Our travel trailer, which is one of our lily pads, has a vent in the bedroom, but no fan. We get afternoon sun and decided we'd like a roof fan in that room. The vent lid was showing some fatigue and so I decided to:
- Replace the vent lid.
- Add a vent cover so we can leave the vent lid open when the TT is unattended. This also affords additional protection to the lid, keeps birds from moving in, etc.
- Add a fan inside the existing vent. I chose a fan which is rated 188CFM and designed to retrofit within an existing 14 x 14 housing.
I have three vents, so I needed three vent lids and three covers to replace all.
I found replacement vent lids for about $19 each delivered so I purchased enough to do all three vent lids. (I purchased two sets of two because the price was better than buying three singles. So I now have a spare which I can give to a neighbor).
I also purchased three vent covers; two white and one smoke tint for about $28 each. I purchased one fan kit for the existing vent. The fan was about $59.
Total price each set of vent lid and vent cover = $47 each set.
Vent fan = $58.50
Labor: $0 (I'm free)
Wire, etc $0, from my hardware box.
The vent lid replacement was very easy. I did need G inside to open and close it on request for testing of the new one. Tools were a phillips screwdriver and a needle nose pliers. To remove the lid I removed the crank handle, the inside screen and the two screws holding the mechanism in place. That allowed me to open it fully from the roof and slide the mechanism off of the old lid. I put the mechanism aside, bent the tabs which held the vent lid in place and slid the old lid off of the full width hinge. I took the opportunity to clean the existing gasket and the screen.
The new lid went on in the reverse fashion. I slid it on and bent the tabs to keep it in place on the hinge. I then went inside the trailer and inserted the mechanism into the mating connector and screwed it in place. Then the screen went back and is held in place with two screws. Finally the crank handle was re-attached. Time to do this per vent lid was less than 30 minutes.
Each vent cover went on in about 20-30 minutes.
Clean up about 30 minutes.
The fan took a while because I had to drill an opening for two wires (I provided two #18 AWG per the fan instructions). I pulled the wires from an existing fixture to the fan location. I attached to the power of an existing light fixture for source of 12VDC. The fixture has two 1141 incandescent bulbs which draw a total of 3.06A. The fan draws 2.2A, I understand. With the dual fixture off, this circuit will draw less than the current draw of the bulbs. I may change this lighting fixture to LED bulbs to keep the current near the original 3A. The bedroom has three fixtures total with (4) 1141 12V bulbs, which is a total lighting load of 6.12A.
The fan is a 5 speed 3-forward and 2-reverse and is very quiet at the low and medium settings. We're quite pleased with it.
I found replacement vent lids for about $19 each delivered so I purchased enough to do all three vent lids. (I purchased two sets of two because the price was better than buying three singles. So I now have a spare which I can give to a neighbor).
I also purchased three vent covers; two white and one smoke tint for about $28 each. I purchased one fan kit for the existing vent. The fan was about $59.
Total price each set of vent lid and vent cover = $47 each set.
Vent fan = $58.50
Labor: $0 (I'm free)
Wire, etc $0, from my hardware box.
The vent lid replacement was very easy. I did need G inside to open and close it on request for testing of the new one. Tools were a phillips screwdriver and a needle nose pliers. To remove the lid I removed the crank handle, the inside screen and the two screws holding the mechanism in place. That allowed me to open it fully from the roof and slide the mechanism off of the old lid. I put the mechanism aside, bent the tabs which held the vent lid in place and slid the old lid off of the full width hinge. I took the opportunity to clean the existing gasket and the screen.
The new lid went on in the reverse fashion. I slid it on and bent the tabs to keep it in place on the hinge. I then went inside the trailer and inserted the mechanism into the mating connector and screwed it in place. Then the screen went back and is held in place with two screws. Finally the crank handle was re-attached. Time to do this per vent lid was less than 30 minutes.
Each vent cover went on in about 20-30 minutes.
Clean up about 30 minutes.
The fan took a while because I had to drill an opening for two wires (I provided two #18 AWG per the fan instructions). I pulled the wires from an existing fixture to the fan location. I attached to the power of an existing light fixture for source of 12VDC. The fixture has two 1141 incandescent bulbs which draw a total of 3.06A. The fan draws 2.2A, I understand. With the dual fixture off, this circuit will draw less than the current draw of the bulbs. I may change this lighting fixture to LED bulbs to keep the current near the original 3A. The bedroom has three fixtures total with (4) 1141 12V bulbs, which is a total lighting load of 6.12A.
The fan is a 5 speed 3-forward and 2-reverse and is very quiet at the low and medium settings. We're quite pleased with it.
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| Fan in box |
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| Out of the box - CAUTION don't hang the fan from the wires during installation. According to the manufacturer doing so will damage the fan. |
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| Typical roof vent with the old vent lid removed. Note the mechanism hanging so could remove the lid. I've cleaned the lid gasket. |
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| New vent lid installed |
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| Wiring of existing lighting fixture -this will also supply the fan. CAUTION - make certain DC power is off before working on wiring. Note the interior of the vent lid is completely removed, so I could drill a hole and pull the new wires in the ceiling to the fan location. |
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| After drilling a hole I fished the new wiring through, attached it to the existing lighting. The meter is to verify polarity before wiring the fan. I did install a split grommet to protect the wiring where it goes through the thin aluminum sidewall of the opening. |
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| New fan completely installed. It went in place of the existing crank arm and the old screen. Most difficult part was aligning the new crank handle system to the existing lid mechanism while holding it up. G helped. The frame is the existing frame. CAUTION - Don't hang the fan from the wiring during installation. The manufacturer says that will damage the fan. |
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| Aligning the vent cover with the vent. Then after placing the cover in place I marked the location of the brackets on the roof. No holes are required in the roof. The markings are to indicate where along the vent perimeter to place the brackets. |
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| Four brackets installed and ready to place the vent cover in position. This is before cleaning the old gasket. |
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| Close up of cover bracket. It is held in place with a 3/16 screw with washer, lockwasher and nut. The arrow points to the alignment mark I made when I positioned the cover over the closed vent. The mark indicates where to place the bracket before drilling the hole in the side of the vent frame. |
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| Smoke vent cover over the new vent lid and fan |
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| White vent cover over a new vent lid. I installed a total of three replacement vent lids and two vent covers. |
