FOP SAM-1 Range Hood Fan Upgrade Kit

[Chris R]

Although I am six feet tall, I never found the range hood was in the way. I did look at the modern slim units, but cost and availability kept me from them. They also did not cover the front of the burners, too far back. The SAM looked like a good compromise.

This mod would be difficult to do in place. The fan is held in by four lock nuts, once removed, the wire to the fan needs to be cut. The Heng SS hood is spot welded together. I used a sharp 1/4 inch drill bit to release each weld holding the fan unit. The SAM just screws in place with a few wire connectors. The original switches on the front are still used to turn the light and fan on and off.

A couple of years ago I had replaced the outside vent with a JR Product vent (see other thread Non-yellowing outside range vent....), so I did not use the new supplied vent. The new vent did come with a bug screen, so I added a bug screen to the back of the SAM unit. I used a small piece of aluminum screen and welded it to the black plastic outlet of the fan.

The first photo shows the welded bug screen and the second photo shows the back of the fan housing with the spacer I made to fill the gap to the trailer wall.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

As you probably realize, the main reason the hood protrudes as much as it does, is so it is over front burners.

I have cleared all the other projects I have on the go (and soon will have my shop cleared),

I lounge with my back against the front wall while my wife cooks. Believe me, she wouldn't have it any other way. When the range hood light is on and she takes the top off a pot etc. I watch the billowing clouds of steam rise up and I see that most of it goes into the range hood. As low a quality as it is it still does the job. One of these days I'm going to try and snap a photo to show how effective it is. It seems like it's an object everyone loves to hate but I think that's a bit of a bum rap.

"shop cleared" Is that possible? It's my dream. Everytime I make an effort I never quite get there before "stuff" from new projects starts piling up.

Ron

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Tom , one of the names in Airstream 's is Baraldi. It can be bought at Airstream store for
$343.71 . Pat

Just a word of caution, this may have a lower profile, but it has a constant speed fan, one light level with two halogen bulbs and is still quite noisy based on reviews. To upgrade to LED bulbs they sell them separate for $20 each. So another $40. It also still uses the cheap Ventline type plastic hood on the exterior although I suppose you could furnish your own. The biggest issue is that based on an Airstream forum thread the exhaust outlet does not line up with a Ventline (and presumably a Heng's) hood position. This would be a major problem for anyone looking to replace an existing vented hood.

Originally Posted by Chris R

A couple of years ago I had replaced the outside vent with a JR Product vent (see other thread Non-yellowing outside range vent....), so I did not use the new supplied vent.

Chris: Since you have the Endura which has it's own external damper flap are you removing it and relying on the internal slide damper on the SAM-1 kit or will you just have both?

The SAM-1 kit may not be for everyone, but if you have read these threads there are several of us that have installed it and love it. Better airflow with less noise, 3 speed fan, LED light with 2 levels, internal slide damper and high quality exterior vent grille. If the $200 isn't worth it to you then don't buy it, but based on some extensive research by several of us you can count on it as a very good option to consider if you are looking to improve performance over the stock unit.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I lounge with my back against the front wall while my wife cooks. Believe me, she wouldn't have it any other way. When the range hood light is on and she takes the top off a pot etc. I watch the billowing clouds of steam rise up and I see that most of it goes into the range hood. As low a quality as it is it still does the job. One of these days I'm going to try and snap a photo to show how effective it is. It seems like it's an object everyone loves to hate but I think that's a bit of a bum rap.

"shop cleared" Is that possible? It's my dream. Everytime I make an effort I never quite get there before "stuff" from new projects starts piling up.

Ron

Oh yeah, we have used every hood fan we have had in a trailer when needed, and they worked. I just find them obnoxiously noisy is all. The stock on does it's job, but.....

Cleared, not cleaned.
Not sure if I mentioned it here before, but there was one of those billboard things where you add the letters to say what you want, near where I worked, about 25 years ago. They always had jokes, words of wisdom or other insightful ditties on it, but my favourite one was "The last of good intentions is a clean garage". Oh man, that is soooo true.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Just a word of caution, this may have a lower profile, but it has a constant speed fan, one light level with two halogen bulbs and is still quite noisy based on reviews. To upgrade to LED bulbs they sell them separate for $20 each. So another $40. It also still uses the cheap Ventline type plastic hood on the exterior although I suppose you could furnish your own. The biggest issue is that based on an Airstream forum thread the exhaust outlet does not line up with a Ventline (and presumably a Heng's) hood position. This would be a major problem for anyone looking to replace an existing vented hood.



Chris: Since you have the Endura which has it's own external damper flap are you removing it and relying on the internal slide damper on the SAM-1 kit or will you just have both?

The SAM-1 kit may not be for everyone, but if you have read these threads there are several of us that have installed it and love it. Better airflow with less noise, 3 speed fan, LED light with 2 levels, internal slide damper and high quality exterior vent grille. If the $200 isn't worth it to you then don't buy it, but based on some extensive research by several of us you can count on it as a very good option to consider if you are looking to improve performance over the stock unit.

Not for me . I was just supplying information . I agree with Ron about the vent hood . We have the stainless and for as much as it gets turned on , including the light , it it fine . I did remove the charcoal filter out and set the fan blade up a little , attached it on top instead of on the bottom . It sets the fan blade a little higher in opening . The vent door outside opens almost all the way now . I have painted the exterior vent with fusion paint because it looked awful . Maybe change to JR later . I don't make changes unless they are broken or impossible to live with . Had better vent including ,squirrel cage and a rod inside to open and close vent, from inside on a 1979 motorhome . But This one will do and doesn't look bad . It does it's job directing steam outside , not on the cabinet's . Nothing wrong with your choices either , just not important for me. Pat

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Chris: Since you have the Endura which has it's own external damper flap are you removing it and relying on the internal slide damper on the SAM-1 kit or will you just have both?

I left the external flap in and will probably use it instead of the internal one. One less thing to deal with.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Chris R

I left the external flap in and will probably use it instead of the internal one. One less thing to deal with.

Does the JR Products vent close (latch) differently than the Ventline one? I am looking forward to not having to deal with those little tabs with the inside vent closure.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Does the JR Products vent close (latch) differently than the Ventline one? I am looking forward to not having to deal with those little tabs with the inside vent closure.

It appears to be much more substantial with clips built into the flap that latch on the lower flange. See pic.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

Robert,

Did you remove the stock hood with fan in order to make this mod on a work bench or was it done while the hood remained attached to the underside of the cabinet?

The hood is removed for the retrofit. Not possible to keep it in place due to wiring and hardware mods that are required, and even if you could, you wouldn't want to. That would be really awkward.

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Does the JR Products vent close (latch) differently than the Ventline one? I am looking forward to not having to deal with those little tabs with the inside vent closure.

Ya, those little tabs are flimsy, one of the reasons I went with the JR vent, besides looking better, no yellow and is better built.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Nothing wrong with your choices either , just not important for me. Pat

The beauty is we can do what we want and find value in. This forum is its most powerful when we are all providing our experiences and objective information for others to make their own decisions.

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

The hood is removed for the retrofit. Not possible to keep it in place due to wiring and hardware mods that are required, and even if you could, you wouldn't want to. That would be really awkward.

Thanks, Robert. Lot easier to contort that thing on a bench than my body, upside down on the kitchen counter I suppose .

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

The beauty is we can do what we want and find value in. This forum is its most powerful when we are all providing our experiences and objective information for others to make their own decisions.

Hey sorry if I sounded a little grumpy yesterday . Had to go to work at this age and I hate it . Have to be a little more careful with the money now . I love to look at cool things but have to be practical too . Pat

[LeonW]

I am in the middle of swapping out my over-the-stove vent, and have a couple of questions to make sure I am headed in approximately the right direction.

On our stainless range hood, I had to pop about 10 spot welds to get the original fan off. I am sure there is a more elegant way to do it, but in some cases I just had to use a small pry bar to pop the weld apart. My drill bit just seemed to want to slide all over the place, even after I had put a small dent in the metal.

Since this is a Heng Rangehood, there aren't any holes to use as I mount the SAM-1 fan. Is there any suggestion as to the placement of the new fan? Try to have the vent in the middle? Put it to one side or the other?

Also, it looks like I am going to have to do major modification to either the stainless tunnel that contained the wiring between the switches and the fan box. The other alternative would be to use the new tunnel that came with the SAM-1. That would still require modification, but could be put on the side of the fan box which would be advantageious since the wires come out of the side of the SAM-1 fan box. Does anyone have any wisdom to share on what they did to hide the wires?

Thanks much for any advice. It is much appreciated.

Leon

[rbryan4]

It's much easier to remove the tin box spot welds with a spot weld cutter bit. They're readily available at most places that sell tools.

You mount the SAM-1 centered along the back, just as the tin box was. Since it won't line up with the old holes, you just drill the hood and secure the fan to it with sheet metal screws.

As for the wiring, I used the cover that came with the SAM-1 kit and just cut it with tin snips and created a flange on both ends until it fit properly. If you look under my range hood you'll see the cover fits flush with the front and flush against the fan assembly. Not too difficult, but you do have to test fit and snip a bit at a time to get it just right. In my case it fits snugly enough and the flanges catch enough metal that I did not need to fasten the cover at all - just popped it into place.

One other thing you may have to trim is the black plastic fan exhaust. It stuck out too far on the back and I had to trim off a little over 1/2" with a Dremel so the external vent cover would fit correctly. The reason it's too long in this application is that the walls of the trailer are considerably thinner than a conventional trailer.

[rubicon327]

I did the exact same things as Robert and the install turned out very nice. My wire cover didn’t fit as nice though so I used a few strips of foil HVAC tape to hold it on. You can’t see it unless you get down and look under the hood.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-Ta...7792/100030120

I put together this schematic to help another forum member with the wiring. Maybe it will save you some time.

Escape Trailer Owners Community - Downloads - FOP Sam-1 Stove Vent Wiring Schematic

[Jim Bennett]

I knew I was going to do this upgrade before ordering the trailer, and I preferred the rounded edges of the Ventline hood, so ordered one of those. One nice advantage to it too is that there was no spot welds to cut, just an easy swap.

I know it is another unnecessary cost, but going this way as a swap might be easier for some.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Applianc...-20GC-F-1.html

[LeonW]

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.


Got it all done, and it works great. I wasn't a very good student in shop class, so your experience will probably be much better than mine. It took me about 6 or 7 hours total time to do the installation. Now that I know what I am doing, it would be much faster.

Some other observations:

1) The spot welds on my old fan were very close to the side of the fan box, so the little spot weld cutter from Harbor Freight didn't work for me. But I used a 6" prybar to get it them separated. It put a couple of dings in the top of the range hood, but no one will ever see them.

2) I used m4x10mm pan head bolts and nylock nuts to secure the SAM-1 fan to the range hood. Just in case anyone needs to know the size. I tried use bolts that were 20mm long, but they stuck up too far. I might have been able to use the self-tapping screws that came with the kit, but I feel more secure with the bolts and nuts.

3) I was able to reuse the wiring "tunnel" that came with the Heng fan. It took a bit of "snipping of the tin", but it worked. I used some of that Aluminium flue tape to attach it to the range hood, Just like Rubicon327 did.

4) The wiring schematic that Rubicon327 referenced worked great.

I haven't swapped the outside vent yet. We are going camping for a few days and i will swap the external vent cover then.

Thanks again for the help. It is much appreciated.

[rbryan4]

Glad to hear everything worked out, Leon. Now that several folks have done it, the process is well documented and easier. Once again the forum proves it's value.

As a side note, if I were having a trailer built right now, I'd use the Ventline hood like Jim has. The SAM-1 is designed specifically for it so the wiring and install is easier, and the metal is of higher quality than the Hengs.

[LeonW]

if I were getting a new trailer, I would definitely go with the Ventline Hood. When I looked online for various instructions, there were a couple of people who suggested just buying the Ventline Hood rather than trying to install it in a Heng. I guess it depends upon how valuable your time is. Since I retired, my time isn't worth very much and this way I got to buy a new Tin Snips, which is much easier to use than the small snips I bought 40 years ago.

The one downside I see to the SAM-1 is that the LED isn't replaceable, and is a bit more white than the LED light I had in my old fan. I know that LEDs are supposed to last for a gazillion years, but my experience with the ones in our kitchen shows that isn't always the case.