Maxxfan Failure

[Ron in BC]

I started this thread when my Maxxfan had issues. I think that condensation affects the circuit board. I wouldn't give up on it unless after taking a hair dryer and blowing warm air on it for a few minutes doesn't change anything.

I just confirmed that mine works fine with the lid in the closed position.

I also seem to remember that I had to be pretty careful observing polarity when installing the circuit board.

Ron

[John in Santa Cruz]

My Casita had a Fantastic fan, completely different setup from the Maxxfan Deluxe used in the Escapes.

[Upfisk]

We decided to have another attempt at the circuit board. We sprayed it 3 times with the non conducting seal coat before installation. But, during the first coat, the 8 pins for the ribbon adaptor, were not taped off. Thought I had avoid spraying them but looking at them they were dull looking. Worked the pins over with steel wool, then a sharp knife , and the pins were bright and shiny. Reinstalled the circuit board and the MaxxFan works!

The MaxxFan now works fine with the hood up or down. Thanks especially to Jonny Hung for his very complete set of instructions and photos. Thanks to everyone else that replied to check connections. And a suggestion, have a spare circuit board just like we have a spare sail switch on board. Our last 30 days of our most recent trip was uncomfortable without the MaxxFan.

[ksitte]

Originally Posted by Upfisk

We sprayed it 3 times with the non conducting seal coat before installation.

What's the non-conducting seal coat you used?

[Ron in BC]

You can use almost anything from Shellac on up to dedicated and expensive circuit board coatings. You should avoid spraying items like heat sinks etc., not everything should be coated.

In the end I didn't spray mine. If it starts beeping etc. again I'll just blow dry it with warm air. Seems to stop the problem.

Ron

[Upfisk]

We were parked about 50 ft from a warm ocean, in high humidity for 4 months. The MaxxFan worked great the entire time. Brought the Escape back to AZ with 5% relative humidity for 2 months and the MaxxFan was acting up. If AZ at 100°F and 5% relative humidity is not like a blow drier I do not know what is! Thought the circuit board would eventually dry out and heal itself, but it just finally quit working. This time we decided to make sure the new circuit board was sealed. What caused the old circuit board to quit, no idea, although the warm ocean and salty humid air must have contributed to the failure.

[Ron in BC]

I'd put my money on the salt atmosphere. A blow drier definitely wouldn't help.

Ron

[Allswell]

Just picked up my Escape 19 on August 10th. MaxxFan Deluxe 5100K worked one day then it flashed and beeped and died. I then got the 'green light of death.' I tried to cut the power to reset as suggested from the forum, but it just repeated the cycle.



Contacted Escape and Dustin emailed the Airxcel contact number (316-832-4357). It was confusing because Airxcel only wants license techs to use this number. After viewing this thread, I tried the Airxcel email. George Moore (their tech) emailed back and told me to call the number again and choose option 1 and option 1 again to get to him (>20 min wait..yikes). Airxcel is sending a new control board. George said the boards are now updated to deal with this issue as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, they are back-ordered and they don't even have a estimate as to when they will be in again (oversea delay). They said the board will just show up one day.....With RV shops booking a month out, I'm guessing it will be a very long wait before I have a working fan.



The MaxxFan warranty only covers parts. Should I assume Escape won't cover labor? With as many owners that have problems with this, it would seem Escape should update the fans before they install them (just my humble opinion). It's one thing if they don't know there is a problem with a product they are installing, but they are aware of this.

[Upfisk]

Assume no labor coverage. Follow the Jonny Hung excellent directions and photos this thread. You can do it yourself! Heck, we are both civil engineers, and a small project to us is a football field size. Truly, there is nothing tricky about replacing the circuit board.

[Allswell]

Originally Posted by Upfisk

Assume no labor coverage. Follow the Jonny Hung excellent directions and photos this thread. You can do it yourself! Heck, we are both civil engineers, and a small project to us is a football field size. Truly, there is nothing tricky about replacing the circuit board.

Seriously? I haven’t done anything like that, but would take it on if it’s not too technical. Thanks! I’ll read thru the directions and think through it. I’ve got time.....who knows when they’ll get them in.

[Upfisk]

One the 1st page of this thread, someone has a link to Adventure.net and that site sells the circuit boards for under $40. We have a PO Box for a billing address and that company's software did not like our billing address. No operators are present to take an order, you can ask questions but not have someone manually put in the billing addresses. We tried 5 times to order a circuit board from adventure.net with no success. MaxxFan was backordered and we finally ordered a circuit board from E Trailer, for 2x the price of MaxxFax or Adventure. net. We have been trying to get a circuit board since mid July.

Our advice is buy the circuit board from Adventure.net, get the CRC coating mentioned in the Jonny Hung instructions, cover the 8 pins, and give both sides of the circuit board several coats. Then install it. The hardest part for us was reinstalling the knob for the lift lever. We screwed the knob in tight, did not read the instructions that you pull down to operate, and then turn. Took us 3 attempts.

[Allswell]

Originally Posted by Upfisk

One the 1st page of this thread, someone has a link to Adventure.net and that site sells the circuit boards for under $40. We have a PO Box for a billing address and that company's software did not like our billing address. No operators are present to take an order, you can ask questions but not have someone manually put in the billing addresses. We tried 5 times to order a circuit board from adventure.net with no success. MaxxFan was backordered and we finally ordered a circuit board from E Trailer, for 2x the price of MaxxFax or Adventure. net. We have been trying to get a circuit board since mid July.

Our advice is buy the circuit board from Adventure.net, get the CRC coating mentioned in the Jonny Hung instructions, cover the 8 pins, and give both sides of the circuit board several coats. Then install it. The hardest part for us was reinstalling the knob for the lift lever. We screwed the knob in tight, did not read the instructions that you pull down to operate, and then turn. Took us 3 attempts.

Thanks, I’ll look into that. BTW, if you have a PO Box, some post offices give you their street address to use. I can ship items up to 70lbs to my PO Box using that address. : )

[Donna D.]

IF they won't ship to a PO box, it's probably because of the shipping service. United States Post Office Boxes are strictly for USPS mail and packages. UPS and FedEx can't ship to USPS PO boxes.


However, if you have a mail box at a service like the UPS Store or Mailboxes Express, carriers AND the USPS can ship there.

[Allswell]

Actually, that has changed. At least at my post office here in WA where I do get UPS and FED Ex delivered packages. It’s really convenient. The post office clerk gave me the street address to submit for shipping if the PO Box isn’t accepted. My PO Box number is treated like an apt. number. : )

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Allswell

Actually, that has changed. At least at my post office here in WA where I do get UPS and FED Ex delivered packages. It’s really convenient. The post office clerk gave me the street address to submit for shipping if the PO Box isn’t accepted. My PO Box number is treated like an apt. number. : )

That's good to hear for you. I know my local Post Office won't do it. Blame Amazon. I was standing in line to buy stamps with a postal worker explained to a woman who was buying on Amazon. She thought her purchases would be safer delivered to the post office than sitting on her front porch.

[Upfisk]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

IF they won't ship to a PO box, it's probably because of the shipping service. United States Post Office Boxes are strictly for USPS mail and packages. UPS and FedEx can't ship to USPS PO boxes.

Or in the case of Amazon or other mail delivery retailers, you just cannot tell how a package will arrive. We can get UPS and FedEx shipments at our house. But the Post Office will not deliver as far off road as we live. It can be quite a wonder how a package will arrive, Amazon will tell us our P.O. Box is not allowed for a shipment. Then it arrives by US mail to the rural carrier distribution Post Office, where we have a P.O. Box. The package gets placed in our PO Box. We'll then get chewed out by the staff for listing an undeliverable address. This happens so often, we all throw up our hands and say "Amazon".

[Allswell]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

That's good to hear for you. I know my local Post Office won't do it. Blame Amazon. I was standing in line to buy stamps with a postal worker explained to a woman who was buying on Amazon. She thought her purchases would be safer delivered to the post office than sitting on her front porch.

Yes...I’m super lucky. Though I try to support local retail as much as I can, Inventory at many stores are down and I am often looking for products specifically for my Escape 19. It’s so convenient to order on Amazon and have it delivered right to the post office.

[Donna D.]

No, you can't tell how something will be shipped on Amazon, but you can tell Amazon where to deliver products. When I was working, I had products shipped to my neighbor's rather than have them sit on my front porch. I think that's where people get tangled up, particularly with third-party sellers.

[dstreight]

I ordered and received a MaxxAir 4000K fan, earlier this summer, to replace the Dometic A/C unit and the fan was DOA.

Waiting for another, which I had to purchase separately from a different vendor (Camping World, the original supplier, is generally clueless). Once I have a fan installed the defective unit goes back for credit.

[medora]

Hey guys - related to this thread, the Maxx Fan on our 17b croaked and I’m trying to replace it but I think I ordered the wrong model (Maxx Fan plus) because the vent cover is way smaller. . Which one should I be ordering?