vent faces aft. HOWEVER, on my boat, there is a difference that i cannot explain. on the port side, the double layer vents, both forward and midships face forward, and the aft vent faces aft. on the starboard side, the forward double layer vents face aft, the midships double layer vents face forward, and the aft single vent faces aft. so i took off one of the port forward vents and faced them aft. unfortunately, the screw holes do not match up, which will mean drilling new holes.
my underlying question is this. is this a mistake that was made at the factory from day one, or, did someone flip the vents at some point in the past. i tend the think that, somehow, this boat made it out of lancaster, with the vents facing the wrong direction. why it was never caught, i'll never know.
so, what should i do. leave well enough alone, or, and you know it's bugging the he## out of me, do i put them the way they 'should' be?

DISCUSS.

aaron (see, i'm feeling better already!!)

[tsawyer]

You must have the 'limited edition' forward venting model. It's likely much more valuable than the standard model.

[aaronbocknek]

You must have the 'limited edition' forward venting model. It's likely much more valuable than the standard model.

well, on the cabin side it does say, ''trojan limited edition''. so, if i understand you, this is normal? just want to know if the fwd port vents need to be corrected.

[prowlersfish]

Sounds like the may have been switched . Look at the vent hoses , the aft facing (exhaust) vents should have the hoses going to the low point of the hull . the forward facing (intake) will have hoses only going part way down.The blower will be hooked up to a aft facing vent .If you have seen my boat they have been turned around and modified for unrest air flow for the diesels . ( gas fumes are not a issue ) . I just brought my boat up because every time this subject comes up someone points out my vents

At lower speeds you don't get much air flow from the vents , so you you should run the blower when going slow

[aaronbocknek]

Sounds like the may have been switched . Look at the vent hoses , the aft facing (exhaust) vents should have the hoses going to the low point of the hull . the forward facing (intake) will have hoses only going part way down.The blower will be hooked up to a aft facing vent .If you have seen my boat they have been turned around and modified for unrest air flow for the diesels . ( gas fumes are not a issue ) . I just brought my boat up because every time this subject comes up someone points out my vents

At lower speeds you don't get much air flow from the vents , so you you should run the blower when going slow

another 'unique feature' of the late model tri cabins is the overall LACK of bilge hose. i have a total of 5. the bilge blower hose is at the lowest point in the bilge and vents through the triangle vent on the starboard side. the aft vents have two each, all reaching to very lowest point of the bilge, i suspect due to the fuel tank under the aft berth.

the double layer vents connect to a series of ducts that are made of marine ply and fiberglassed to the interior of the bilge. for these vents, there are no hoses, just the duct work. i've been down in the bilge on some pretty low wind days and you are able to feel the air moving down the ducts and into the engine compartment.

i took one of the fwd vents off and did flip it, but, the screw holes do not match up, which tells me it was installed this way at the factory. at first i thought that they were swapped around when the boat was repowered in 1996, but, the lack of matching screw holes tells me otherwise.

[hmc]

MAybe there was or should be a recall

[prowlersfish]

The ones without hoses most likey are intake air and would be facing forward

[tsawyer]

Aaron, I was kidding and made up the 'limited edition'. It's a bit funny if it actually says that.

[aaronbocknek]

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh okay. i'll not let this bother me anymore. it is what it is. for now. maybe next year i'll change it out. for now, at least in the long run who am i to argue with something that was done in 1982.

aaron

[rspecops]

I was actually going to ask about vents. So anyway I was thinking about changing mine around after reading about some gas inboards exploding. After a lot of research on the subject I came across an online article by a marine surveyor. He suggested that a better venting configuration would have both or all vents say on starboard side facing forward. Then on port side all vents would face aft. I have a 1978 F 26. Maybe I am wrong but I thought it strange that my aft vents faced forward. The vents ahead face backwards. This to me would lead more to what I think is called the "station wagon effect". Thus possibly fumes would be drawn back into bilge area through the rear forward facing vents.[/img]

[prowlersfish]

Thats pretty normal , The important thing is that the exhaust ( Aft facing) Vents have hoses going to the lower part of the bilge to remove gas fumes .