Questions on vent covers

[zinger60]

We have 2 vents in our TT. One is over the bed with no fan, just a vent. The other is a Fantastic fan in the bathroom. We are wanting to get covers for these so we can leave them open even when raining. Is there any difference in brands? Do they all have screens that are easy to clean or do some have to be taken completely off to clean?
Our TT is white with beige designs so everything on the roof is white. My husband is leaning more towards getting black vent covers because he thinks it will keep the sun and heat out more than white covers would. Would that be correct? Even though we have not used the TT yet, just from being inside and seeing how much light comes in the vent over our bed, I know it's going to drive me crazy when trying to sleep in during the mornings when camping. Would the black outside vent cover help?

[bubbles]

Check out Max Air and Max Air II covers. Come in several colors.

[gasman94]

Don't know if I'm correct here, but as long as both colors are opaque, I would think the white would keep the TT cooler because the black would absorb more sunlight instead of reflecting it the way a lighter color will. Once absorbed, that heat would radiate into the TT.

[heavynlori]

You can get the plush pillows for inside the vents also - they work well to keep light out. I covered ours with cute fabric pillowcases to match the bedding

[mark0224]

To answer your questions, yes you can leave the vent open even if raining. For the one without a fan you can even get camco ones at walmart for $20, the one with the fan you need a different type. This is the one I put on last year for the fan. The other 2 I got the camco ones at walmart. All are easy to install about 15 min each. The white doesn't create any extra heat and wind blows in enough. There are what looks like little pillows that can be put inside the vent that will block sunlight or keep ac in or heat in. You can get them at walmart also about $10. I think I hit all your questions if you have more just ask.

[Tehlib]

Perfect topic. I was looking at this today at the RV store. They told me the MaxAIR and Max AIR II don't fit over the fantastic fan though? So I didn't buy one. Do they work? And can you simply drill them in to the fan housing right? That way you dont drill into your roof?

[Timex]

I use these over my 3 vents, even the one over the bathroom fan. The smoke color provides some shade and in the summer I use the vent pillow to block out sun and heat. I can leave the vents open during a rain storm but I can't say that you won't get some moisture come thru.

I believe they are called Fantastic Vent cover from Ultra Breeze.

[Coach]

We have a 2004 Surveyor 28' bumper pull. We're getting it ready to go camping for the first time this year and I noticed the vent covers have some cracks and a couple small holes. We had a serious hail storm a couple weeks ago with some stones larger than 1" and I'm assuming the vent covers were brittle and succumbed to the hail. I'm looking at "unbreakable" ones on Amazon, but not sure if they are the right type. The bathroom vent has a fan and the lever that raises the cover is on the side. The other 2 have the lever slide in the center. With rain in the forecast the next couple of days, I don't want to take them off until I have the new ones in hand. Does anybody have any words of wisdom about hinge style, etc. that I need to look for on this 2004? Thanks!

[Jim34RL]

In our camper that we just sold it had three vents; one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom vent fan and then the fantastic fan in the kitchen. I cover the two vents with white vent covers leaving the fantastic fan not covered. The fantastic fan has a rain sensor that when turned on will close the lid and turn the fan off if moisture is present regardless of rain or not. On heavy damp mornings with heavy dew present the fan would turn off and shut down. So to me a vent cover was not worth the cost since the fan would not operate with moisture in the air.




I agree the vent cushions work great and we went one step further with the bed room vent covering. There is a roller shade for sale by various RV business that is a vent shade we used this with the vent cushion when the vent was closed and just the shade when the vent was opened.




Also we found black roller shades that you cut to with from IKEA that were real inexpensive that we used in the bedroom on the windows.

[jmencel]

I just installed a Camco vent cover (Walmart) on my fantastic fan this past week end. Seems well made and about half the price of the rest. If you look on youtube you'll find demonstrations that show a cover made specifically for a fantastic fan allows for more air flow. This feature was not significant enough for me to pay the extra $$, but you can decide. Installation over a fantastic fan is slightly more tricky (but not difficult). I had to remove the fantastic fan screen and screws, lock handle, and crank handle in the lower housing (from below), and then the four screws on the fan from the roof side so I could tip it sideways it to allow access to the inside vent sides to thread the bolts on the four screws that go through the holes you drill on the sides of the vent housing. Other than that its the same installation as over a regular roof vent. Watch the installation videos on youtube.

[itat]

jmencel, did you put this Camco vent cover on your Fantastic Fan? That's totally inappropriate for a high volume fan like the Fantastic Fan. Those videos on YouTube that you're talking about show what this cover will do to air flow from your Fantastic Fan. Even the MaixAir II would be a better choice than this Camco cover. The ones that mark0224 and Timex have are the best covers for a Fantastic Fan.

This Camco cover is only good for vents without and fan.

[ottawapaul]

Get the Fantastic vent covers as shown in Timex's reply to this question. The Fantastic covers allow the installed fantastic vents to open higher, thus you get a better air flow. We have three of these on my rig which has three fantastic vents.

[Cypressloser]

I have three of these

Very easy to install, keep rain from entering even when driving, attach to the side of the vent (Maxx Air and Fantastic) not to the roof, good crossventilation due to space between the bottom of the cover and the roof.
They are not cheap but the best covers I ever owned and can be transferred to another rv without leaving holes in the roof.

[Timex]

Originally Posted by Coach

We have a 2004 Surveyor 28' bumper pull. We're getting it ready to go camping for the first time this year and I noticed the vent covers have some cracks and a couple small holes. We had a serious hail storm a couple weeks ago with some stones larger than 1" and I'm assuming the vent covers were brittle and succumbed to the hail. I'm looking at "unbreakable" ones on Amazon, but not sure if they are the right type. The bathroom vent has a fan and the lever that raises the cover is on the side. The other 2 have the lever slide in the center. With rain in the forecast the next couple of days, I don't want to take them off until I have the new ones in hand. Does anybody have any words of wisdom about hinge style, etc. that I need to look for on this 2004? Thanks!

When you say vent covers, are you referring to the lid for the opening or the cover that goes over the whole thing. I can testify to the sturdiness of mine. One time our site was under a pine tree and 1 of those big green pine cones fell during a storm at night and hit the vent cover. I had no idea what had hit us but there was no mistake about the sound. It didn't even leave a scratch! If the vent cover had not have been there, that pine cone most assuredly would have gone thru that thin hatch lid and into the bed with us!

Now why don't they make the whole roof out of this material?

[DBsRedVett]

Max Air II, black to match all other covers on my roof

[Old car]

On my second trailer and my second set of Maxx Air II covers. The II cover will fit over the Fantastic Fan as well as the non power ventaled vents. I have black because my a/c units are black but if everything else is white on your roof--I would go white. All a matter of personal choice.

[UmptySquat]

Originally Posted by Cypressloser

I have three of these

Very easy to install, keep rain from entering even when driving, attach to the side of the vent (Maxx Air and Fantastic) not to the roof, good crossventilation due to space between the bottom of the cover and the roof.
They are not cheap but the best covers I ever owned and can be transferred to another rv without leaving holes in the roof.

I can't quite tell what covers those are from the picture. Can you please share details? Thanks.

[itat]

Cypressloser's covers are the MaxxAir Fan/Mate. They're made for high volume fans. They work great on the previous gen Fantastic Fan - I installed one on my 2010 Roo and on my current 2011 Rockwood - but some are reporting they don't install as well on the latest version of the Fantastic Fan?

[Cypressloser]

Originally Posted by itat

Cypressloser's covers are the MaxxAir Fan/Mate. They're made for high volume fans. They work great on the previous gen Fantastic Fan - I installed one on my 2010 Roo and on my current 2011 Rockwood - but some are reporting they don't install as well on the latest version of the Fantastic Fan?

You beat me to it .
Here is a link to an install tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h19bCmoURcU

[StoneyG]

We've had the Max Air and they didn't allow the Fantastic Fan to open fully. We're having the Ultra Breeze installed, made by Fantastic Fan, that is supposed to allow full opening.