Need to replace all 3 of my vent covers

[gmacklem]

I am in the middle of an 11 day and night vacation. I am boondocking in my aunt and uncle's driveway in Ohio for a couple days before we head to Michigan with them and my cousin's family. I had the vents up and was putting them down and noticed I could see daylight through 2 of the 3. A quarter sized hole opened up on them. The third had a hairline crack. All in the same place, where they meet the bar that raised them. I taped them up and that should hold until I get home and can replace him.

But things worked out for the best, while up there I noticed a lot of cracks, some large, in many areas of the lap sealant. So I got out the sealant, climbed back up and touched up a dozen places. I checked the seams not long ago and they looked fine. I plan to tape up all the seams with Eternabond tape in the next few weeks so I should never have to worry about them again.

So the cheap vent covers kind of tick me off, but it might have saved me some water damage had rain gotten through the cracks in the seams. So I am blessed and thankful.

[crunchman12001]

Sorry about the vent issues but glad you got the cracks sealed up. Your vents might have gotten brittle from UV exposure. When you order your vents, buy some Max Air vent covers and install them. They work very well and you can keep your vents open in the rain.
MaxxAir I Original Translucent White Roof Vent Cover - Maxxair 00-933066P - Vents - Camping World

[DaGrinch]

Originally Posted by crunchman12001

Sorry about the vent issues but glad you got the cracks sealed up. Your vents might have gotten brittle from UV exposure. When you order your vents, buy some Max Air vent covers and install them. They work very well and you can keep your vents open in the rain.
MaxxAir I Original Translucent White Roof Vent Cover - Maxxair 00-933066P - Vents - Camping World

x2!

First thing I did when I got my Sunseeker was to install three MaxAir II covers.

[gmacklem]

Yes, I definitely want covers and may put a fan in one of them as well. Those covers were so brittle I was afraid to even tape up the holes as it felt like I would break them further.

[jst3]

I just replaced one of my vent covers with this. The OEM vents don't stand up to UV from the sun.


Camco 40161/40168 RV White Unbreakable Polycarbonate Vent Lid

It's a lot thicker than the original and standard replacement vents.
It doesn't let in as much light either. That can be good and bad depending how you look at it.

I have a max air cover on one of the vents so that one isn't an issue.
I'll be replacing the cover on the 3rd vent with the cover mentioned above.

My car trailer had the same problem. The vent only lasted about 3 years before it cracked and blew off on the highway. (Yes it was closed.)

[Rich.M]

The oem Hengs brand vents are plastic and brittle. We have 3 vents on our solera. One upgraded to fantastic fan with polycarbonate smoke tint lid, 2 Hengs vents. The Hengs vent plastic is not Impact resistant and drys out in 2 years . Our Rv is parked under a roof and the vents still became brittle. This summer we hit a hail storm in Colorado. The whole coach , fantastic vent and all skylights did fine. The Hengs vents cracked and had quarter sized holes. I replaced them with fantastic vents to match. Any brand with a polycarbonate lid should perform well. Polycarbonate is what is used for safety glasses.

[ornery]

"So the cheap vent covers kind of tick me off, but it might have saved me some water damage had rain gotten through the cracks in the seams. So I am blessed and thankful.[/QUOTE]"
Cheap is right! We had our brand new, 2016 FR 26VFKSS stored all last winter, covered. This last spring after we took off the cover, we got a bad hail storm. 2 of the 3 roof vents were broken. The 3rd. vent survived because FR HAD installed a MAXAIR vent cover on that ONE. Why not the other two I thought. So I replaced both vent covers and installed MAXAIR vent covers on those.The only draw back with the MAXAIR is you lose some of the opening height, I think they open about 40% of the original.

2016 FR 26VFKSS
2015 F250 Super Duty. (off duty right now)

[ilmor]

Amazing that the engineers would specify a product which is so poor at handling U/V - on the roof!!

[SkipBest]

If you are replacing your vent covers I really like the Fan-Tastic Ultra Breeze cover. I switched out our Max-Air and the air flow is noticeably better. The air moves more and the fan is quieter. They do cost more but ...
Easy to install
Easy to clean
Better air flow.

Skip Best
2503S Mini Lite

[n-e-d]

X2 on the Ultra breeze. Went with the black color to cut back the morning light. DW is a late sleeper and I m up first light

[extxn]

On my original trailer, I definitely went with the MaxAir covers ~ but those were standard 14" X 14" vents. Now I have a 26RR Toy Hauler and the bathroom vent is 18" X something else (I forgot) .. does anyone know which vent cover would fit over that fan? Thanks in advance ~

[Darlingdoug]

Maxair vent covers were the first addon for our unit. Not only do they allow vents to remain open while travelling & when it rains but also protect original covers.

[trdutch]

I too covered my vents within a month of ownership
We especially Like the Max Air we put over the Fantastic Fan
After (almost) Two seasons I did a routine cleaning last week
I took the covers off,checked the seals and cleaned the covers as well as the vents and screens.
The covers were filthy but did their job!




Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Gottaluvlife]

Originally Posted by SkipBest

If you are replacing your vent covers I really like the Fan-Tastic Ultra Breeze cover. I switched out our Max-Air and the air flow is noticeably better. The air moves more and the fan is quieter. They do cost more but ...
Easy to install
Easy to clean
Better air flow.

Skip Best
2503S Mini Lite

Can you please explain..We have a 2017 2503S on order and we requested an additional max-air fan over the bed. Do we need to replace the covers right away? I thought they come with covers??

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by ilmor

Amazing that the engineers would specify a product which is so poor at handling U/V - on the roof!!

Don't blame the engineers; they almost always know better. Blame the bean counters.

[dbareford]

Originally Posted by Gottaluvlife

Can you please explain..We have a 2017 2503S on order and we requested an additional max-air fan over the bed. Do we need to replace the covers right away? I thought they come with covers??

They do have covers, but you can't drive with the standard cover up and you have to close it when it rains. The Maxxair covers go over top of the original and allow you to keep the original cover up while driving and when it rains.

[Pacostaco]

If you are going to buy a new cover get the max fan and the Maxxair fan mate the fan comes with tabs to easily connect the cover and the maxfan is amazing you can reverse direction of fan and comes with remote control

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by ornery

"So the cheap vent covers kind of tick me off, but it might have saved me some water damage had rain gotten through the cracks in the seams. So I am blessed and thankful.

"
Cheap is right! We had our brand new, 2016 FR 26VFKSS stored all last winter, covered. This last spring after we took off the cover, we got a bad hail storm. 2 of the 3 roof vents were broken. The 3rd. vent survived because FR HAD installed a MAXAIR vent cover on that ONE. Why not the other two I thought. So I replaced both vent covers and installed MAXAIR vent covers on those.The only draw back with the MAXAIR is you lose some of the opening height, I think they open about 40% of the original.

2016 FR 26VFKSS
2015 F250 Super Duty. (off duty right now) [/QUOTE]

Something doesn't seem right about the restriction to opening. My neighbor has the Maxair covers and I have the Fantastic Vent covers. Both restrict the opening, but only by 5% or less.

[Teaman]

Teaman here.

Just got a 2013 Sunseeker 2300 in August. It had no vent covers. The vent lids were the cheap kind and were already cracked in places. Also had a few small holes on same side on each, so was apparent hail damaged. Holes were small 1/4 in to 1/2 inches. Rain did not appear to be getting inside tho. I ordered three Maxair vent covers from amazon. I had to hire a mobile RV technician to come out to RV park to install them for me. Paid $100 for service call and installation. I am happy with the vent covers and should now be able to leave vent lids open during rainy weather. Also no more worries of hail damage or destruction of dry brittle vent lids.

Camped in Colorado in a TT one Summer. Had vent covers on all vents. Had a bad hailstorm come across one day. The vent covers protected my TT vent lids from damage, while the neighbor's TT, his vent lids were completely destroyed. He had water damage inside from the storm too. Vent covers are peace of mind.