Kitchen Hood Fan question - Montana Owners Club

txkrumm · 10-02-2006, 03:49 PM

I find our stove/range hood fan very inefficient and quite noisy. You can barely hold a conversation when the thing is running. Has anyone changed it out to something different? I know it has to run on 12 volts for dry camping. Anybody with any ideas? I cook a lot, it would be a great improvement if I could upgrade. Ozz, are you out there

Thanks,
tara

Montana Sky · 10-02-2006, 04:15 PM

Tara,
I had the fan in my water closet (thanks to Steve). It is actually a computer muffin fan that is very quiet and efficient. MadDog is the brand, might be worth looking into...

LonnieB · 10-02-2006, 05:23 PM

Tara, Ozz had a post on here a few weeks ago about this subject. He installed a 3 position switch and rehostat (sp) to give him 3 speeds on the fan. The slower speeds evidently quieted it down to where it was tolerable for them. I noticed ours doesn't make any more noise than the stick house fan, which is fairly quiet, maybe it's a different style, or maybe I don't hear as good as I used to,LOL.

VanMan · 10-03-2006, 02:35 AM

Or maybe the mud daubers have moved in! Our previous TT's exhaust vent didn't have the closable/latchable door and there was just enough space for an invasion. They had quite a condo in there and on the fan blade. I'd think a little balance problem would cause chatter.

Charlotte · 10-03-2006, 07:14 AM

Ours has been quite noisy since we bought it, also. Ours came with a mud dauber cover so I don't believe that is our problem. I hate the noise and usually use the Fantastic fan instead. It is a little better. Would also like to find an alternative.
Charlotte

txkrumm · 10-03-2006, 12:50 PM

I know it's not the mudd dauber problem as steve took the motor out to see if cleaning/servicing it would help. Didn't help at all, thanks for the tip though!

azstar · 10-04-2006, 01:44 PM

Hi All,

I recently installed a 3 speed switch. What a difference. On low it seems to do as good a job moving the air as on high, but a lot less noise. I can actually watch TV while the cook is working, LOL.

Go to www.msnusers.com/azstar When there click on pictures, lower right or upper left. On page 3 you should see the install with the part #. Click on each slide for large pics.

Happy camping

fulltimedreamer · 10-04-2006, 06:01 PM

Steve,

Great pictures and thanks for the part number. I think I have another project coming!!

sreigle · 10-05-2006, 02:01 PM

Tara, the fan on your 2004 is probably like the one on our 2003 model. That fan can be replaced by a 12v computer case fan (aka muffin fan). They're around $10. I didn't change the one in the range hood but did change the one in the bathroom. They're the same noisy fan in both places. The computer fan comes with three wires. You only need two. Usually the red and black ones. I touched them to the truck's battery to find the correct two wires.

The fans in the 2007 models are much quieter. So much that I'm not going to bother changing them out.

LonnieB · 10-05-2006, 02:14 PM

'06 as well Steve, or at least they don't seem noisy to us. BTW glad to see you back.

Ozz · 10-05-2006, 02:26 PM

Wish I could take the credit, but it wasn't me.
The problem is that the fan has to move a certain amount of air, so they size it to do that job. problem No.#2, is that the fan is located right in the 'Eco chamber' of the sheet metal hood.
We have a rule in ducting, every 90 degree ell reduces the noise by a percent, usually 30 or so. Since it vents directly out, it will be noisy.
Any reduction in noise will convert to a reduction in the ability of the fan to remove the bacon grease smell, (or whatever) from your nice smelling Monte.
I have a job going at the Corner Cafe in Riverside, Mo. (I took Steve and Vicki and John and Christa there) there is a 15 ton unit that has a return air right above the space, noisy as the Devil. I am having a sheet metal company install a dual intake insulated 90 degree ell to reduce the air noise at a tune of $1400.00.
I'm afraid that the noise on the fan will not easily be reduced with the proper air removal, on our Monte's.

bigmurf · 10-05-2006, 04:42 PM

Added a varible resistor from Radio Shack (don't remember the value right now). Less than five bucks and the fan goes from stop to FWO (full wide open).

sreigle · 10-05-2006, 05:43 PM

Ozz, on the older models the fan itself was very noisy, in addition to air movement noise. Replacing with a ball bearing computer case fan makes a huge difference. Been there on that one.

txkrumm · 10-05-2006, 05:55 PM

Steve,
Thanks for the tip. Our model is a 2003; same as your old unit. I would love to do something different to the fan to make it more quiet. Do you think your new unit's fan is quieter? Wonder if I could switch it out with newer model?
Thanks,
tara

Ozz · 10-06-2006, 03:06 AM

As long as the replacement fan has the same CFM rating, you would be fine. I would check that rating before spending the money and time to do the change out.

sreigle · 10-06-2006, 04:36 AM

I don't know what the cfm ratings were but I put a 120mm computer fan in our 2003 and used it for nearly four years. It pulled at least as much air as the original and probably more. Ozz is correct you don't want a fan that will move less air. The 120mm fan did a good job of venting odors and also moisture from the shower for us. We had no moisture problems in the rig.

The fan we put on Montana Sky's rig is 120mm, ball bearing. I think the ball bearings have a lot to do with the quietness as well as having a long life.

Montana Sky · 10-06-2006, 04:06 PM

All I can say is I LOVE IT!!!! The fan that Steve installed in my watercloset is AMAZING. I no longer have a moisture problem from showering in the cooler morning temps, and the amount of air that baby moves is 5x's better than the OEM fan. The best part of the new fan is it is quiet, can hardly hear it run!

mallardjusted · 10-20-2006, 06:45 AM

Steve,

re the computer case fan you mentioned ... you said it was 12V. The only ones I've found (Radio Shack) have been 9V. Is that what you used, i.e. can they carry an overvoltage? If they work that way that would be great, otherwise I suppose I could put a resistor in series to drov the voltage a little???

mallardjusted · 10-20-2006, 03:48 PM

I got the right info now. The computer fan is 12 volts (packaging showed lower voltage, but it was really referring to startup minimum voltage).

I added the computer case fan to my bathroom today. It does make it a lot quieter. Instead of replacing the kitchen hood fan, though, I added a potentiometer to the existing fan wiring. That makes a huge difference as well. In fact, if I ever have to replace the new fan in the bathroom, I will go back to the original fan and add a potentiomer. This is a simpler fix, and has a similar result as far as noise goes.

Montana_5066 · 10-24-2006, 09:04 AM

I installed a new hood/fan in my 5er. Do a search for 24 inch range hood. Mine has a rheostat control and a bright light-it is 110 volt.
Much less noise than the other fan on the low setting and it seems to move more hot air even at a lower setting than the old 12 volt fan.

You may also like: