Installation of an 11" roof fan in my camper shell

[tx2sturgis]

Fast Forward:

I FAN-ALLY (see what I did there?) got around to installing the new 11" roof fan.

This is a base model fan, brand name 'Hike Crew' bought online from Camping World.

First set of pics shows the old dome fan. These use a cheap plastic centrifugal impeller and although they do work...kinda...I can't recommend them for anything other than ventilating a really tiny camper or maybe just the bathroom area of a DIY camper. They are noisy and don't move any air at all if you reverse the DC polarity and try to run them in reverse.

I installed this old dome fan about 6 years ago...more or less.

Well, today, it was time to climb up there and start cutting a rectangular hole for the new fan, but in order get the jigsaw in there between the dome fan and the solar rack air deflector, I was going to try to unscrew and peel back the old dome fan...I worked at it for a good 20 minutes and made little progress. I guess I really sealed it in there 6 years ago!

So, I decided to start drilling my pilot holes and cut three sides, then fold the whole mess downward and then attack the folded edge with the saw.

Success!

More pics to follow.

 

[tx2sturgis]

After cutting the square hole and smoothing the edges of the aluminum sheet (with a sanding wheel on an angle grinder) I applied the butyl tape and screwed down the fan.

Interior view shows the fan installed, but the wiring and trim are not yet finished up.

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^putting a cover over it has a lot of advantages in that you can open it in the rain as well as a layer of protection that is easy and cheap to replace without chancing water leakage.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yeah, but because of the downward slope and the close fit with the metal air deflector, and because this is an 11 inch and not 14 inch, the options are very limited. I really do not want a big old vent cover up there, and even if I did, those are attached by slotted brackets that attach to the vent fan itself. Again, this is an 11 inch so it's not really compatible, unless I want to drill more holes in the roof to attach the cover.

I had considered rotating the unit 180 degrees (opening facing forward) and having the cover provide some rain protection during operation but the chance is always there that I might forget to close the vent before driving off....ooops!

 

[bullfrog !]

Modify a cooking pan or plastic food container and use high quality double stick tape maybe?

 

[wayne49]

I had purchased an 11" vent fan by mistake. Still in the box, too late for the OP.

Found out after it arrived why it was cheaper than my usual ones, name brand 14" fans, that I had been buying. Couldn't decide how to go about passing it on.

One of these years I might drop some other basically unused (or used one or two times) nomad items off for HOWA at Mailboxes and More in Pahrump. A Wave 3 with a cover, the propane regulator and long hose for using a 20-20 pound cylinder, a RoadPro leaky lunch box oven (no soup for you!), the aforementioned 11" vent fan for those with limited overhead real estate, and a Coleman two burner stove. Also a pair of 14" vent covers, again, no use to the OP. Most items were purchased circa 2015-16, then stored inside a large HD yellow top black box storage container, in an enclosed cargo trailer.

The mummy's tomb. A trip through nomadic artifacts from my recent past. The travel trailer, the cargo trailer, and the original van, are now cargo boxes with non cargo box shapes and wheels.