roof vent covers

[photobug]

Went looking for those covers for your roof vents that allow them to be open even when it's raining or while driving. I have 3 of them, turns out all 3 are different sizes, imagine that. 1 is a fantastic vent fan system with the thermostatically controlled fan, one is the standard bathroom fan with a cheep little fan, and the other one turns out to be an "escape hatch" Hadn't thought of that since this is my first MH where I've had trailers before. guess if you tip it over you'd have a way to get out. Anyways, I'd like to be able to put one of those covers on the vents so I can either drive with them open or leave them open in the rain. The bathroom one is easy, just standard plastic cover. Not sure if the fantastic vent will fit under those or not. If not, they make their own if a bit expensive. Has anyone seen one big enough to fit over the escape hatch vent? I'd have to make it so you can release it from the inside, but that should be doable.

[Racine96]

Mine has five vents, all with covers before leaving the dealer, three with fans. I keep them open except when the AC or furnace are working. NP

[packnrat]

if i had to "escape" out of a rv, no door needed. i would make my own.

i am not a robot or a cyborg, so not just " walking" through a wall. but i know enougth to make a exit very fast.

[FunTwoDrv]

^^just ordered one!

Gary

[ron_dittmer]

I installed a white Aero-Flo a month ago over our Fantastic vent, just prior to our 3 week trip. It installed easily, fit great, and worked great. I should have bought two, the other for our cheap bathroom vent which is the same size as the Fantastic.

I bought it from Walmart on-line and picked it up at the store. CLICK HERE to see it on Walmart's website.

One thing uniquely important to me is for the vent to sit lower than the a/c unit because the a/c unit just clears our garage door opening.

[pnichols]

Here is the commom roof vent that is in RV's everywhere and of course can't be escaped out of. Roof openings larger than this (i.e. openable skylights) are far less common and when they are in an RV, they may not always be over an overhead cab bed for easy access so as to be able to crawl up through:
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/roof-vent-white-lid/85662

[toedtoes]

I can get through my escape hatch just fine. I actually use it to check the roof as I can stand up and see the entire roof without having to climb a ladder or stand on the roof.

[photobug]

the front "escape" hatch is a bit bigger than that. The red tab on the center support pops it off and you can slide through if you're not to large. Assuming I can find a quick release for the rain cover from the inside, that's the biggest vent in the roof.

[pnichols]

Vent covers serve at least three main purposes:

1. Allow you to keep the RV ventilated with fresh air even while it's raining.

2. And just as important, IMHO, is to keep the sun's UV rays from constantly ruining/cracking the plastic material that most vents are made of. I replaced a few before I got wise and started protecting them with Maxxair vent covers, which seem to be made from a great material that is resistant to UV damage.

3. Allow you to have the vents open for ventilation in high winds, which otherwise might damage the vents or their operating mechanisms.

By the way .... how in the world could someone escape out of a 12-14 inch roof vent opening?? (I wouldn't want a roof opening larger than that due to the increased potential for cracking from the sun and leaking around the seal after a few years of exposure to the elements.)

[Dusty_R]

rockhillmanor wrote:
I have 3 roof vents also. Covered only 2. And only 1 has fan.

1. Bedroom - only a maxxair cover, no fan.
2. Bathroom - NO cover. You don't want to leave the roof vent open in the bathroom when traveling.
3. Cabover - Maxxair Turbo. Fan is OUTSIDE the MH. Thermostat, reverse fan and speed controls.

You turn that fan on exhaust up front and it sucks the air from the bedroom and creates a tornado of a fresh air wind affect through out the 'entire' inside of the MH! I rarely use the ac since installing the fan this way.

It will clean out the air in the MH in seconds.

That sounds like the Maxxair Turbo 1200T. We had one on an earlier mh. Bought a new mh in '15, went to buy a new 1200T for the new mh and found the 1200T was no longer made. Sure wish I could find one, even a god used one would be nice.

Dusty

[j-d]

The MaXXair-II works with Fantastic Fans. When I was shopping for covers for ours I asked here and at a couple shops, and that was their choice. There are specialty covers that might flow a little more air in a laboratory test but I haven't ever felt we had noticeably less capacity with the covers than before.

[rockhillmanor]

I have 3 roof vents also. Covered only 2. And only 1 has fan.

1. Bedroom - only a maxxair cover, no fan.
2. Bathroom - NO cover. You don't want to leave the roof vent open in the bathroom when traveling.
3. Cabover - Maxxair Turbo. Fan is OUTSIDE the MH. Thermostat, reverse fan and speed controls.

You turn that fan on exhaust up front and it sucks the air from the bedroom and creates a tornado of a fresh air wind affect through out the 'entire' inside of the MH! I rarely use the ac since installing the fan this way.

It will clean out the air in the MH in seconds.

[toedtoes]

The roof escape hatch is usually above the cabover bunk. It is a safety thing - if there is a fire in the main house, you would be trapped in the cabover.

For RVs that do not have a cabover bed, a rooftop escape hatch is not needed.

Like MobileBasset, I simply covered the other two vents. If you really need to escape through the hatch, you are not going to have time to mess with removing wingnuts, etc.

[photobug]

Those are pretty cool, too bad they're pretty expensive $185 for the manual and $249 for the Deluxe with remote. Why would the smoke colored ones be $60 more?
I can see why the manufacture used the one they did in the bathroom. $27 for the one in there, $128 for a fan-tastik one.

[CharlesinGA]

I installed the Fantastic Ultra Breeze hood on my Fantastic Vent Fan, Its easy to remove and is large allowing lots of air flow and angled to keep the rain out.

Your cheapie bathroom vent fan is probably in a standard 14x14 hole and you could install a better fan if you desired.

MaxxAir makes one that the hood is actually part of the unit and raises up with it. It does need several inches clearance behind the fan, so no vents, antennas or whatever within about 6 or 8 inches of the rear of the vent hole, but that is usually not a problem.

https://www.airxcel.com/maxxair/products/fans/maxxfan-deluxe

Scroll down to the series of pics that show it both open and closed.

Charles