Fantastic Fan Installation

[Penelopeblue4500]

We just purchased our Trillium (4500) a month ago. We are thinking about installing a Fantastic fan. There are a few to choose from. And looking at the trailer, it looks like we will need to run the electrical across the ceiling. Does anyone has thoughts on which model of the fan to purchase (fan with a thermostat or not?) and does anyone has ideas on how to hide the wiring or just leave it in plain sight. Any pics would be helpful too. Thx.

[Glenn Baglo]

Just to complicate things further, you should also look at Maxxfan.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Penelopeblue4500

We just purchased our Trillium (4500) a month ago. We are thinking about installing a Fantastic fan. There are a few to choose from. And looking at the trailer, it looks like we will need to run the electrical across the ceiling. Does anyone has thoughts on which model of the fan to purchase (fan with a thermostat or not?) and does anyone has ideas on how to hide the wiring or just leave it in plain sight. Any pics would be helpful too. Thx.

here are a couple of photos of a fantastic fan which I installed in my Trillium...
As you can see I used a white cord on the surface.
You could do this then cut a slit in the liner and insert the cord, or just do it as shown and carefully glue the cord down.
On other trailers I have fished the cord under the liner, but that doesn't work as well with the Trillium.

[Penelopeblue4500]

Hi Glenn, any reason why you recommend the Maxx Fan? Which model do you recommend? Thx.

[Penelopeblue4500]

Thanks for the pics Floyd! Looks good.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Penelopeblue4500

Hi Glenn, any reason why you recommend the Maxx Fan? Which model do you recommend? Thx.

I didn't.
I do have Maxxfan. I has built in rain cover so it can be used in a downpour. Cover can be locked at any position so you can have it open while driving.

I've never used a Fantastic fan, so I can't comment.

[floyd]

What features are chosen is very subjective.
Its a fan, a simple 3 speed fan non reversible would do 90% of what is needed.
I like the reversible feature, for times when I just want the fan blowing directly on me or it is great for pushing cooking odors out through the kitchen window.
There are additional, somewhat superfluous,features which add some convenience at diminishing returns on investment.
Only your budget and your desire for gadgets can determine their value.

[Jon in AZ]

Agree. Our hand-me-down van camper has one that lacks the reverse feature, and I’ve found myself looking for it more than once.

Thermostats and rain sensors are just marginally useful complications to me. Ours does have a thermostat and I’ve never moved it from the coldest setting.

[ZachO]

My experience is partially a case of not knowing what I'm missing, I'm sure, but I have the basic, one-directional 3-speed Fantastic Fan, and I've never felt the need for anything more.

Hot air collects up high. The fan sucks that air out with quite a bit of power, while pulling fresh air in through open windows. It works great. I'm sure there are reasons, but I've never been able to come up with a situation where I'd want to pull air in from the top. I have a small fan mounted in the corner of my trailer for moving air around inside the camper for comfort. It draws less power than the large roof vent fan and I leave it running all night during hot times.

I don't see any need for temperature settings.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by ZachO

I don't see any need for temperature settings.

Quite a few posts on Escape Forum about the board in the Maxxfan dying. I expect that board is required for all the settings in the top end models. Mine is relatively simple. Has In and Out, fan speed and a thermostat.

[Penelopeblue4500]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Lots to consider and I don’t think we need anything too fancy, just something to help on those very hot days. We have a small fan that we plug in right now. We need something when we have no 120v power.

[Lynn Eberhardt]

Our 2006 Scamp came with a Fantastic fan. On low speed, it draws ~1.5 amps and moves plenty of air. At night, with the fan blowing out and one window opened at head of the bed, the moving air pulls the curtain in just enough to direct all the air towards your face. Great for sleeping. The power used is easily replaced with a solar panel or the next day's drive.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my casita has a fantastic fan, my escape has a maxfan deluxe. the deluxe has some cool features, like auto opening when the thermostat turns the fan on, and its got 10 speeds, the first 3-4 are really whisper quiet.

i'll set the thermostat so it comes on when it gets up to around 70 inside on nights when I've been out stargazing all night and want to sleep til noon.... the fan will kick on in the AM and blow air down on my bed, I'll roll over and kick off the covers and sleep another 3-4 hours.

[ZachO]

Interesting. I don't know why, but my fan seems noisier than average. My friend just installed a fantastic fan in his camper and I was shocked at how quiet it was. Mine, even on low, is moving quite a bit of air and makes more noise than I want to sleep with.

I haven't been around enough of them to know for sure if mine is louder than average. I've even replaced the motor unit once, and both units were just as loud.

I agree those are some nice features you mention.

[RogerDat]

Features are good, but... the other edge of that double edged sword is complexity leads to more breakdowns and failures.

I decided on the Fantastic Fan 3 speed reversible. The extra cost of reverse was not that much and it seemed like a feature that depended only on basic wiring.

Thermostat could reduce load on battery if for example the night cooled off enough that the fan would shut off after a few hours instead of running all night. But in the end I figured even with a small 40 watt solar panel I could put most of a nights running of the fan back into the battery the next day. And even without recharging should have 3 nights worth of running in a charged battery without recharging.

I just recently purchased a 5" fan that runs on 2 D batteries. Supposed to be good for several nights on set of batteries. Plan on using that for comfort breeze in camper or maybe even when sitting under awning and I want a little breeze. Doesn't take much to make a big difference in comfort.

[squish]

We have two fantastic fans in our Bigfoot TC, I often will have the main fan on intake and the bathroom FFan on exhaust, one of many reasons why we like the reversible fans.

We also camp sometimes where it's very hot and we don't have AC, so we set the main cabin fan to blow in, it doesn't cool the camper off, but the air flow on the people sitting at the table, that does.

our bathroom FFan is OE to the rig and is 19 years old and it's still working at a decent level, the spring in the fuse tube.. well it sprung and there's less tension creating a good contact between each ends of the fuse, but a little wedge of tinfoil fixed it while on the road, and a new spring or fuse holder will have it back in shape.


We keep the seal lubricated with a little (and I mean just a little) bit of silicone, it keeps the lid from sticking to the gasket and making the crank work harder to break the seal when you are opening the fan if it's been closed for a while or closed when it's really hot out.

[Raz]

For those who already own the basic ff fan, to add reverse requires a double pole double throw center off switch. Home depot sell them for about $6. The switch reverses polarity to the motor. The center off lets you stop the motor before changing direction. Buying new, I think the feature adds about $10 to the price.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Raz

For those who already own the basic ff fan, to add reverse requires a double pole double throw center off switch. Home depot sell them for about $6. The switch reverses polarity to the motor. The center off lets you stop the motor before changing direction. Buying new, I think the feature adds about $10 to the price.

I like that idea. Especially since it should be a fairly easy upgrade if one already has the exhaust only fan installed.

Fantastic fans list at $118 for 3 speed exhaust only. Reversible is around $146 or so. A few bucks for a switch mounted where power is picked up in the overhead cupboard with the switch coming out the end next to the 12 volt light would not be a bad alternative. I would look to supplying a cover to the back of the switch if it is in the overhead cupboard. Seems stuff sometimes bounces around in there a bit. Either that or the sunscreen was intentionally put in with the plastic silverware half way down the cupboard.

[gordon2]

Surprised no one has mentioned the PWM speed controller mod yet. I did one on my bare bones 3 speed FF for about $5 but it failed in high heat even though it was made in China. So I got another on a different slow boat - cost a dollar more I think - and its been working fine.

Infinite speed control from dead stopped to full motor speed. I dial it back to about one third the original slow speed most of the time. Saves power and makes less noise.

[stude]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Just to complicate things further, you should also look at Maxxfan.

We have a Max Fan and it runs 24/7 except when were not in the MH we use it to keep us cooler, we have not had our AC unit on once in all of July, & August, highest it has gotten is 80 and lowest so far is around 40*F Only one night she stayed real warm like in the mid 60's F. Spending the night at home base in Forest City Iowa as have some issues to deal with then off to Elkhart and Ohio for look abouts and Studebaker International in OHio Sept. 11 to 14 then carry on to where ever.
We love our Maxx Fan the remote works great, keeps us just right day and night.
Stude