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Leaking UFO vents


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The Dutch barge which we now share with two other couples after selling our narrowboat has two "UFO" air vents one for the shower and the other for the toilet in the rear cabin, both are leaking and probably have been for some time. Our narrowboat had mushroom vents so I have no idea what fails on these vents and causes leaks. I suspect they are more complex than standard as when the lights are turned on in either space a fan also turns on, there is no obvious exit for the air other than around the light fitting which are located directly below the vents.

I can't travel to the boat which is in the Netherlands until the end of August but when I do go I'd like to be able to resolve the problem, unfortunately the boat was fitted out by Mitchell Narrowboats and they no longer exist so I can't get any information from them. I also can't find a photograph or diagram showing how these units are assembled.

So does anyone know what fails or have an assembly diagram and are repair kits available?

Thanks in advance

 

Ken

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38 minutes ago, KenK said:

Thanks in advance

Are they these sort of things ?

 

If you unscrew the top (4 screws) there is a hard plastic liner which can become very hard and brittle with age - if it has been subject to any impact it may have cracked and allowing water to leak in. If there is nothing obvious then you can simply screw the top back on without disturbing anything.

They are quite simple to remove and replace.

 

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Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Screws hold the metal cover onto the roof so remove those and take the cover off. This will reveal the plastic vent which is in two parts. More screws that you can now see hold the top part to the bottom but may hold the whole lot down onto the roof. removing these screws will soon prove the point. One the top is off I think that you will find more screws that hold the bottom onto the roof. From memory there is a foam rubber O ring as part of the bottom that is supposed to seal to the roof. If the roof is heavily bowed it may not seal. If that seal is damaged I would use a sealer rather than  sealer/adhesive so you don't destroy the plastic base trying to get it off in the future. I would also apply sealer to the screws in case its leaking down a screw hole.

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The inner plastic part is fastened to the roof with 3 countersunk stainless screws, sealer underneath around the edge of the hole.

 

I had some of these, they did not leak but suffered from terrible condensation which dripped inside, I sealed them time after time till I realised that the shower from them was only when the boat was warm and it was cold outside!

  • Greenie 1
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We've got them on our bunkering tanker. I replaced one with a plastic pudding basin as a temporary job five years ago. It's still there. The self-tapping screws holding the vent on from the outsdie had rotted, and the sealant used appeared to be polyfiller. The others on the boat are good after putting some proper sealer around the rims. I think one can still buy them.

 

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