Maxx Air Fan

[ri-f]

Adding fuel to the fire...one other issue has been widely reported, with regards to the circuit board. beyond the issue of voltage spikes killing boards (the boards can handle up to 15v, but not sustained, they want to see less than 13.8 on a regular basis - ideally 12.9v, which you can achieve through a regulator), the other issue is condensation on the boards for any model made before 2019. It is recomended to apply a conformal coating the board (both sides) as well as the back (not the face) of the keypad with something like CRC urethane seal coat, and also plug the hole where the power wires enter the fan - where water droplets can drip onto the circuit board. No kidding, this is now considered preventative maintenance for a product that is poorly designed (at least from an electrical point of view). It's still a great design in other aspects though, which is why many people are willing to put up with all this stuff and take these extra lengths to preserve the integrity of the printed circuit boards on these fans which are, electrically not well designed. The newer fans 2019-present, have a conformal coating on the PCB, which should prevent the condensation issue. But the voltage should really be regulated to 12.9v to prevent failure.

 

[BrianG]

Pvstoy, you said you drilled new holes? No matter where I move the new frame there are still a number of holes that are aligned or partially aligned. Any tips or just do the best I can!

 

[pvstoy]

Pvstoy, you said you drilled new holes? No matter where I move the new frame there are still a number of holes that are aligned or partially aligned. Any tips or just do the best I can!

.
Center the vent base the best you can for equal sealing around the flange with the butyl tape under. With the Sheetmetal screws provided I just zipped them into the Sheetmetal/aluminum roof. You could drill a very small pilot hole but not necessary. If the new screws are in the existing hole don't go overboard tightening as you could strip the threads out.

Screw the base down evenly squishing the butyl tape. You can let it set for a while and the tape will slowly flatten out allowing the screws a little more hand tightening. A second time around after the first time is fine as you could keep going and squish too much loosing the benefit of the butyl tape. Temperature will make the tape firm or squish more After your are happy with it coat the screw heads and around the base with dicor or similar.

 

[BrianG]

Thanks Patrick, that explanation really helps.

 

[Jack]

What is FWC doing about the Maxx Air fan voltage? It seems that failures are actually not very common, but I know FWC looks for reliability and vendor support of the products that they install (not surprising).

 

[ri-f]

What is FWC doing about the Maxx Air fan voltage? It seems that failures are actually not very common, but I know FWC looks for reliability and vendor support of the products that they install (not surprising).

Don't agree that failures aren't very common. There are a significant number of failures of the PCB, mostly reported on remote control unit models (7000 series), but certainly not limited to those models. If you call or e-mail MaxxAir tech support they will absolutely tell you that unless your voltage stays below 13.6v you must install an in-line voltage regulator, preferably one that will allow you to set the voltage at 12.9v.

Don't know what FWC is doing with regards to regulating voltage on the model that they install, which I don't think is the same model that most people have been installing over the last few years (6000 or 7000 series with built in rain guards). Nevertheless, the manufacturer of these fans have made it very clear that the failure rate has caused them to replace plenty of boards under warranty and now tell you flat out to install a regulator if your charging voltage is typically higher than 13.6v for long periods of time. If you're using solar, your voltage will definitely be >14v for significant periods of time.

 

[Mthomas]

All this RV stuff is junk. Now that FWC has switched, I am sure that in a year or two, everyone will be asking for a fantastic Fan option on the build sheet.

 

[UmkaAndHawk]

My local vendor, RMFWC installed a Maxxair fan instead of Fantastic Fan.
While I can't compare, I can say that the Maxxair fan is excellent.

 

[Hoopy]

MaxxFan speeds 4, 5, and 6 match up to Fantastic Fan speeds 1, 2 and 3 pretty close in amp draw.
My MaxxFan draws ~ 0.2A on 1 and 0.4A on 2, both in and out (Trimetric reported). I can hardly hear it running (but my hearing is bad anyway). This is where I usually run it.
My MaxxFan draws 4.6A (air in) and 4.5A (out) on high speed. Run only when I need to clear dog farts really fast

I am impressed with the draw of the MaxxFan more efficient by far and can leave open in rain and snow . hoopy

 

[Northbynortheast]

Hi all,

I’m hoping to get a little clarification of the MaxxAir installation. Some have referred to the changeover from fantastic to be “drop in”. The thread also includes discussion about butyl tape, screw holes... Someone mentioned leaving the old frame in place. Drop in to me, means using the old vent cutout “which I understand is an industry standard size”, changing out the fan “guts” and cover, no new holes, caulk. What’s actually required? Removing and replacing the frame on the external roof? Etc. I’d appreciate knowing what I’m getting into ahead of time.

Thx.

 

[pvstoy]

Hi all,

I’m hoping to get a little clarification of the MaxxAir installation. Some have referred to the changeover from fantastic to be “drop in”. The thread also includes discussion about butyl tape, screw holes... Someone mentioned leaving the old frame in place. Drop in to me, means using the old vent cutout “which I understand is an industry standard size”, changing out the fan “guts” and cover, no new holes, caulk. What’s actually required? Removing and replacing the frame on the external roof? Etc. I’d appreciate knowing what I’m getting into ahead of time.

Thx.

.
Drop in means that the roof square hole is standard size for roof vents.
To go from different fan manufactures takes removing the whole fan unit. Installing the new fan unit. Could use the existing inside trim as they are close enough, but easy to cut the new trim for length and install.

 

[Utah]

I just completed changing out of both the fore and aft vents on my Hawk with new MaxxFan vents. A new MaxxFan 4000K unit went in the forward vent opening (previously just a hatch that opened). A new MaxxFan Deluxe 6200K unit now installed in the rear opening (replacing the factory Fantastic fan unit).

My overall project was completed in 2 days. Yes, I removed the plastic “frame” or “base assembly” of the old units that was mounted on the roof. This involves removing the caulking, removing screws and lifting/prying up the frames and the old butyl tape that seals the frame to the roof. This was half of the job removing the old frames and cleaning/prepping the roof.

Installing the MaxxFan units was pretty straight foreward and I had no real issues.

 

[Utah]

front fan installed

 

[pvstoy]

Good work! Boy is that door opener head ever so close....

 

[Northbynortheast]

Bird skier,

Is there a solvent that you used to remove the last bit of dicor? I’ve noticed that acetone softens the roof paint and starts to remove it if left on too long. I’d like to avoid using it. Did you lay 2x? across the roof to work off of?

Thx.

 

[Utah]

The butyl tape mostly stuck to the plastic frame rather than the roof. The small bits that remained on the roof could be peeled up by hand using a scraper. A heat gun helped soften the tape up prior to lifting the old frame. The old Dicor self leveling lap sealant was a bit harder to remove. Most of it can be removed using a scraper. I did use some acetone and also noticed that it was softening and affecting the paint on the roof. You could try just using some alcohol to get as much of Dicor as possible removed and avoid the acetone.

I layed down a moving blanket and some 4 foot sections of 3/4 inch plywood on the roof and worked off of those.

The pictures are with the roof raised up. I did the work mostly with the roof lowered while I was on top.

 

[bajaphile]

I just installed a Fantastic Fan last year and the quality seems nice. My main issue with it is that anything above the low setting is pretty noisy. Is the Maxx Air quieter? Any other roof vents with fans that run with less noise? And I don't buy the whole thing that "it is just air moving" as my cheap $20 oscillating fan in my bedroom pushes 5x as much air and is near silent!

 

[ri-f]

The Fantastic fan is loud and an energy pig unless you modify it. There are discussions on how to do this. If you like, you can look at my page (see signature below) and about half way down are a couple of photos and a wiring diagram for the mod. It's a simple mod and the results will give you a very quiet, high-efficiency fan for about a $10 investment in materials.

The MaxxAir won't be any more quiet or energy efficient than your modified FF.

Rich

 

[DarinH]

Just picked up my '21 Grandby and it came with the Maxx fans with a remote control.

 

[pods8]

Poking in here to see what the word was on fans these days, noted the fantastic-fan reputation when downhill bigtime. Settled on the maxxfan for our trailer, just putting in the 4 speed basic one. I had read the reviews on the circuit boards and was saddened but at the same time the mechanicals of the fan seemed the best. I am putting in 3 of them (and 400W of solar) so probably going to need to sadly look into a voltage regulator (in my case I think I can put one in the main supply line, I think the lights are a separate circuit, need to double check).

Anyway the main point of logging in and commenting: my thought is worst case in the long run if the circuit boards fry is just trash can that and put in a PWM dial instead and have a manual dial to speed up down linearly. (Frankly I am not really fired up about the push buttons in the first place but not going to mess with anything while it works). As long as the motor and crank are working the basic electrical portions can my fairly easily overhauled in the base model.


BTW: if anyone is wonder about the aluminum truck camper build, it'll resume here sooner or later. We moved last summer and between fall freezer filling and such I didn't have a chance to rewire the garage (it had ONE outlet...) I just finished that up with a couple new 20A circuits and a 50A plug for my welder. Also purchased a travel trailer for the more spacious family trips and have been busy getting that all squared away as we have a lot more family trips now with that being a bit more suited to 3 kids! I will still build my truck camper though because I LOVE having a truck camper for my solo and/or 1-2kid excursions.