# Fantastic Fan/vent



## Bob Landry (Apr 18, 2011)

I finally got tired of the smoke alarm in front of the stove going off every time we cooked. Gilligan, that would be Keystones chief designer, chose to use a long window behind the sink rather than vent to range hood to the outside. He compounded the problem by putting the smoke detector right in front of the stove. There was a non-motorizes vent in front of the stove, so I saw an opportunity to do something about it. The fantastic fan fits in the standard 14" opening. There is a ceiling light right next to, but I didn't want to have to turn on the ceiling lights just to have 12V to the vent. I pulled the microwave and found 2 sets of 12V/Gnd wires, one to the useless stove hood and the other to the under cabinet lights. It was easy enough to run a snake through the ceiling to where I could connect to one set of wires. Dicor sealed the frame on the roof and all is well. Total time for the job was around 2 hours including a sandwich break. DW is happy and that makes everyone happy.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Well done.

Even with all the fans I have in our trailer we still have to pull the smoke detector down when we make toast. They seem to be very sensitive.


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## Bill & Kate (Apr 28, 2012)

Bob Landry said:


> I finally got tired of the smoke alarm in front of the stove going off every time we cooked. Gilligan, that would be Keystones chief designer, chose to use a long window behind the sink rather than vent to range hood to the outside. He compounded the problem by putting the smoke detector right in front of the stove. There was a non-motorizes vent in front of the stove, so I saw an opportunity to do something about it. The fantastic fan fits in the standard 14" opening. There is a ceiling light right next to, but I didn't want to have to turn on the ceiling lights just to have 12V to the vent. I pulled the microwave and found 2 sets of 12V/Gnd wires, one to the useless stove hood and the other to the under cabinet lights. It was easy enough to run a snake through the ceiling to where I could connect to one set of wires. Dicor sealed the frame on the roof and all is well. Total time for the job was around 2 hours including a sandwich break. DW is happy and that makes everyone happy.


Bob -
I am planning the same mod, but haven't gotten around to pulling the microwave yet. How much room is there from the back of the microwave to the outside wall? When you had the microwave out could you determine whether or not there is room to run a duct up between the back of the microwave and the outside wall and vent it out of the trailer above the window?

Thanks


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

Bill & Kate said:


> I finally got tired of the smoke alarm in front of the stove going off every time we cooked. Gilligan, that would be Keystones chief designer, chose to use a long window behind the sink rather than vent to range hood to the outside. He compounded the problem by putting the smoke detector right in front of the stove. There was a non-motorizes vent in front of the stove, so I saw an opportunity to do something about it. The fantastic fan fits in the standard 14" opening. There is a ceiling light right next to, but I didn't want to have to turn on the ceiling lights just to have 12V to the vent. I pulled the microwave and found 2 sets of 12V/Gnd wires, one to the useless stove hood and the other to the under cabinet lights. It was easy enough to run a snake through the ceiling to where I could connect to one set of wires. Dicor sealed the frame on the roof and all is well. Total time for the job was around 2 hours including a sandwich break. DW is happy and that makes everyone happy.


Bob -
I am planning the same mod, but haven't gotten around to pulling the microwave yet. How much room is there from the back of the microwave to the outside wall? When you had the microwave out could you determine whether or not there is room to run a duct up between the back of the microwave and the outside wall and vent it out of the trailer above the window?

Thanks
[/quote]

I did the same mod as Bob several years ago on our 295RE for the fantastic fan. It is easy to do and very effective. There is some clearance but not a lot betwen the microwave and back wall. I looked at running a vent as you mentioned, but it didn't look real promising.

I replaced the factory microwave with a panasonic inverter microwave so I could run a microwave off my 1000W sine wave inverter. The panasonic actually varies power level rather than going on/off when set to other than 100% power. That way on lower power it draws less than 1000VA and it runs from my inverter and I don't have to start the generator when dry camping. The downside was that it was slightly deeper than the factory microwave and used up most of the extra room in the cabinet.


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## Ridgway-Rangers (Apr 18, 2008)

So I vented my range hood to the outside years ago and love it! It is nice to have the odors and smoke taken care of at the hood instead of through the vent with the fantasic fan. Here is the link to that mod. Ive included step by step instructions and phots to help. It does take a few hours so give yourself time. I know some folks had to worry about the studs in the wall. the easiest way to see if they are a factor is to go out to the trailer on a cool morning and you sill see the studs clearly.


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## Bill & Kate (Apr 28, 2012)

Yeah Ridge-Way, your mod is nicely done. The problem some of us have is that the window is directly behind where the vent hood is, so it is impossible to go straight out the back of the hood to the outside like you did. We would need to go up at least 6 inches or so then out. Makes the project more difficult as there reeally is not enough room to do that ....


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

We have a simple solution for the smoke detector problem. In our 2008 21RS, the smoke detector is the perfect size to cover with a sandwich size zip lock bag. When we cook, we just pull out a bag, stretch it over the smoke detector and then remove it when we are done.

We also have a fantastic fan in the kitchen area but there are times when we don't want cold air being pulled into the trailer or don't want the noise.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Smoke detector: I concur with the above folks--mine is above the dinette table, and always goes off when we cook. So we've been pulling it down and removing the batteries. Sort of "turn on the stove, remove the smoke detector"!!

I LIKE the idea of the zip-lock bag. Thank you!


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## pgwaldner (Feb 5, 2013)

That's a smoke detector? I thought it was the dinner bell!



hautevue said:


> Smoke detector: I concur with the above folks--mine is above the dinette table, and always goes off when we cook. So we've been pulling it down and removing the batteries. Sort of "turn on the stove, remove the smoke detector"!!
> 
> I LIKE the idea of the zip-lock bag. Thank you!


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

On our smoke detector, a sandwich size zip lock bag slips over it perfectly. We put a bag over the smoke detector when we cook and pull it off when we are done.


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