Fantastic Vent upgrades....

[cpaharley2008]

For those who have Fantastic Vent's installed in their Egg's and wished for improvement, there is some hope. They now offer an insulated double pane replacement roof vent which will take care of any condensation issues dripping from the vents. In addition they have a reverse kit available which includes the thermostat with 3 speeds and the new pop 'n' lock screen. Also they will send you a resistor kit to slow down your fan speed. Atwood has purchased Fantastic Vent and is expanding their products. But they will still honor Fantastic Vent's lifetime warranty. Once the upgrades arrive, I'll post install pictures, but should be, as in the past, plug 'n' play updates. The costs were $55 for the insulated vent dome, $45 for the reverse feature and $11 for the speed reducing kit.

[Darwin Maring]

FanTastic!

[freddo411]

Very timely information! I have a FF sitting in a box, awaiting installation. Should be asking for any/all of these things now, prior to installation?

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

For those who have Fantastic Vent's installed in their Egg's and wished for improvement, there is some hope. They now offer an insulated double pane replacement roof vent which will take care of any condensation issues dripping from the vents. In addition they have a reverse kit available which includes the thermostat with 3 speeds and the new pop 'n' lock screen. Also they will send you a resistor kit to slow down your fan speed. Atwood has purchased Fantastic Vent and is expanding their products. But they will still honor Fantastic Vent's lifetime warranty. Once the upgrades arrive, I'll post install pictures, but should be, as in the past, plug 'n' play updates. The costs were $55 for the insulated vent dome, $45 for the reverse feature and $11 for the speed reducing kit.

[David Tilston]

The folks at Woodies RV offered me a controls upgrade for my model 8000, (bottom of the line, I like the white dome) Fantastic fan. It included the power opening feature, and all the bells and whistles. They wanted about $350 for it. I declined. I was thinking of adding a polarity reversing switch to it, but for $45, with a thermostat, I'm in!
How do I order?

[cpaharley2008]

Contact FV and they will put you in contact with a local factory rep. Mine was in Florida who then contacts the factory and has it drop shipped direct to you.

[jen b]

So, what specifically has been the problem with these vents? I was going to replace the noisy one in the burro with one of these.

[cpaharley2008]

There is no problem with them, they are fantastic, to quote Darwin above. You have 2-3 choices these days when you replace your vents, Fantastic and Northern Breeze are 2 that I recall. Each one has it's advantages and each one has "extras". Do you want an automatic closing vent, do you want a manual only or thermostat control, do you want in/out exhaust/fan options. Sort of like options on a car, some people want different ones. So you customize it the way you want it.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by jen b

So, what specifically has been the problem with these vents? I was going to replace the noisy one in the burro with one of these.

I love my fan! The bottom of the line fan I purchased is currently selling for $175 at Woodies RV in Calgary. They work great. Three speeds, but that is it, not even reverse. I purchased this model because I wanted a white dome. The top of the line has a remote, power open, rain detector, thermostat, and I am sure other features I am missing.

I did not see any reason for reverse. After thinking about it I realized that instead of a range hood, if I ran the fan blowing in and open the window behind the stove, then this would serve the same purpose. A thermostat would be nice too. The lower speed option also makes sense. The lowest speed is still quite fast. If all you are doing is trying to keep the air fresh while you sleep, less noise would probably be appreciated.

If you purchase one. I understand that they can be purchased with a kit for the thin walls of a fibreglass trailer. The one I bought was set up for walls up to 2" thick. It works, but if I knew that they have something suited for a thinner wall, then I would have gone for that.

[Carol H]

My Fantastic Fan is at the top of the list of the best things I have ever added to my trailer. When I first got my trailer I carried a small portable AC that went into the back window of the trailer that I used when in hot areas. I have not carried it or needed it since putting in the Fantastic Fan - it was all I needed even while camping in July in Montana and Wyoming where the temps where in the 90's. Mind you I wasn't in the trailer during the day but it worked well at cooling the trailer down fast at night making for a comfortable sleep.

I purchased mine about 3 years ago at Camping World in Portland when it was on sale for about $125 - its the 4000R model - three speed with reverse. The one down side to it, if you can really call it a down side is that on the lowest setting it is still pretty strong - I might look at adding the resister kit. If I was to purchase a new fan the next time I would get the rain sensor one so I dont need to get up in the middle of the night and close the vent if it starts to rain. :-) I know you can put the covers on them but I need to watch the height of my trailer due to clearance issues for storage and the fact I take the trailer on the ferry and adding another couple of inches to the height will put me in a new class of "over height" in the fares - costing a lot more for the ferry ride.

Fantastic Fan has had *amazing* customer service. I sure hope that does not change with the change in ownership.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I need to watch the height of my trailer due to clearance issues for storage and the fact I take the trailer on the ferry and adding another couple of inches to the height will put me in a new class of "over height" in the fares - costing a lot more for the ferry ride.

My van is a bit higher then my Trillium. How high is "over height"?

[freddo411]

THe Washington state ferries overheight charge is:
Vehicle U14' Over 7'6 in. Height Surcharge $11.25

My trillium is almost exactly 7'6 at the top of the existing roof vent

SRC: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fare...arrivingterm=7

[David Tilston]

Guess I will be paying the surcharge.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Guess I will be paying the surcharge.

Maybe not. It may depend on how much over it is! Have found that Washington State ferry staff are very generous when it comes to measuring and have let me go without charging it, even though they know its over Dont want to push my luck on that front by increasing the height of the trailer any higher than it is.

BC Ferries on the other hand has never been nice about giving some slack with over height charges. The good news is though that last year they stopped charging for over height which if I recall correctly was 7' and they charged so much a foot or portion of a foot over .... now they just hammer you $5.35 for every foot over 20' of your combined tow and trailer length.

[freddo411]

if you are within a couple of inches in a passenger van I'm sure they won't even think about the overheight charge.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Carol H

.... now they just hammer you $5.35 for every foot over 20' of your combined tow and trailer length.

I went to the BC ferries site to see how much it would be for this summers trip to Green Point camp ground in the Pacific Rim park. I almost choked when I found out it was going to be ~$200 each way. This will likely be more then we spend on gas.

[Carol H]

Yup I know it to well as I travel over to the island a good deal as my family is still there. You could always go out to Ocean Shores in Washington for the West Coast sandy beach - in fact it would take you about the same amount of time or less from Vancouver to get to Ocean Shores as it would to get to Pacific Rim.

[GeorgeR]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

...................They now offer an insulated double pane replacement roof vent which will take care of any condensation issues dripping from the vents.............................

I visit the Fantastic site and did not see a double pane dome as a possible upgrade. On models: 6600, 6000, 5000, and 4000 in technical information for fan they list
" • Optional insulated dome. Please call for information."

Do you know if these optional insulated domes are sold as upgrades for installed fans? Perhaps I missed this info.

Thank you,

George.

products

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, The domes are double, i.e., insulated and replace the OEM domes. There are either 4 or 6 screws that attach both to the exterior. I'm replacing the 2 factory installed FV domes on my unit.

[GeorgeR]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Yes, The domes are double, i.e., insulated and replace the OEM domes. There are either 4 or 6 screws that attach both to the exterior. I'm replacing the 2 factory installed FV domes on my unit.

What color dome did you get? I have the original bronze smoke but am affraid that smoke could be to dark in double pan. Beckleys Camping Center Online Store Beckleys has them for $58.30, did you get a better price?
George.

[cpaharley2008]

My price was $55 plus shipping, the Beckley says white. My order is for the original clear smoke color (slight blue tint) do not know if it darkens (still on order).