# Replacing Bathroom Vent Fan



## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

Anyone replace the OEM bathroom vent fan on their 21rs ? I seem to be getting to a stall and this project hasn't even started. The original fan in the bathroom grenaded last fall. So I figured I would put the nicer fan in its place. Bought a three speed 'fantastic' fan, it has a nice dark tinted cover. Looks like it will fit in the cut out.

Original fan has a metal frame that is under the EPDM rubber with the screws into the plywood roof.
Stall warning lights appear. 
There is a Maxxair vent cover that is installed over the fan, with four holes drilled through the sides of the fan frame and four bolts holding something like four 'L' brackets that the Maxxair vent cover mounts too. Its pretty wild how its attached. No way that will work on this new fan frame as it is plastic. So the project has hit the wall. Annoyed. 
I guess I have to find a new Maxxair cover and figure out how it will attach to a plastic fan frame. Fan came with no install instructions but I think I can figure out how to remove the fan from the roof. Looks like new fan screw mount on the plywood the same way. Looks like I need to get some Dicor Lap sealant.

Little bit bigger project than I expected. I guess I should have climbed up on the roof to see what was there. Haven't taken the oem fan frame out so I can still close the cap. but I think if I take the Maxxair cover off, I'm at a point of no return and have to replace the fan.
Guess this is a warning if you are thinking on replacing the vent fans
Best regards


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## Gr8daggett (Oct 19, 2011)

I have a Fantastic Fan waiting for good weather so I can replace the bathroom vent & Fan.
Replaced the vent in my living area last summer with a Fantastic Fan ... with great success for me.
The hardest part is gently getting the old Dicor off the roof without damaging it.
I don't anticipate any problems with the bath fan. At least the power is already there.
I think the Fantastic vent Fan is worth the effort.

Get a tube or two of _*Non-Sag *_Dicor. I also ordered the vent cover specifically for the Fantastic Fan
and sold my Maxxair cover at a swap meet.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

If you purchased the fan locally, my suggestion would be to return it and purchase a Vortex II fan. The great thing about this fan is it can be installed from the inside of your camper with no need to remove factory Dicor seal. Mine has worked great for a couple of seasons now.


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## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

H2oSprayer said:


> If you purchased the fan locally, my suggestion would be to return it and purchase a Vortex II fan. The great thing about this fan is it can be installed from the inside of your camper with no need to remove factory Dicor seal. Mine has worked great for a couple of seasons now.


That's it ! I wish I had bought that H2osprayer. Yeah, return - exchange something, That's what I need to do.
Less cutting, more air.
Thanks ! 
Best regards,


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

I can 2nd the Vortex. I put one in ours about 4yrs ago and it was pretty simple and still works good. A little loud but have outstanding airflow that you will feel gushing under the door. No moisture in bathroom after a hot shower. We have a Maxxair II cover on ours and it works fine


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I did the Vortex II in our 2008 21RS. We liked it so much that I removed it when we traded the trailer in and installed in our new 2013 250RS.


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## Colorado Camper (Jan 19, 2013)

A Vortex II along with a Maxxair vent cover was the first mod I ever did on a trailer. I won't say it was a piece of cake but pretty close. All done in one short afternoon. I'd search ebay though I got mine new for half of what camping world wants. Just a word of caution... flushing while the vent is on high can bring up some unpleasant odors. However the fan on high can cover unpleasant sounds... your choice. It is plenty quiet on the lower settings though.


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## MJV (Apr 19, 2012)

We have had both kinds of fans. We had a Fantastic Fan in our previous trailer --A Forrest River Cherokee Lite. This was standard equipment in the bathroom. This is an excellent product with a great warranty (we used it) and is multi speeds--and very quiet, on low settings.

In our Outback, I installed a Vortex (the cheaper version) in the center vent of the 210RS. It is a very inexpensive upgrade and was almost "stupid easy" as you can install it without changing the vent! I did upgrade the little Mickey Mouse single switch, with a surplus, 3 speed switch, from a local automotive store.-----B. T. way, I fished a wire from the front ceiling lite over the front bunks, for a live wire at the vent (not to hard to do).

So although the Fantastic Fan is higher quality, and a bit quieter (with a great warranty) You can't beat the cost, and easy installation of the Vortex fan.


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

I'll 5th the Vortex retrofit fan if the topic is still relevant. It has outstanding airflow and was easy to install without disturbing the factory vent housing.


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## JimB3 (Apr 23, 2014)

Just completed replacing my bathroom fan with the Vortex 2 unit.

*Pro's:*

Easy to replace from inside
Good airflow
Relatively cheap ($70)

*Cons:*

Unit packed in box with no plastic bag - white plastic had a lot of dirt stuck to it (static cling)
Parts bag had only 1 wire nut. On the other hand, the nut was too small for the heavy wire in my trailer anyway
Parts bag had no machine screw for attaching gearbox to my existing Ventline cover. Stock Ventline knob screw is too long to re-use. I had to come up with my own 8-32 x 1/2" screw.
Motor is surprisingly noisy. On the outside, it looks about the same size and feels to be about the same weight as the Fantastic Fan in my old Lance truck camper. I had the blade off to help gain access to tuck in the wiring and turned the motor on by itself. It had the high frequency cheap bushing (i.e. Harbor Freight power tool) sound. Putting the blade on actually damps some of the noise. There is no excuse for a quality electric motor to emit anything other than a low hum when it is running without load.
The unit has two mounting locations for the vent cover gearbox. There is no cover provided for the unused set of holes, so there is a unsealed 3/8" hole and two 1/8" holes. Hello gnats, fleas and mosquitoes
The removable screen is more convenient than the type with the clips, but the holes for the 4 tabs are outboard of the screen. These present another four 1/2" x 1/8" holes for bugs to get in.

All in all, it is a good replacement for the (totally worthless) stock bathroom unit. Not as loud and moves a bunch more air. With the bathroom door closed, most of the noise is cut out. However, if I ever add a fan to a vent in the living area, I would never use this unit and would only consider a Fantastic Fan.

It's too bad Fantastic does not have a product to fill this niche (stock replacement without disturbing roof seal). If they did, they would quickly own the market.


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## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

robertized said:


> For those of you out there on a budget like me, there is another way to make the bathroom vent fan useable and more efficient. I removed the screen that covers the vent on the inside of the bath vent. Before you remove the screen take a felt tip pen or something else to mark the location of the center of the fan blade. I went to Wal-Mart and found a ¼" white project board that has a foam center and paper on both sides. This material works as insulation in the vent but still allows light to come in. I cut the project board to fit on top of the vent screen and then marked the location of the center of the fan blade on the new insert. I used a compass/divider to mark a 6" circle on the insert, and then cut it out leaving a hole to match up with the fan blade. This insert works as a shroud to prevent the air moved by the fan blade from circling back around on its self, now it has nowhere else to go but up and out the top of the roof vent opening. You will be surprised at the performance of the vent fan now. Good Luck.
> 
> http://www.outbacker..._1850_16065.jpg


That is a great idea. Thanks.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

I replaced the small, undersized motor in my bathroom fan with a larger, higher speed version I got on ebay for around $5. Took me about a half hour to swap the motors and our bathroom vent fan roars now! It does not move as much air as a Fantastic Fan, but it is plenty good for the purpose and small space.

You got to wonder about these RV manufacturers, for an extra couple bucks they could provide a fan with a larger motor that actually functions for its intended purpose, yet they decide to instead provide a pathetic alternative that is pretty much worthless.

DAN


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## JimB3 (Apr 23, 2014)

Update to my June 11 post above. On the second trip out after installing the Vortex replacement fan, the variable speed switch quit working on low and medium exhaust (fan does not move at all on when switch is in either of those two positions). I now have only High (exhaust), Off, and the two reverse speeds.

This is a major problem because this unit is way too noisy on high speed. I basically only used Medium as that moved enough air without being too noisy.

The box and the crappy Xerox copied instructions that came with the unit don't mention anything about a warranty. I would hope it at least has a 90 day warranty that this malfunction easily falls under. Contacting the manufacturer and eBay seller to see what they will do for me.

I have a feeling that when I look back in a year, this will have been a complete waste of $70 that I could have put toward a Fantastic Fan.


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