Cleaning The Vents

[NuthatchBC]

In preparation for the upcoming camping season, we have been doing spring cleaning on our 19. Today, I was checking out the two vents we have installed in the roof. The underside of the MaxxFan lid and the outer portion of the other vent (the part that the lid covers) are extremely mouldy. Both of these can only be accessed by getting on the roof. Has anyone climbed on the roof of their Escape? I'm a bit hesitant because I don't know how much weight it can take.

Doug

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by NuthatchBC

In preparation for the upcoming camping season, we have been doing spring cleaning on our 19. Today, I was checking out the two vents we have installed in the roof. The underside of the MaxxFan lid and the outer portion of the other vent (the part that the lid covers) are extremely mouldy. Both of these can only be accessed by getting on the roof. Has anyone climbed on the roof of their Escape? I'm a bit hesitant because I don't know how much weight it can take.

Doug

Hi: NuthatchBC... I did our MaxxFan from the inside. Remove the screen, the nyloc nut from the blade shaft and firmly pull straight down on the blade center hub. The hub is key slotted so the blades fit back in alignment. You can then reach thru the 4 quarters of the housing, to the lid, with a dampened cloth...to clean out the crud from the inside!!!
I always leave ours open a crack during winter storage. No mold but the dust from the fields does blow in. Alf
escape artist N.S. of lake Erie

[fudge_brownie]

I have managed to clean the unpowered roof vent, the cleaning part was easy. Getting in position to clean was difficult. First, I made sure I had clothes without buckles, snaps or anything that might scratch the roof. Second, I had someone hold the ladder. Third I laid my body on the roof, thus spreading out the weight and managed to wipe inside the vent. It sure looks nice now.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought I was able to disassemble the MaxxFan and get at the vent from the inside. There were some tricks to the fan blade that I found out about on this site.

[Eugene We]

Originally Posted by NuthatchBC

In preparation for the upcoming camping season, we have been doing spring cleaning on our 19. Today, I was checking out the two vents we have installed in the roof. The underside of the MaxxFan lid and the outer portion of the other vent (the part that the lid covers) are extremely mouldy. Both of these can only be accessed by getting on the roof. Has anyone climbed on the roof of their Escape? I'm a bit hesitant because I don't know how much weight it can take.

Doug

Hi Doug
The inside of our MaxxFan lid was getting pretty yucky. I emailed MaxxFan and asked them how to get access to the vent cover to clean it and this is the response I got:

"There will be two screws on what appears to be a hinge under the vented side of the lid. have the lid in the up position, remove the screws, and the vent should drop. With the vent dropped you should be able to access the lifter arms. If you pull the lifter arms out of the guides, you should be able to lift the lid as needed."

It's tough to reach the vent and clean it without putting some of yourself on the roof, but I used Fudge Brownies technique (very carefully) and was able to get the job done.

[techfan]

I'm updating this thread because of my recent experience with the MaxxAir. I had to replace the gear which lifts the cover as it was "flopping" in the sense that there was too much play. I received the part and the directions from MaxxAir. Their directions focused on trailers where you could access the roof and do the work up there. Instead, I decided to try and remove the entire vent. As it turns out, I would not have been able to do the replacement while the vent was on the roof.

First, I removed the inside trim, the screen and the blade.
Second, I found the butt connectors that ETI uses to provide power and changed those to connectors I could easily connect and disconnect.
Third, I raised the cover all the way to access the four screws that hold the vent in place and removed them.
Fourth, I pushed up on the inside of the vent to help loosen it from its rubber gasket.
Fifth, back outside, I was easily able to grab the vent cover and lift it entirely off the opening.

What I found… despite three years of cleaning the vent from the inside by removing the screen and blade, the vent was very dirty and areas were covered with mold. The directions listed above for just dropping the front screen would never have gotten to all of this mold. We did a thorough cleaning and replaced the gear mechanism. While I had it down, I also did a good treatment of 303. The reinstall went very easily in reverse.

I doubt that I would clean the vent this thoroughly every year, but it would be worth the time to do it every other year since I found it was actually quite easy to do. Total time, about an hour.

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by techfan

I'm updating this thread because of my recent experience with the MaxxAir. I had to replace the gear which lifts the cover as it was "flopping" in the sense that there was too much play. I received the part and the directions from MaxxAir. Their directions focused on trailers where you could access the roof and do the work up there. Instead, I decided to try and remove the entire vent. As it turns out, I would not have been able to do the replacement while the vent was on the roof.

First, I removed the inside trim, the screen and the blade.
Second, I found the butt connectors that ETI uses to provide power and changed those to connectors I could easily connect and disconnect.
Third, I raised the cover all the way to access the four screws that hold the vent in place and removed them.
Fourth, I pushed up on the inside of the vent to help loosen it from its rubber gasket.
Fifth, back outside, I was easily able to grab the vent cover and lift it entirely off the opening.

What I found… despite three years of cleaning the vent from the inside by removing the screen and blade, the vent was very dirty and areas were covered with mold. The directions listed above for just dropping the front screen would never have gotten to all of this mold. We did a thorough cleaning and replaced the gear mechanism. While I had it down, I also did a good treatment of 303. The reinstall went very easily in reverse.

I doubt that I would clean the vent this thoroughly every year, but it would be worth the time to do it every other year since I found it was actually quite easy to do. Total time, about an hour.

Good to know, thanks. I too have taken the fan blade out from the inside and cleaned all accessible parts every year. I guess this year it's time for a more thorough cleaning. I appreciate you detailed directions for disassembly. Thanks much!

[fudge_brownie]

Tim,
I have been having trouble with the cover on my MaxxAir. I have not had the opportunity to do anything but remove the closing knob and reinstall. The issue is the vent will not stay closed. I have used the pull to lock feature but it does not lock. Is that similar to your issue?

[techfan]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

Tim,
I have been having trouble with the cover on my MaxxAir. I have not had the opportunity to do anything but remove the closing knob and reinstall. The issue is the vent will not stay closed. I have used the pull to lock feature but it does not lock. Is that similar to your issue?

Never had trouble with it opening but there was a lot of play in the movement from full open to full closed. One would turn the knob and nothing would happen than all of a sudden it would drop down. When fully open or fully closed you lock the vent by "Pushing" it up and it snugs into some grooves in the housing. This has been covered someplace but, traveling is supposed to be done with the vent fully open and locked or fully closed and locked otherwise there is deterioration on the gearing mechanism. I called MaxxAir and they were very helpful. Mine seems to work much better now with the new lift mechanism.

So, if you are locking the cover by pushing up and it still opens, it could be the lift mechanism (gear box) or it could be that the locking grooves on either the black handle or the vent housing are no longer keeping everything tight. Maybe this will give you some things to look at and try. Tim