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Plastic Air Vents vs. Aluminum Air Vents

BuckWynd

BuckWynd

Well Known Member
For anyone who's on the fence about whether to buy the expensive, aftermarket aluminum vents instead of using Van's stock plastic ones, here's a photo comparison. The photos are back-lit so you can see the air leakage around the edges. You be the judge (based on what part of the world you regularly fly in, your tolerance to cold, etc.):

First, the stock vents:
Vent-1.jpg


And the aluminum, aftermarket ones:
Vent-2.jpg


I'm not trying to sway anybody's thinking either way, and I have no personal affiliation with any aftermarket vent supplier -- I'm just providing a visual datapoint for those who are trying to decide. :)
 
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vents

I'm gonna start with the Van's plastic vents and see how they work out. When I fly I usually always have some sort of air flowing into the cockpit for ventilation for fresh air. Living in the southeast will keep the really frigid temps away. Push comes to shove, I'll "cabin heat" to compensate.

We'll see.....
 
I have Van's plastic air vents and after 700+ hours of use, the plastic ratchet that holds the flapper in position is worn out. I'm about to change them out for a "real" aluminum vents.
 
Vents

I went with the smaller vents that Stein sells. They work great, no leaks, Plenty of air. You get what you pay for.
 
Save yourself the grief...

...and do as Ron suggests. I have the cheapo plastic vents and believe me, in 30 degree temps, that cold air leakage is a real pain that you can't escape from.

Regards,
 
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Brent Colvin said:
I went with the smaller vents that Stein sells. They work great, no leaks, Plenty of air. You get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

I have 3 Stein air vent in my -8. Two in the front panel (L&R on the non removable panel side pieces), and one big one for the rear seat passenger. These vents are very high quality and when you shut them off there is NO leakage. They are more expensive than the vents Vans sells, but for me at least the quality of the vents made the purchase justifiable.
 
Plans Mods to the Vents

There are instructions with the plastic vents to cast some RTV around the edge of the butterfly and form a gasket seal.

Has anyone ever gone to the trouble of doing that and does it work?

I have also heard of folks tying a suitably sized sink plug to a lanyard near the vent and using it to close off the vent when needed - or stuffing it with tissues.

So far this summer I have been pleased with the cool airflow from the vents in my RV6 - even on the ground with the engine running. Winter flying in the frigid north east will be another test and determine whether I leave well alone, try the goop-a-matic gasket solution, the sink plug, tissues or spring for a properly engineered pair of vents :)

Jim Sharkey
RV6 - Phase 1
 
sv-6

OOC, Who makes the SV-6 vents that Van's sells? I assume they are the same as one of the "aftermarket" choices.

I can attest that Van's aluminum SV-6 vents are very nice, whereas the black plastic SV-5's were of too poor quality to be allowed in my cockpit.
 
ditto on the stien vents

If you only do 2 upgrades from the plans on your RV, for goodness sakes, let it be the air vents from Stein, and the fuel valve from Andy at Andair.
Stein's vents are of very high quality, and seal completely. Well worth the price, even to a budget conscience guy like myself.
Just can't see me flying with sink stoppers swinging on a bead chain.......

Regards...
Chris
 
carguy614 said:
Just can't see me flying with sink stoppers swinging on a bead chain.......

Regards...
Chris
Click to expand...

Now that was funny! :D

When I ferried / fly RV's in the winter I always carry a roll of duct tape to seal the plastic vents. Looks like heck but when it is really cold the air coming out is like an arctic laser! The tape works good to hold your eyes open also. ;)
 
jsharkey said:
There are instructions with the plastic vents to cast some RTV around the edge of the butterfly and form a gasket seal.

Has anyone ever gone to the trouble of doing that and does it work?
Click to expand...

I did this except I used tank sealant and it worked pretty well for a couple of years. Last week I was flying along and something smacked me in the leg. I thought a huge bug had come through the vent. There was my "gasket" laying on the floor. Time to give Stein a call.

Paul Danclovic
Jamestown NC
RV-8A N181SB
 
Sign of the Times

Something as diminutive as an eyeball vent is but one in a long, long line of reasons why our RV's can end up costing
a whole lot more than we originally anticipate. You win some you lose some. I lucked out when I bought a pair of high
quality aluminum eyeball vents from Lancair. Less than a month later, the price shot up to over $150 for EACH vent.
BTW, the eyeball vents provide PLENTY of fresh air and when they are off, they are OFF.

11jrkao.jpg
 
Another problem with my plastic vents is that at least on my side it does not stay open when I want it to. Worthless vent.
 
I too have thought about the vents from Stein-Air. Seeing that I live in the south and the summer temps are waaaay up there, is there any flow difference in the two sizes that they offer? I would rather go with the smaller just for space considerations but want to make sure that "enough" air is delivered in our climate. Now I do understand that the larger would flow more are but is there a real world difference that is daylight and dark?
 
Guilty - I was on a budget

jsharkey said:
There are instructions with the plastic vents to cast some RTV around the edge of the butterfly and form a gasket seal.

Has anyone ever gone to the trouble of doing that and does it work?

I have also heard of folks tying a suitably sized sink plug to a lanyard near the vent and using it to close off the vent when needed - or stuffing it with tissues.

Jim Sharkey
RV6 - Phase 1
Click to expand...

I was on a budget and this was one area I tried saving money. I used the black plastic vents, and then tried sealing them with RTV, and then I bought PVC pipe caps and slid those over the outlets. Guess what, I now have Stein vents. It was worth it just to keep the wife from complaining about the draft. The caps kept popping off when at high speed and scared the %*$# out of her, (well I admit it, me too)! It is much easier to install the good ones right from the start and keep your "significant other" happy.
 
plastic vents

I sealed my Van's vents using a felt gasket.

The felt sheets are available at hobby stores (Hobby Lobby).

I fashioned disks just slightly larger than the flapper for a tight fit when they
are closed. The felt kind of conforms to seal the gap.

The felt has a peel off stick'em but I think I used some E-6000 adhesive as well.

It looks good. seals perfectly but I have no idea about how they will hold up
over time.

Just another idea from a guy building on a budget:eek:

Dave
-9A finish kit
 
Do any of you guys using the Stein eyeballs have any pics of the install? That is one of the things on my list to change in our 6..
 
Different approach, cost zero: make an air valve.

Grab an old 50mm Honda throttle body, bandsaw the excess material, then run it in the lathe until nothing is left but the throat and butterfly. Excellent seal.

 
This sounds.....

jsharkey said:
I have also heard of folks tying a suitably sized sink plug to a lanyard near the vent and using it to close off the vent when needed
Click to expand...

.....like something Jeff Foxworthy should include in you might be a redneck if.......:D
 
jsharkey said:
There are instructions with the plastic vents to cast some RTV around the edge of the butterfly and form a gasket seal.

Has anyone ever gone to the trouble of doing that and does it work?
Click to expand...

I tried the RTV route but it wouldn't stick that well on the smooth surface, so I cut some thin strips of adhesive-backed felt (or maybe it was the "soft" half of Velcro) and put them in front of the gaps. So far, it works really well, and it was very inexpensive.

I know that the aluminum vents are probably the way to go, but if this solution works out, I can't justify spending that much money on them.
 
The plastic vents make the airplane slightly slower

I changed out the plastic vents to get rid of ventilation leakage drag. If you can close those vents completely the plane flies faster and it can be seen on the airspeed indicator. I did it before I started keeping comparitive test records but as a simulation just crack you vents and you can see the airspeed drop. Close it and the airspeed comes back.

Bob Axsom
 
Purchase the aluminum vents

I purchased the plastic ones from Vans. Look at them when i received them then returned immediately. Was very disappointed in the quality and gap. Purchased the aluminum ones and like them.
 
vans vents

jsharkey said:
There are instructions with the plastic vents to cast some RTV around the edge of the butterfly and form a gasket seal.

Has anyone ever gone to the trouble of doing that and does it work?

YES,my vans vents have the rtv gasket and are on year 16 .no leaks,work fine.
Click to expand...
 
Bob Axsom said:
I changed out the plastic vents to get rid of ventilation leakage drag. If you can close those vents completely the plane flies faster and it can be seen on the airspeed indicator. I did it before I started keeping comparitive test records but as a simulation just crack you vents and you can see the airspeed drop. Close it and the airspeed comes back.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

There is a good possibility that I am wrong, but the first thing that occured to me is that if your airspeed diference is measurable, you probably have a static system leak inside the cockpit. The vent would raise the static pressure, reducing the indicated airspeed.
 
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