Non Powered Roof Vent Suggestions?

[April Kelly]

I don't think it's going to be possible to run electrical from the light under the kitchenette to a powered vent without pulling out the plywood and fabric. The electrician suggested not doing that because it would cause a big project replacing it. Any suggestions on a favorite non powered roof vent? Has anyone tried the Dometic EZ Breeze?

[Borrego Dave]

April, you may be to run a wire between the shell and paneling using a fish tape or coat hanger. Pulling the vents interior garnish cover off will give you access to the space between them. I have no idea where your 12v power is. Using a utility knife to cut the carpet an inch or so to feed a wire from point A to B is an easy fix with a bit of hot glue after it's run.

[alan H]

I ve done exactly this project... follow Borrego Dave instructions

[April Kelly]

The only problem is that it's not carpet it's a patterned vinyl and it's not glued to the fiberglass shell. The vinyls stretched and held in by all of the seams of the mouldings and shell of big interior pieces like kitchenette. If I cut it I can't glue it to the shell because there won't be enough vinyl to cover the shell (if that makes sense.) The electrician called me today and said there's not enough roof thickness. He said standard is 1" 1/2 and mine is 3/4" so he will have to trim down plastic insert on a table saw. Has anyone had to do this?

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by April Kelly

The only problem is that it's not carpet it's a patterned vinyl and it's not glued to the fiberglass shell. The vinyls stretched and held in by all of the seams of the mouldings and shell of big interior pieces like kitchenette. If I cut it I can't glue it to the shell because there won't be enough vinyl to cover the shell (if that makes sense.) The electrician called me today and said there's not enough roof thickness. He said standard is 1" 1/2 and mine is 3/4" so he will have to trim down plastic insert on a table saw. Has anyone had to do this?

It's a 12 volt wire, just run it over the surface of the ceiling. Use brown lamp cord for a close color match to that ceiling. Use the lightest gauge that works for the load. Use some adhesive that sticks to vinyl. There is no need to overbuild or overthink these things. It will look and function just fine to have that wire surface mounted as long as it is nice and tidy and not drooping down.

[LyleB]

Before I had a Fantastic Vent installed, I just used one of these. Made by the same company that makes the Fantastic Vent, operates on 12 volt, has hangers that worked with the window frames in my Scamp 13. Could point the fan in or out, moves a lot of air, uses little power, and is relatively quiet.

https://www.amazon.com/Fan-Tastic-Ve.../dp/B0000AY2Z6

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by k corbin

It's a 12 volt wire, just run it over the surface of the ceiling. Use brown lamp cord for a close color match to that ceiling. Use the lightest gauge that works for the load. Use some adhesive that sticks to vinyl. There is no need to overbuild or overthink these things. It will look and function just fine to have that wire surface mounted as long as it is nice and tidy and not drooping down.

That's certainly a way to power it up in a pinch KC but not a sanitary long term solution. From following your build, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't go that route .

[John in Santa Cruz]

find some kind of nice looking molding and run it symmetric on both sides so it looks like a design element, one side hides the wire, the other side just makes it look intentional

maybe even run another 'rib' or two of the same stuff as a design element...


but if this is some kinda vinyl tiling thats 'stretched' over the sealing, why /can't/ you push a flat 'fish tape' between the vinyl and the shell from the center down to where you can access power?? once the tape comes through, you can pull a couple power wires back up to the fan (there's no chassis ground on a fiberglass shell, so you need two wires)

16 gauge is plenty for this, MaxxFan Deluxe 10 speed remote fans (the fanciest RV fan you're likely to install) use 5A max at 12V, and 15 feet of 12V@5A with 16 AWG is under 3% loss, a good target.

if I was fishing wire under a vinyl skin, I'd probably be looking for some high grade marine or aircraft wire so I wouldn't worry about insulation deterioration.

[John in Santa Cruz]

ps. that 10 speed MaxxFan, I rarely go faster than 2-3 ticks from slowest, and I doubt its using more than 1/2 amp most of the time its on.

[John in Santa Cruz]

birds eye view of my E21...

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

That's certainly a way to power it up in a pinch KC but not a sanitary long term solution. From following your build, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't go that route .

Well Dave that just proves you don't know me all that well
I don't tell someone to do something I would not do for myself.


I have no wires of any kind running behind the paneling or under the insulation or wall coverings in my trailer, all the wiring is on the surface and accessible.

Just yesterday I purchased 60 feet of on the surface wiring channels for my build. Those will be inside of the cabinets. It is not about them being "sanitary" it is about keeping things I put into the cabinets from snagging on the wiring as objects get taken in and out of the cabinets. I will also have quite a few feet of wiring tucked behind a soffit than runs at the transition of wall to ceiling. There will also be some short lengths of wire on top of my vinyl ceiling covering going to 6 LED puck fixtures over the countertops as well as to larger light fixtures over my desk/workbench area. I will use vinyl tape over those wire lengths, it will blend into vinyl on the ceiling just fine, they are light gauge wires. One thing I do know about lighting in travel trailers, sooner or late you end up replacing the lights so I did not want to run the wires underneath the ceiling covering as trying to rewire would end up destroying the ceiling material.

As to it being sanitary, it is every bit as sanitary as using lamp cords, TV cords, stereo cords, etc, which is something pretty much everyone does in their homes. Of course people also have things such as speaker wires running around various places in our houses, HDMI cables and we used to have telephone wires too. People certainly have those surface mounted around for what one would call long term. As I stated, it needs to be a tidy installation.


Of course Boeing did train me to be a perfectionist when it comes to routing wires, everything labeled, no kinks, no pinched wires, proper radius at turns, all breakouts by splices properly secured with wire ties, no wires moving loosely inside of a clamp but also not pinched within a clamp, connections properly crimped, etc.

[Civilguy]

As Tin Cup said, perfection is unattainable. Steve Dunham recently posted some good information concerning lamp cord.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post647370

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LOqvh694iQ

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

As Tin Cup said, perfection is unattainable. Steve Dunham recently posted some good information concerning lamp cord.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post647370

Yes, as stated in that linked discussion lamp cord is not something you would put behind a wall. But that is not how I said to use it. At no time did I say to use it behind a wall or hidden underneath a wall covering.

I described putting it on top of the finished surface of the ceiling. It is made to be relatively attractive, another reason I suggested it. It comes in a good color match for the brown, wood grained vinyl that is on ceiling of the RV. Vinyl coated lamp cord can be cleaned, another reason I suggested this type of wire. It is made of stranded wire which also makes it suitable for the purpose as it flexes. There are situations where lamp cord is a choice that works well for the purpose and one of those situations is a retro fit such as this one where the owner does not want to put cords underneath the wall coverings.



But do remember this suggestion of light weight lamp cord on the surface is for 12v wiring with a low amp draw.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by April Kelly

I don't think it's going to be possible to run electrical from the light under the kitchenette to a powered vent without pulling out the plywood and fabric. The electrician suggested not doing that because it would cause a big project replacing it. Any suggestions on a favorite non powered roof vent? Has anyone tried the Dometic EZ Breeze?

April,

I am somewhat confused by your post as the Dometic EZ Breeze includes a 12 volt powered fan. The Dometic product page says "Boasting 350 CFM (cubic feet per minute) and a ceiling fan" and notes 432 W of power consumption. However, they don't provide access to the installation manual so it's difficult to learn a lot more. There are a couple of checkered reviews on Camping World. lt doesn't seem like the low profile would provide much ventilation without the powered fan operating.

If you are looking for a non-powered vent I think you want something like this Ventline Ventadome (with garnish):

https://www.amazon.com/Ventline-V209.../dp/B0030G7XWY

If you would really like to get a fan up there, I think folks have posted some good thoughts regarding running power, but I can't offer much additional advice as I don't have any experience with your specific trailer.

I sometimes struggle to perform what I would like to be a "small" project without getting involved in a larger job. As an example, installing a ceiling fan in our bedroom ultimately resulted in removing and building some new partition walls.

However, I only went this route once I finally gave up on trying to fish wiring through the existing framing in an attempt to do the job without disturbing the existing wall surfaces. The plus side was that we removed an old gas fireplace we really didn't want, and doubled the size of the bedroom closet. The downside was the greater efforts required to get the greater results.

If you cannot find the perfect means to do this, sometimes the next step is to reconsider what would be satisfactory.

[gordon2]

There are a few solar powered vents that can help reduce moisture or odor build up, if that is your objective. Some work only when there is sun, some have small built-in batteries to run for at least a while with no sun. No wiring required. If you are looking to be comfortable, then a good sized powered fan would be my choice, but I mention the small solar vent/fans as an option for getting some air movement at least. I would research it more if you go that route but here are some starting points:
https://www.amazon.com/Marinco-Solar.../dp/B000NI3H7M
https://www.etrailer.com/p-UF53-945001.html
https://www.amazon.com/MARINE-POWERE...dp/B00S1LM6BG/