Forget curtains, blinds or tint.

Interesting, Capn Bill. Haven't had time to read in detail. It appears that the film goes opaque in the power-off mode. Also set up to work on DC. Anyone have experience with this material? Cost?

Seems to me that a system that "fails" to the blind mode ain't all that smart.

AlaskaProf said:

Seems to me that a system that "fails" to the blind mode ain't all that smart.

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Took the words right out of my mouth!
Bruce

My thought, too, AP. But, as I said, haven't had time to thoroughly look at the piece. I may be incorrect.

Offf the subject, I didn't know Rawson made power boats. Admire the look of her!

sbu22 said:

My thought, too, AP. But, as I said, haven't had time to thoroughly look at the piece. I may be incorrect.

Offf the subject, I didn't know Rawson made power boats. Admire the look of her!

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Thanks, she is a beauty, just acquired in May...one look closed the deal.

A friend once said: "You can compliment my wife, kids, my house, my dog. But if you want to make me feel really good, say something nice about my boat."

Actually, most Rawsons are powerboats, very stout workboats. Alaska is full of Rawson gillnetters and power-trollers. If you look at one of those clunky 30 foot sloops, its heritage shows.

sbu22 said:

Interesting, Capn Bill. Haven't had time to read in detail. It appears that the film goes opaque in the power-off mode. Also set up to work on DC. Anyone have experience with this material? Cost?

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I have not got a chance to work with it yet.

It does power off to opaque.

But I don't think that is such a big deal.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I have not got a chance to work with it yet.

It does power off to opaque.

But I don't think that is such a big deal.

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The concern of course if there is some power failure, circuit failure, wiring fault etc.... suddenly you can't see out of your PH windows. That could be inconvenient to say the least.

My guess is that power on opaque is currently not possible with the technology.

dhays said:

The concern of course if there is some power failure, circuit failure, wiring fault etc.... suddenly you can't see out of your PH windows. That could be inconvenient to say the least.

My guess is that power on opaque is currently not possible with the technology.

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It's only a concern if you don't have an upper helm.

Or radar.

I just couldn't handle the yellow stained nasty curtains any longer. Probably used too much bleach on the wash trial, Judging by the fabric tear... but I'll tone it down on the rest of them. I pulled them all out yesterday and I'm going to wash them all till I can find an affordable replacement. Sure smell better.....

Well, I'm no engineer, but I've been taught that any properly designed system fails-to-safe. Seems to be a simple test.

How, exactly, is this better than curtains?

AlaskaProf said:

How, exactly, is this better than curtains?

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It was a bit of hyperbole on my part obviously.

But there is also obviously a use for them. People just have to use their own judgement as to where and when.

Capt.Bill11 said:

But there is also obviously a use for them.

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Maybe on the south side of my house, but probably not on my boat...or my airplane.

AlaskaProf said:

Maybe on the south side of my house, but probably not on my boat...or my airplane.

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See, you used your own judgement.

Well electric opacity is nothing new. You can find electric reactive glass that will either go clear when on or the opposite go drk when on. This is has been used for places like public toilets or things like that. Only drawback is that you need constant alimentation to get the opposite state so may not be the most energy efficient depending of the usage and the price is quite high.
Some years ago I rebuilt a bathroom in my house and wanted to install a glass door that would become dark when light is on but at 2000$ it was a bit too much for me.

36" x 36" = $531. Way too expensive for me.
Arch

I also would prefer power-OFF-to view. With proper power redundancy, the power-to-view issue shouldn't be a problem, especially if it's not used on the windshield glass. I like exterior canvas to keep the windshield clean and dry for those early morning departures.

Arch said:

36" x 36" = $531. Way too expensive for me.
Arch

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Pretty cool stuff, but agree it's way too expensive for my boat budget.

Does anyone know if the wires are actually connected to the tint material?
If so, how would that work on a sliding window?

There is a very good reason the MVA prohibits a tint on the windshield and the front side windows in cars, at least in BC. The same should apply to the boat, unless you have no helm on that level.

koliver said:

There is a very good reason the MVA prohibits a tint on the windshield and the front side windows in cars, at least in BC. The same should apply to the boat, unless you have no helm on that level.

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That is what would be nice about this type of tinting technology. Tints on the windshield would be fine for bright sunny days but are dangerous in low light conditions.

Greetings,
Mr. dh. I agree but an alternative might be... Windows for High-performance Commercial Buildings

I went in search for a window film that would limit heat transmission in the Florida sun and make our pilothouse A/C effective, but the available alternatives to the really good $$tuff from 3M left some distortion that neither my Admiral or I found acceptable to use on our brand new pilothouse windows It looks like we're going to end up with the 3M Prestige Series stuff after all, expensive but very effective, as reported by quite a few new Krogen owners who've installed the film on pilothouse windows. They claim the film is perfectly clear but almost zero heat transmission. The eventual plan is also for sunbrella window canvas.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. dh. I agree but an alternative might be... Windows for High-performance Commercial Buildings

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Yes, that would be great.

healhustler said:

I went in search for a window film that would limit heat transmission in the Florida sun and make our pilothouse A/C effective, but the available alternatives to the really good $$tuff from 3M left some distortion that neither my Admiral or I found acceptable to use on our brand new pilothouse windows It looks like we're going to end up with the 3M stuff after all, expensive but very effective, as reported by quite a few new Krogen owners who've installed the film on pilothouse windows. They claim the film is perfectly clear but almost zero heat transmission. The eventual plan is also for sunbrella window canvas.

Click to expand...

I like the idea of the 3M film as well. I would love to have it installed on my PH windows. Right now, cost is the problem. I just contracted with a local guy to make pfeifertex (sp?) exterior screens for all my PH windows. While this won't help while under way, it should help a lot when at the dock or on the hook.

Some day though, a thermal film will likely be installed. (I still have to sell my sailboat).

Dave: I ain't got money to burn either, but our eventual plan includes A/C for the pilothouse. The way I see it, A/C application in that area will need to work so hard in Florida that I'll need another 16K BTU just to do an 8.5' x 12.5' area. With the film, 5K BTU might do it.

Boeing seem to have succeeded with the windows on the 787s, which can individually darken and lighten at the touch of a button.

BruceK said:

Boeing seem to have succeeded with the windows on the 787s, which can individually darken and lighten at the touch of a button.

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Wouldn't that be nice in a boat!

Our new blinds that stay where you put them. $100 each.

AlaskaProf said:

Well, I'm no engineer, but I've been taught that any properly designed system fails-to-safe. Seems to be a simple test.

How, exactly, is this better than curtains?

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We design our labs here to fail-secure in event of a fire. Truly ridiculous - even Civil Defense Department hates us!

Blinds - nearly every time for us. Curtains when pulled back still usually block at least a few inches of window. Regarding the "film" mentioned in this thread.... if it took elect power to darken and no power to make clear - then great! But the way I perceive it currently happening, i.e. power to make clear and no power to darken = chance for catastrophic problems in one way or another regarding boats or motor homes.

Wow that is cool. But to many $$$ for my 1988 boat. Last year we installed day and night blinds from Blindster.com. For all 4 windows it was less than $400.