Maxxair Fan Install in Rockwood 2109: Wiring Solutions and Lessons Learned

[JetMonkey]

I plan to replace the forward vent over the bed in my Rockwood 2109 with a Maxxair fan.

Today I removed the vent's trim ring over the bed and found misc wires but no pre-routed wires tucked in for a possible fan install.

I found a group of red/white wires that I'm guessing run to the three light assemblies over the bed area. At first, I thought these wires would work well to power the fan but after further thought, probably not because these light are dimmable so when dimmed, the fan may have issues.

Along with the red/white wires is a paired set of white/black wires, I think these may run the length of the trailer and pass past the manual vent I want to replace.

Does anyone know what the white/black wires control?

I wish as an owner there were wire prints available to us for simple projects like these.

I attached pictures I took today of the wires at the vent.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[BADinc]

I added a fan to the front vent in our 2023 Ft 22fbs. On mine one group was for the bed area lighting and the other group where for the main area lighting. Do you have a main switch panel that has 2 light groups? You could drop one of the led lights to see the wire colors. Unfortunately both are positive switched. I used the bedroom circuit on mine. But they are not dimmable. The down side is you have to turn off each of the lights from their individual swith at the lamp to run the fan. It works fine for me.

 

[bikendan]

Moved thread from the Modifications and Updates section to the Exterior Maintenance/Roofs/Sealing/Covers and Vents sub-forum since the OP's questions are specific to Vents and Roofs.

 

[JimM2109S]

I don't have any info that would help. Have you tried gently pulling on the black/white pair from either side to see if it is just stuffed up in there? I ordered our 2109s with the optional power vent over the bed, so the factory may run a wire to that location in all trailers for that option.

A suggestion would be to pierce the insulations of, or cut and afterwards reconnect, the black/white pair and test for voltage when turning various switches and pulling fuses on/off.

 

[shadowman114488]

I plan to replace the forward vent over the bed in my Rockwood 2109 with a Maxxair fan.

I also installed a Maxxair in our bedroom vent opening.
On my fiver all of the 12v wires looked like they ran pretty much down the center of the trailer and were within easy reach of the vent opening. I used the wire that ran to the bathroom fan.

I located that wire by disconnecting it from the bathroom fan and pulling it back to the bedroom vent opening while it was taped to a pull tape. (a long piece of stout string would work just as well). Once I knew for sure which wire it was, I marked it, and pulled it back to the bathroom and reattached it to the bath fan. Then I tapped into that wire for the Maxxair. Works great.

 

[JetMonkey]

I don't have any info that would help. Have you tried gently pulling on the black/white pair from either side to see if it is just stuffed up in there? I ordered our 2109s with the optional power vent over the bed, so the factory may run a wire to that location in all trailers for that option.

A suggestion would be to pierce the insulations of, or cut and afterwards reconnect, the black/white pair and test for voltage when turning various switches and pulling fuses on/off.

Hi Jim, I did tug on the wires to see if any were a pigtail stowed for this purpose but all wires only moved slightly but never came out. I'm pretty sure the red/white wires are for the bedroom ceiling lights. As you suggested, I plan to check for voltage as I lok at fuses and operation of various switches.

 

[JetMonkey]

I added a fan to the front vent in our 2023 Ft 22fbs. On mine one group was for the bed area lighting and the other group where for the main area lighting. Do you have a main switch panel that has 2 light groups? You could drop one of the led lights to see the wire colors. Unfortunately both are positive switched. I used the bedroom circuit on mine. But they are not dimmable. The down side is you have to turn off each of the lights from their individual swith at the lamp to run the fan. It works fine for me.

Yep, I have two groups also. You may have dimmable lights in your RV. I found mine by accident. If you have the same control panel as I do (pic attached) press and hold the switch/button for the group you want to control (bedroom or living area) and the lights as a group, will dim.

 

[JetMonkey]

I also installed a Maxxair in our bedroom vent opening.
On my fiver all of the 12v wires looked like they ran pretty much down the center of the trailer and were within easy reach of the vent opening. I used the wire that ran to the bathroom fan.

I located that wire by disconnecting it from the bathroom fan and pulling it back to the bedroom vent opening while it was taped to a pull tape. (a long piece of stout string would work just as well). Once I knew for sure which wire it was, I marked it, and pulled it back to the bathroom and reattached it to the bath fan. Then I tapped into that wire for the Maxxair. Works great.

Thanks good info, you're a brave man pulling that entire run through the ceiling then back again! I've used that technique before with other projects without issue. I would hate for there to be a issue with the wire snagging or disconnecting in that ceiling. But, I should be able to leave wires connected to the bathroom fan then tug back and forth from the bedroom sort of like tug of war and verify its the same wire.
Thanks for the help.

 

[JimM2109S]

Looking at your panel, you have a separate circuit for your bedroom lights which my 2109s does not have. All of my ceiling lights are on the same interior switch. If the "bedroom lights" on that panel control the ceiling lights over the bed, I expect that black/white pair may be for them?

 

[JetMonkey]

I resolved my wiring issue and couldn’t be happier with the result.

I can’t speak for other model years of Rockwood 2109S trailers, I suspect most years will be very similar if not the same but on my 2025 trailer, I was able to run wires from the new fan over the bed directly to the factory fan in the bathroom.

First off, the actual replacement of the forward vent with the MaxxAir deluxe fan was pretty straight forward. Swapping units was easy and since it’s a new camper, the sealant on the roof wasn’t too bad to remove.

As for the wiring, the red/white wires I mentioned in my original post do go to the three light assemblies over the bed, the black/white wires power the remaining ceiling lights in the camper. Neither of these could be used because they all are dimmable by using the main control panel. Dimming them lowers the voltage and per the fan instructions, the fan needs 12 volts minimum.

I went to Home Depot and bought a electricians fishing tape which saved the day. I had to remove the ceiling shroud from the fan in the bathroom along with the plastic shroud/enclosure for the main air conditioner in the ceiling. Removing the air conditioner shrouds was easy, you just need a #2 square drive bit for the fasteners. The reason for removing the A/C shrouds is because the A/C unit separates the ceiling access area into two sections, A/C going to the front of the trailer and A/C heading to the back of the trailer.

I started at the air conditioner area by fishing the tape through the “tunnel” in the styrofoam ceiling and headed towards the bathroom. The exit point at the bathroom fan is small so I used a pair of pointed pliers to grab the end of the fishing tape and pull it down past that fan. Attached the new wires and pulled them through the ceiling to the air conditioner area. Then, starting at the tunnel in the styrofoam over the bed, ran the fishing tape towards the AC unit. I was able to attach the wires coming from the bathroom and pull them the rest of the way to the new fan over the bed.

Connecting to power was easy, just connect to the same connectors used at the bathroom fan. The fuse powering the bathroom fan is a 15 amp fuse, the new fan needs 5 amps and I suspect the bathroom fan needs 5 amps or less since it doesn’t have a powered vent like the new fan.

Everything works like a charm and I didn’t have to pay some crazy shop rate for the work!

 

[Grapehound]

Thank you Jetmonkey for posting your success. Sometimes people post an issue and how they are trying to work through it and we never hear back. It is so helpful to hear what you did and how well it worked. Thank you for posting a clear conclusion to your issue!

 

[Spoiled Daddy]

Yep, I have two groups also. You may have dimmable lights in your RV. I found mine by accident. If you have the same control panel as I do (pic attached) press and hold the switch/button for the group you want to control (bedroom or living area) and the lights as a group, will dim.

We’ve got the same panel in our 2024 2109, but no dimmable lights. That is not dimmable unless I’m not pushing the buttons correctly. I guess different units with different options

 

[Aussieguy]

for testing voltage we would stick sewing pins into the unknow wire if we could not see the ends of the wire
then read it's voltage using multimeter
------------------------------------------------------
great that you got the fishtape to work for you and found a nearby power source

 

[JetMonkey]

Thank you Jetmonkey for posting your success. Sometimes people post an issue and how they are trying to work through it and we never hear back. It is so helpful to hear what you did and how well it worked. Thank you for posting a clear conclusion to your issue!

Thank you for the thank you!