If you had only 1 vent fan which location is preferred?

[pods8]

Planning to add at least one fantastic fan vent, wondering what thoughts people have on location for those that have them? I'm leaning towards the rear slot due to my stove being located over the fridge but I'm open to hearing opinions before pulling the trigger.

 

[simimike]

On my Granby I put the fan in the rear vent. My reasoning being that it would pull the cooking smells directly out the vent. If I needed air flow in the cab over area I could open the front vent and exhaust the rear vent for fresh air. The down side being I have to get out of bed to turn off the vent. I'm thinking a rheostat adjustable fan in the front vent is in my future. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[ScottBailey]

Planning to add at least one fantastic fan vent, wondering what thoughts people have on location for those that have them? I'm leaning towards the rear slot due to my stove being located over the fridge but I'm open to hearing opinions before pulling the trigger.

I have FF's on both.

I often open the front vent at night, but rarely use it's fan.

I often open the rear vent during the day and ALWAYS run the fan while cooking. If you cook "indoors", put yours here.

SB

 

[HERR42]

you have to have one over the stove.

 

[dbolton]

I've got both vents; the Fantastic Fan is over the bed. While cooking, the static (non-fan) vent seems to provide sufficient airflow to exhaust and eliminate odors. If you find that the vent isn't keeping up, turning on the fan moves roughly same CFM regardless of location (with the fan set to exhaust and everthing else closed up, you can feel the fan sucking in air through the turnbuckle handholes).

Having the fan on over the bed set to "intake" is great when sleeping in hot climates, napping etc.

Dan

 

[mtn-high]

Our set up is that same as yours, Dan. We almost popped for 2 fans but opted for one over the bed in the end. If I lived anywhere that it was consistently warm/hot (over 85 is hot to us) I would have certainly went with 2 powered units.

Our logic for the placement of the single fan over the bed was that we felt we'd enjoy the comfort the fan provides while sleeping more than we'd need it for cooking as we don't usually focus on meals that need to be cooked inside while camping.

We also decided early on that the last thing we wanted to wallow in and the fastest thing that will screw the interior of a camper up is cooking residue (y'all need s'more bacon?")...so in a year we've hardly used the stove for anything beyond the AM coffee(s).

I too would also like to come up with a rheostat set up. I found this control unit online at

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/si50warh.html

Can any of the electrical guru types here discern if this would work or steer me to a similar unit that will? (there's a smaller 25 watt unit on the page also)

here in the hills even LOW speed is often too much so a rheostat would be a great addition.

mtn

 

[camelracer]

I have the fans in both the front and rear vents. If I had to choose between the 2 locations I would put it over the bed. It is great to have a little breeze on you during those hot hot nights.

Dick

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

Pods,

Ours came with the rear FF and it's worked good for us since we cook inside regularly and aren't usually camping in hot weather.

Friends suggested getting a small portable DC (batt or 12V) fan so that we could direct it as desired when it's hot but we haven't had a need yet.

'birds

 

[pods8]

Sounds like a 50/50 split currently.

 

[mtnman]

Rear position if cooking inside

If you plan on cooking inside, I would definitely have a fan in the rear vent position. I do my BBQ'ing outside, but don't want to haul around an extra stove for general cooking outside. That's what the cooktop is for. I like a harty breakfast of hashbrowns, sausage and eggs, when I'm hiking hard. I put the fan on about a medium setting, open the side window flap above the stove a bit (at a minimum), open the side window behind the sofa, and cook away. All of the greasy smoke / steam exhausts almost straight up and out. My camper looks as clean as the day it was built.

BTW, if you are buying a new camper and are pinching pennys, just buy the vent options and then install your own Fantastic fans. You can have more than two for the price of one. Search this forum for Fantastic Vent or Fan, and you will find great advice on doing the retrofit. It is very simple. I purchased the Fantastic vent for about $140, and followed the advice of one member who suggested simply installing the "guts" of the fan in the stock vent frame. The stock vent frame is made by Fantastic Vent and is the exact same form factor as the one that comes with the Fantastic Fan. Doing the retrofit in this manner saves you from having to scrape the old caulk and re-apply new caulk. Really slick!

 

[dsrtrat]

Fantastic fan speed control

Check out this thread before you buy the control. I tried a pulse width modulator and it didn't work. The resistor fix works fine. Gives you six speeds. Just keep the resistor in the airflow and away from the mounts.

Dsrtrat

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?p=14120

 

[fatpete]

I just did the guts swap out on my new Hawk. Due to an ordering mistake, I have an extra Fantastic Fan 4000r that I'll sell to anyone on the forum for $100 plus shipping. I also have a complete vent, no fan that I'll sell for $25 plus ship. I wasn't going to spring for a fan, but like everyone else, I'm glad I did.

 

[pods8]

BTW, if you are buying a new camper and are pinching pennys, just buy the vent options and then install your own Fantastic fans. You can have more than two for the price of one. Search this forum for Fantastic Vent or Fan, and you will find great advice on doing the retrofit. It is very simple. I purchased the Fantastic vent for about $140, and followed the advice of one member who suggested simply installing the "guts" of the fan in the stock vent frame. The stock vent frame is made by Fantastic Vent and is the exact same form factor as the one that comes with the Fantastic Fan. Doing the retrofit in this manner saves you from having to scrape the old caulk and re-apply new caulk. Really slick!

Nope I have a 99' that currently doesn't have a fan that I'd like to add one and will likely be doing a "guts" swap if I put it in the rear or full install if I go up front.

I just did the guts swap out on my new Hawk. Due to an ordering mistake, I have an extra Fantastic Fan 4000r that I'll sell to anyone on the forum for $100 plus shipping.

Whats shipping cost to 98204.

 

[fatpete]

$15 for the complete fan, $10 for the vent only one. The complete one has the dome lid, the vent only is the flat lid.
Pete

 

[mtn-high]

Not to hijack yer thread, pods...

but all of this talk of adding fans/etc. just spurned the purchase here of a new 6600 w/remote....so it appears I'll be doing a bit of retro'ing myself.

I looked around but didn't find an answer quickly...so I'll ask the experts...

If I want to put this new fan in the rear vent what will I have to do to get power to it? Surely I won't be lucky enough to find a second set of wires running right to the rear location...right? If not..what kinda "fishin'" is involved to get a wire over that way? Any advice is appreciated

I found these units for as little as $208.99 on ebay. The add-on kit to make an existing fan a remote/multi-speed/etc was almost $200...so it seemed like a no-brainer to simply buy the entire unit for a few bucks more. I was originally planning on buying a rheostat/etc. for the first/existing FF and an Endless Breeze portable fan (found as low as $55) but I think this will be easier/less troublesome in the long run.

turn on, cook in, vent out...

mtn

 

[pods8]

$15 for the complete fan, $10 for the vent only one. The complete one has the dome lid, the vent only is the flat lid.
Pete

Cool I'll shoot you a PM.

If I want to put this new fan in the rear vent what will I have to do to get power to it? Surely I won't be lucky enough to find a second set of wires running right to the rear location...right? If not..what kinda "fishin'" is involved to get a wire over that way? Any advice is appreciated


Actually I think the factory prewires for these so you likely would have them there.

 

[mtnman]

Not to hijack yer thread, pods...

but all of this talk of adding fans/etc. just spurned the purchase here of a new 6600 w/remote....so it appears I'll be doing a bit of retro'ing myself.

I looked around but didn't find an answer quickly...so I'll ask the experts...

If I want to put this new fan in the rear vent what will I have to do to get power to it? Surely I won't be lucky enough to find a second set of wires running right to the rear location...right? If not..what kinda "fishin'" is involved to get a wire over that way? Any advice is appreciated

I found these units for as little as $208.99 on ebay. The add-on kit to make an existing fan a remote/multi-speed/etc was almost $200...so it seemed like a no-brainer to simply buy the entire unit for a few bucks more. I was originally planning on buying a rheostat/etc. for the first/existing FF and an Endless Breeze portable fan (found as low as $55) but I think this will be easier/less troublesome in the long run.

turn on, cook in, vent out...

mtn

Pod's correct. The vent locations are pre-wired for the fan. You'll find the wires when you remove the interior trim. (At least this was the case for my 2008. Not sure which years FWC started pre-wiring.) Pretty slick