New Bathroom Vent

[currinh]

I just finished installing Escape Trailer’s bathroom vent retrofit. It went well and has been documented in several threads here. I found the holes in the retrofit plates didn’t line up with the old vent holes, as others have reported. Our rear bathroom wall, where the light is, seemed to be solid. I ran wires from the wardroom “conduit” that feeds the bathroom light up to the ceiling, through the wall, and fed over to the vent hole. Not too difficult.

But I started thinking, after seeing how strong and noisy the vent fan is, there should be a way to make it variable speed. In a leap of faith I typed some stuff into Google and found this link showing a PWM speed control for our vent’s fan. I found the controller Aric Beaver mentioned on his page. I also found a seemingly identical controller with the switch separate from the board. That one looks like the picture below.

I ordered two of each kind, you never know, and temporarily hooked up the second. It worked well with the fan, I was impressed. So I mounted it into the fan. Aric had to remove the terminals and move the variable resistor off the board. With the resistor/knob already removed I just mounted the circuit board with four standoffs. It fit well. A little rewiring and it was ready to go.

It was finally installed on the trailer.

In the last picture I just need to fit the finish trim ring on the inside.

It works very well. Gives a definite click/off and speeds easily adjusted from zero to full.

I think this is the fan used in newer Escapes so may be a mod for everyone.

Thanks.

P.S. I did find the Ventair fan very cheap for what it cost. Two of the internal sheet metal screws were stripped when I got it. Not too impressed. More impressed with the $6.27 PWM controller, which included shipping.

[Ron in BC]

Good info. I do find the stock fan annoying.

Ron

[Tonny LR]

Thank you for sharing. I had done this mod using ETI provided kit. I would like to add the fan speed control. To Remove the termination and move the variable resistors off the circuit board with 4 stand offs , do I have to take the whole assembly apart to do the installing?

Tonny LR

[currinh]

Tonny:

Aric, from his thread, had to remove the variable resistor from the circuit board and reconnect with added wires. I think he also removed the terminal block and replaced with soldered connections.

The controller I used came as pictured in my thread. The resistor was already separated on wires which were long enough as they came. I also was able to leave the terminal block in place. It was easier than Aric showed in his blog.

I think my VentAir was slightly different than the one Aric showed. Mine had one side of the "box" spot welded in where it looks like he was able to remove both sides. I mounted the circuit board on the removable side which seemed easier. You can see where I mounted it from my pictures. I did mount it on stand-offs.

I hope this helps. If not clear let me know.

Originally Posted by Tonny LR

Thank you for sharing. I had done this mod using ETI provided kit. I would like to add the fan speed control. To Remove the termination and move the variable resistors off the circuit board with 4 stand offs , do I have to take the whole assembly apart to do the installing?

Tonny LR