Vent Covers??

[troutchasers]

Our dealer has recommended installing vent covers on top of our two Fantastic fans in the bathroom and kitchen. They did tell us they would add height to our rig, but won't or can't tell us how much. Not knowing I was hoping to get some opinions from folks who may have them installed. Is it worth the expense and extra height concerns. Thanks!

[DQDick]

Yes it is worth the expense, in our opinion. We have them and until the 100 degrees hit used them a lot. If you have two AC units as we do the hight isn't an issue they're about the same height or a little smaller. We didn't get any taller when we put them on.

[8.1al]

I know many people have and like them but I can honestly say I have never wished that we had them.

[H. John Kohl]

When I ordered my second Fantastic Fan with rain sensor the factory technician suggested against it. He said no need.
He also told me I should not use the vent pillow to block sun because it adds heat to that area and could cause damage.
Just repeating what I feel I heard from the tech.
I have one vent cover over the bathroom vent which is not fantastic and none over both fantastic fan vents.

[PatnRich]

Same as John Kohl, no covers on both Fantastic Fans, cover on bath vent.

[grayghost03]

I like them, in the southwest its nice to leave the vents open aliitle when traveling to keep the heat build up down. Also have seen hail storm destroy the factory cover and allow rain to enter big time. The vent covers are preTty flexible and give a pretty good line of defense. If you live or don't travel where hail storms are a issue then the second point is mute.

[oldgeezor]

I have three covering the vents upstairs but I do not have a cover for the Fantastic Fan..

[kylec2]

I have used my rig with and without vent covers, both manual and fan vents. In my case, I prefer the use of the vent covers in the bath room as it allows me to run the fan (to vent humidity) even when it is raining. On my other vents I am not sure it matters all that much, but it does cut down on the sun coming in the vent and provides hail protection.

[bighornram]

The instructions for my fantastic fan says no cover as there is a rain sensor which will not work with a cover. I have covers on the non fan vents. In the mountains there are frequent showers and you can leave the vent open when gone. I also sometimes like to vent the humidity from the bathroom when it is raining outside.

[Gorgeguy]

I did not have the vent covers on my way to the "Q" last January. Went through a major sand storm going from Palm Springs to Quartzite and the wind opened the vents and the inside of the rig was covered in sand. The vent covers I installed this year will supposedly keep that from happening. Also if we leave the vents open and leave the coach, if rain comes in the water will not flood the coach. I think I will like them.

[KathyandDave]

We're of two minds on this. When it rains, the humidity goes up, but the fantasti vrnt closes. I'm leaning towards something like the shur-flo, where the vent and fan operation have good remote control, then covering it with a vent.

[Art-n-Marge]

If you put a vent cover over a fantastic fan then you don't have to worry about the rain sensor since the cover prevents the fan from having to shutdown because of rain. This might be a good thing, because if it starts raining, the fan will continue to run and keep whatever ventilation you wanted to get going.

I'd be more worried about the clearance of the vent cover itself. When I installed the aerodynamic Maxx-Air covers on a prior rig, per the instructions, they sat too low on the vent so that when the vent cover opened it wouldn't open quite as far and would contact the Maxx-Air cover before opening all the way. Since there were no fans or motors to worry about it we'd just maually open the vents until they stopped and be done with it.

When I got rid of that rig I removed the covers to use on this Monty. I just haven't installed them yet but when I do, I will try and make sure they sit taller so the factory vent opens fully (but not too much to allow debris and water to bounce from the roof into the vent opening. This will definitely take more thinking. The vents on the roof are on downward roof slants so I don't have to worry about height, too much. But that's another thing to think about, too.

[richard66]

I have had Max Air covers on three rigs. I had the dealer provide Max Air II covers in the deal on my HC343rl. They will add life to your vents by protecting them from UV. I woud rather replace a cover than a vent.

[steelpony5555]

Had covers on my last rig and covers on this rig for every vent and fantastic fan. I can leave them open when it rains and they still work. Before I got them on my last rig we had one wet bed and could not vent when raining and in the potty room with out getting a shower. They do not add anymore height then an AC. Our front AC and the center vents with Maxx covers look to be pretty close in height.

[seahunter]

We have them on all three Fantastic Fans. This way we can leave the vents open when it rains, quite often in the Northwest, and still have ventilation without the rain getting in.

[Rondo]

Not to steal this thread but does anyone know if Fantastic Fan makes a darker or smoke colored cover? I'd like to put that on mine if they do!
OK, back to the subject- We have the vent covers on two of our vents(the potty room and the bedroom vent- since we don't have the second A/C because our unit is only a 30 amp unit). Supposedly Fantastic Fan has come out with their own cover for their vents but I haven't seen them yet. They supposedly allow the vent door on the Fantastic Fan to open all the way but don't know how they work with the rain sensor.

[seahunter]

quote:Originally posted by Rondo

Not to steal this thread but does anyone know if Fantastic Fan makes a darker or smoke colored cover? I'd like to put that on mine if they do!
OK, back to the subject- We have the vent covers on two of our vents(the potty room and the bedroom vent- since we don't have the second A/C because our unit is only a 30 amp unit). Supposedly Fantastic Fan has come out with their own cover for their vents but I haven't seen them yet. They supposedly allow the vent door on the Fantastic Fan to open all the way but don't know how they work with the rain sensor.

Yes on the smoke colored covers:

http://www.fantasticvent.com/products/products.html

and yes on the "Ultra Breeze" vent covers supposed to work better with allowing the Fantastics to open all the way. I ended up with the MaxAir II's when I bought ours several months ago because I didn't know about them not opening all the way and I think the Ultra Breezes were just coming out at that time.

[cotter key]

when i was talking to a rep from fantastic this spring i asked about the cover they have now. he said it lets the fan cover open all the way and something about the way it is made it doesnt hinder the air flow. like a bigger opening and the way the louvers are it lets more air thru.
and yes they have smoke colored covers

[Dontana]

Having owned a previous house with an attic fan and no AC, I opted to have a manual fantastic fan(FF) installed in the bathroom of our two AC 3700. This option is in addition to the FF with rain sensor but w/o cover in the LR.

In that previous SB, we would open target windows "away" from the fan, with the device being adjusted to bring outside air in, for example, basement, kitchen, bedrooms, etc., depending on what space we wanted cool. Overall, it was amazing how good it worked and how much air moved, but you had to limit the number of windows open.

It is somewhat similar in concept to the use of a small fan to transport cooler air from the living area to the bedroom in a one AC unit. In other words, there are many circulation options, but I think fantastic fans with rain covers, especially those on the non-rain sensor ones, are the best. Also, it might be considered by some people to be quieter than the AC above the bed.

Art is correct, the Max Air and Max Air II covers would not allow full opening of the automatic FF cover, which might result in vibration (noise) between the fan and Max Air covers. You may want to consider other options available for the (high speed) fan, e.g. Max Air Fan Mate or Fantastic’s own design. But I can’t speak to those possibilities, because they are outside of my experience.

[2Wanderers]

This is our third travel trailer. We have had covers on the last two. All have seen hail at one time or the other. Hail just goes with the high plains and mountains. Our Mountaineer has vent covers over both the fan and non fan vents. They work just fine and most important out here in the Rockies, they provide a "sacrifice" cover for hail damage to your normal vent covers. Most are made of some pretty durable plastic, plus if they do sustain mild hail damage, at least you still can keep the water damage out of your rig with the vent covers they protect. We have a second AC and it is still higher than either of the vent covers.