these magic....fantastic....or ??? FANS

OK, are these fans actually worth it??? I mean these things are expensive. Can you make your own.....someone told me that is possible with a bathroom fan.

are you talking about roof vent fans or a stand alone fan?

a bathroom fan is 120v so you would have to run it through an inverter which would make it not as efficient. also the standard ones are loud and don't really move much air.

highdesertranger

I find my fantastic roof vent fan works well if I sit by the one partially open window in my van. Crack the window by the bed and a nice breeze. I strongly recommend one with a thermostat to cut the fan off when the night air cools to your comfort level.

I love my FF, which draws air in through the windows.

If you don’t want to spring for the thermostat version, you can just keep the remote for it by your bed and turn the fan off when it is cool enough.

I prefer the basic 4 speed MaxxFan.

Yes, none of them are cheap, but you get a LOT of benefit using one.

If you want to make one use a car radiater cooling fan, you can find a 12 volt 9 inch fan for less then 25 dollars including shipping on ebay. At full power they use about 6 amps, you can buy a pwm speed control for 5 dollars that will throttle it down for less power use. You can find larger 12 inch fans for about the same price, but the larger you go the more amps you use.  

One that I bought I use on my swampcooler and it lasted me a little over a year running it everyday at full power. A fantastic fan will last longer because it never runs at full power, its speed governed so it maxes out at 3 amps. Always carry extra fans because they all fail eventually especially when you need it the most.

Is the endless breeze fantastic fan worth it? I bought one 5 years ago(70 dollars) and never use it, now they cost in the 100 dollar range. It is very well designed with thick gauge wire and great 12 volt plug. But it is also large and takes up alot of space in my van. The fans I use the most are small 120mm 12 volt fans they move alot of air and use only a little over 1 amp, they also can run at full power for many years.  

My stove has a vent-a-hood above the stove that vents out the side. PO probably removed it for some reason. Just using a computer fan there should help and wouldn't spread the heat around inside. Most are made to work off 12V. The roof vent should be able to be replaced too. The hole is already cut which is the hard part.

yep use a 12v computer fan. highdesertranger

yes, on top there is the old lid to the  vent......can't open it....the PO re-did the inside so I would have to cut the ceiling …..and you aren't talking to a carpenter.....so a little shakey on that.....but man I want to tear into it....lol

cutting into the roof is not fun. I got 4 vents on the roof, and they never kept me cool. Now 5 years later I have a leak on the roof that I havent been able to track down. Also they get in the way of the solar panel.

This side vents is what keep me cool. They feed my swampcooler. But you can just put a regular fan next to it.

If you decide to cut into the roof, double check whats underneath, I didn't and cut into some support beams thats why I have an extra vent. Use a cordless jigsaw (30 dollars at harbor freight).   

side vents



roof vents total 4(2 x14 inch, 2 x9 inch), the one with the vortex fan is under center of solar panel.

Here is a picture of the fan I built using a 12 volt 9 inch car radiator fan. At full power it uses 4.2 amps (56 watts) as per dc wattmeter. The finger guard is from a 1 dollar waste basket I bought at dollar store. I used plastic spot ties to hold everything together. This fan was buiilt quickly on a hot day when I needed more cooling. I used a wide footprint to keep it from tipping over, which was a big problem with the endless breeze fantastic fan.

These radiator fans will also work good in DIY swamp coolers.