Fantastic Fan retrofit

digging this thread and all the input from members with fans!

i am sooo close to pulling the trigger! now i just have to decide which one to get!

thanks for the links guys!
 
15 year old fantastic fan...

I bought my FF at Camping World over 15 years ago, put it in myself (and I am NOT very handy): no leaks, no regrets.... Oh yeah, and I replaced the lid on it once (don't drive on the freeway with it wide open). I had to tap into the power to one of the ceiling lights (replaced those with thin-light florescents from, you guessed it, Camping World), snaking the wire between the insulation and headliner. Not elegant, but it works. A vent over the bed would be nice...

Art
'86 Blazer
 
My fantastic fan installation

I liked the idea so much and heard such great things about them, that I ordered one and received it today. Removal of the old vent and installation of the new fan went smoothly until I tested the electrical.

It turns out I had no continuity to ground on the factory installed wires coming out at the vent hole. A slight tug on the ground wire and it pulled loose to show it had been cut nearly all the way through. I guess it was cut by a staple holding the roof up. The yellow wire going to the interior light had good continuity, but a tug on it indicated something was holding it too, so I fished 2 new wires going to the fan.

I'm glad I tested the electrical before screwing down the vent and applying silicon sealant as I would have had to pull it out again just to fish new wires between the interior light and the vent hole. Before it got too dark to work, I was at least able to test the fan...It's nice and quiet and seems to move a lot of air.

Like almost every project I take on, it looks like it will be easy, but usually it requires an extra visit to the hardware store, or more time than I currently have.
 
Like almost every project I take on, it looks like it will be easy, but usually it requires an extra visit to the hardware store, or more time than I currently have.
YUP!

Mike
 
It turns out I had no continuity to ground on the factory installed wires coming out at the vent hole. A slight tug on the ground wire and it pulled loose to show it had been cut nearly all the way through. I guess it was cut by a staple holding the roof up. The yellow wire going to the interior light had good continuity, but a tug on it indicated something was holding it too, so I fished 2 new wires going to the fan.


I had the same problem, bro', but I neglected to mention it. Sorry!! :(

In my 2001 Hawk, the wiring is assembled with those crimp tap connectors at branch circuits. These things are famous for un-crimping. Like you, I fished wires from the light over, using wire nuts and properly stripped and twisted wire ends, not those crappy blue things.

When I run my fan on high the light dims. I am considering fishing a new pair up from the terminal block so that the fan has its own separate branch circuit.
 
Like almost every project I take on, it looks like it will be easy, but usually it requires an extra visit to the hardware store, or more time than I currently have.

Back in The Old Days, stores weren't open on Sundays in a lot of places, so the Rule of Thumb in my neighborhood was to never start a project on a Sunday, esp plumbing!!

I like all my ground wires going back to the common point so I know there is minimal voltage loss from bad connections or too much shared ground.
 
Just reading a thread on the TC Forum at RV.NET about tucking in pop-up campers and a number of posters mentioned turning on the vent fan, closing the door and letting the fan suck in the sides as the roof is lowered.
 
Pete D
I'm not sure turning on the exhaust vent will help much on our campers. The campers mentioned in that thread had roof lifting systems that lowered them slowly compared to our campers. I don't think the exhaust fan has the flow capacity to move that volume in a couple the of seconds it takes our roofs to come down.

Dick
 
New fan (toy), I had to test this...

It turns out leaving the back door open is a much better method of evacuating the air when you lower the top than using the vent fan. I heard a change in pitch of the fan as I lowered the top and had more tucking in from the outside to do than ever before.

On a side note, the guy I bought the camper from told me that when there is a substantial amount of snow on the roof, the best way to lower the top was to close all the doors and windows, pull the support, then barely crack the vent and let the escaping air slowly lower the roof. He also told me that once he had the rear door faced into a strong wind, and when he opened the door after releasing all the latches, the top popped up all by itself.
 
Didn't work for me, either...

It turns out leaving the back door open is a much better method of evacuating the air when you lower the top than using the vent fan. I heard a change in pitch of the fan as I lowered the top and had more tucking in from the outside to do than ever before.

Yah, that was the first thing I tried after seeing how much airflow the fan created. For about two minutes, I was a true believer.

Then, I went out and walked 'round the truck.

Lately, I'm puzzling over the idea of stretching a humongous bungie all the way around the outside of the cloth top...
 
I just installed my Fantastic Fan.While I was removing the old unit I discovered that the frame looked the same as the Fantastic Fan. It is indeed exactly the same.So I decided to look into installing the guts from the new one.That way I would not have to disturb the fine sealing job from the factory.Not to mention cleaning and scraping the old caulk.Well to make a long story short it worked out great.I got it from RV Parts Outlet for $141.20 shiped.
 
I just installed my Fantastic Fan.While I was removing the old unit I discovered that the frame looked the same as the Fantastic Fan. It is indeed exactly the same.So I decided to look into installing the guts from the new one.That way I would not have to disturb the fine sealing job from the factory.Not to mention cleaning and scraping the old caulk.Well to make a long story short it worked out great.I got it from RV Parts Outlet for $141.20 shiped.


My Ranger has an old style that I will have to do the whole thing. My friend in Reno has the same set up as you. As I was looking at it I told them that we could just get the guts to put in. (or by the whole thing and have spare parts) That is great that you did that and let us know.

Question: They have a dome that is flat, low profile style. Your fan that you put in was it a flat pancake unit or taller unit and do you also have the flat dome?. My other vent has a fan and it is the tall unit with a high dome.
 
The fan units come with the dome lid.The camper came with the flat lid.I had to change it out along with the crank mechanism.If you do this, change the crank or it will not close right.It took me a little while to figure that out.If you compare them side by side you will see that the roller is on the opposite side of the lift arm.There is a little plastic guide on the outside- passenger side of the frame that should be changed out also.It is not as wide as the one for the flat lid.
 
Once I pulled off the trim piece I could see 2 blue buttend connectors with a yellow and white wire attached. Those wires are hooked up to the light curcuit.I fished them out with a screwdriver with out any problem.There is a little spring loaded switch that will shut off the fan if the lid is closed.You will have to install that switch into the existing frame.You will also have to cut and reconect the 2 motor wires when installing the plate with the control switches.The only problem was figuring that the crank and the plastic spacer had to be changed out.I got a parts list with prices, with the new fan.It is way cheaper to buy the whole unit than just the parts needed to convert the existing vent.
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the heads up....

You would think that all thier fans would be the same. But no, FWC is putting in a low profile unit while you can get the tall version cheap at the local RV dealer. I'll have to do some searching and see if I can get the low profile unit. The owner might want to keep the flat vent cover.
 
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