Bath Vent Fan on 19

[jamman]

NOTE: The pictures are in the next 2 posts.

The kit consists of the fan, an inside trim ring, and 2 ETI-created fiberglass pieces. The raised fiberglass piece goes on the outside, the flat piece on the inside. Then the fan unit installs from the outside, and the trim piece from the inside.

From the inside of the bath, remove the 4 screws and the existing square trim ring.

I brought power up the right rear corner of the bath, in the angled corner for the black tank vent. I used a nylon pull string, a bit of steel chain, and a magnet. The biggest problem is keeping the pull string from getting caught between the back of the bath and the dinette wall. I used a 9” adjustable (crescent) wrench with a hole in the handle. I ran the string through the hole in the wrench from the top down. Then insert the wrench handle and string under the roof lining and just above the bath ceiling, and work it until the end of the handle is over the cavity. Use a small dowel rod to push the chain and the magnet to pull on it until the chain falls into the cavity. I used a strong magnet with a paper towel to protect the fiberglass from marks and it readily “grabbed” the chain and I could move the chain with the magnet. I used the magnet to pull the chain down and fed in the string. The chain likes to get hung up at the level of the upper/lower bath joint. I used the magnet, pulling the chain to the right and jiggling it until it dropped by the joint. The chain/string then fell to the floor of the cavity. I was able to see the string behind the vent pipe under the driver side dinette. I used a claw pickup tool to grab the string and pull it out. I could have pulled the string out a bit until the chain was visible and used a magnetic pickup tool.

I pulled red (+) and black (-) 16 gauge wires from the dinette to the new fan. I ran the red wire to an unused 12V circuit on the distribution panel, and the black to common ground stud on the back of the distribution panel. I added a 15 amp fuse and labeled the circuit.

So far the trailer is water tight and I have not opened it up to the elements. That changes now.

I removed the ProFlex over the 16 external screws and removed them. I cut the ProFlex around the edge of the vent and removed it from the top. I removed the old caulk from the trailer roof with a putty knife, acetone, and elbow grease. Removing the old vent and the ProFlex without scratching the fiberglass was a real pain – set up ProFlex really holds. After the vent was off, acetone and elbow grease removed the old ProFlex quite nicely.

I had to drill all new holes in the roof so I put a dab of ProFlex in each old hole. I ran a bead of ProFlex around the opening and put a dab on the threads of each screw before installing them. I cleaned up the exterior ooze and made a relatively neat ProFlex joint around the exterior shroud. I also covered each screw head with ProFlex. (I have a hard time getting a nice looking ProFlex joint.)

I set the fan in the opening (weep hole to the rear) and connected the wires inside the bath - fan white to trailer black, and fan black to trailer red. If you do it wrong the fan will pull in air instead of exhausting it. Turn the circuit on and double check before proceeding.

I removed the 2 screws holding on the black exterior fan cap. I drilled 8 holes in the exterior raised fiberglass piece to mount the fan. I ran a thin bead of ProFlex around the outside edge of the fan base and screwed it to the exterior piece. I put the black cap back on and put ProFlex on the 2 screw heads.

The outside is done, and when the ProFlex sets up the trailer is again water tight.

Back inside I lined up the flat fiberglass piece and drilled 2 holes in the existing bath ceiling to match the new piece. I put a bit of fiberglass insulation batt around the fan to limit rubbing in the ceiling between the inside and outside pieces. I installed the inside piece with 2 screws. I drilled the rest of the holes and installed the rest of the screws. I ran a thin bead of ProFlex around the edge of the inside piece to make it look more finished.

I drilled 3 holes in the inside flat piece and installed the fan interior trim piece.

[jamman]

pic 1 parts
top left - inside trim
top right - fan
bottom left - inside piece
bottom right - outside piece

pic 2 - string with chain

pic 3 - wrench to guide string pull (obviously taken after the fact)
Shows vent trim piece off and wires pulled

pic 4 - string in place to pull wires - under the driver side bench (picture needs to be rotated)

pic 5 - old vent out and ProFlex removed

[Patandlinda]

Haven't done ours yet . Going to save this . Any pics ? Pat

[jamman]

pic 1 - new circuit - the last fuse is the new circuit

pics 2-3 - exterior done

pics 4-5 - interior done

[MyronL]

Nice work. Very tempting. And, that looks so much nicer than the yellowed plastic lid I got. I might Krylon mine black instead of white.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by jamman

pic 1 - new circuit - the last fuse is the new circuit

pics 2-3 - exterior done

pics 4-5 - interior done

Doug haven't done mine yet but if you don't mind have some questions . Reason for putting weep hole to rear ? I was going to put on side . Haven't gotten into it so is that where it should be or ? Why didn't you use wiring for bath light like Chris R ? If I decide to use bath light do I need to add another fuse ? Really like your install and may go your direction now . Will be doing this probably in March . Thanks for all your pics too . Pat

[Kountrykamper]

Interesting. I went out and was thinking about doing ours today but decided I was not motivated enough yet.

[float5]

Originally Posted by jamman

pic 1 - new circuit - the last fuse is the new circuit

pics 2-3 - exterior done

pics 4-5 - interior done

Good deal. Wish we had known about that one back when we had ours done.

[jamman]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Doug haven't done mine yet but if you don't mind have some questions . Reason for putting weep hole to rear ? I was going to put on side . Haven't gotten into it so is that where it should be or ? Why didn't you use wiring for bath light like Chris R ? If I decide to use bath light do I need to add another fuse ? Really like your install and may go your direction now . Will be doing this probably in March . Thanks for all your pics too . Pat

Answers in order:
1) The fan is labeled front/rear. AND if the weep hole is anywhere else it is more likely to get water blown in when driving.

2) ETI recommended the vent chase. AND it was MUCH easier than trying to fish it to the bath light. I would only consider the bath light if I took out the wardrobe wall to get access to the wiring.

3) I would think the existing fuse is fine. BUT I would check to see which circuit it is on and what other loads are on it. If the fridge is on it I would not use it.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by jamman

Answers in order:
1) The fan is labeled front/rear. AND if the weep hole is anywhere else it is more likely to get water blown in when driving.

2) ETI recommended the vent chase. AND it was MUCH easier than trying to fish it to the bath light. I would only consider the bath light if I took out the wardrobe wall to get access to the wiring.

3) I would think the existing fuse is fine. BUT I would check to see which circuit it is on and what other loads are on it. If the fridge is on it I would not use it.

Doug Thankyou for answers . Definitely will follow directions on #1 . Still on the fence about going to bath light power but will check out .Chris R gave me instructions on how he got to light . For Christmas I got a inspection camera to help with that . Interesting though when I talked to Escape about installation they installed to light . Anyhow another installation way to think about . Thanks again . Pat

[rbryan4]

Nice work Doug. I'm glad ours came with one.

[luckyone]

For the ETI installed Ventline bath fan where is the 15A fuse located? It is not labeled in the fuse box. I am just trying to exhaust (haha) all possibilities for my non-working fan before replacing.

[float5]

Originally Posted by luckyone

For the ETI installed Ventline bath fan where is the 15A fuse located? It is not labeled in the fuse box. I am just trying to exhaust (haha) all possibilities for my non-working fan before replacing.

You have a 2015? Did you call Escape? So it was working until recently?
Escapes previously did not have bath fans, by the way, just the vent. I am glad to have the fan, as long as it works.

[luckyone]

Originally Posted by float5

You have a 2015? Did you call Escape? So it was working until recently?
Escapes previously did not have bath fans, by the way, just the vent. I am glad to have the fan, as long as it works.

Yes. This is a 2015 with the bathroom fan. I have contacted Escape and Tammy sent me a new Ventline Fan promptly. I was just trying to make sure that it wasn't anything simple (like a blown fuse)before it is replaced. I know that there is also a thermal fuse inside the fan that could be the problem as well.

[paulw]

Originally Posted by luckyone

Yes. This is a 2015 with the bathroom fan. I have contacted Escape and Tammy sent me a new Ventline Fan promptly. I was just trying to make sure that it wasn't anything simple (like a blown fuse)before it is replaced. I know that there is also a thermal fuse inside the fan that could be the problem as well.

We are on our 3rd Ventline - the first was a source of a leak and was replaced under warranty shortly after we picked up our 2014.
The second one stopped working a couple months ago. I was going to pull it apart and try to fix it (suspected the switch) but I had the trailer up to ETI for a raised dinette floor and just had them replace it. I didn't see a fuse when I was poking around, but the switch didn't seem very robust and is kinda exposed.

[luckyone]

Originally Posted by paulw

We are on our 3rd Ventline - the first was a source of a leak and was replaced under warranty shortly after we picked up our 2014.
The second one stopped working a couple months ago. I was going to pull it apart and try to fix it (suspected the switch) but I had the trailer up to ETI for a raised dinette floor and just had them replace it. I didn't see a fuse when I was poking around, but the switch didn't seem very robust and is kinda exposed.

Thanks for that Paul. Fortunately we are so close that we can run it up and have it done at ETI. I am going to check the fuse with a multi-meter and be done with it. The fan has never worked.