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Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 26th, 2019, 11:20 am
by Astrodokk
My bath light didn’t work, but the fan does, so I’m taking it apart and voila, the lights came on, then off. So there’s a short somewhere. Trying to take the housing off from inside and noticed that someone’s been there already. A couple of rivets are gone and replaced with screws and one plastic screw retainer on the housing is broken off but still present. I’m going to glue that part back in.
My point in this thread is that the fiberglass cutout is horrible and I can’t seem to get the housing out with altering the opening a little. I suppose they forced it in at one time. One would think the cutout would be nicer!

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 26th, 2019, 11:56 am
by Scott
Don't feel bad. Mine certainly wasn't CNC laser cut, either. Not as bad as yours, but mine might be considered a personal safety hazard in the state of CA. "That's what trim is for," they chanted in the production meetings :lol:

Here's what I did a few years ago:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=338&hilit=bathroom

The garnish and screen come off from below, as you've done, and the rest comes off the top.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 26th, 2019, 11:58 am
by SMan
I talked about that very issue in a post awhile back. I had to enlarge the whole as it looked like a 10 year old installed it. I suspect they may have been put in from the top at the time they were built. My fan blade disintegrated a few months back and the light no longer works. I will more than likely replace with something else.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 26th, 2019, 1:27 pm
by Astrodokk
Alrighty then!
I took what I thought was a ballast cover off (I’m no electrician or even a smart guy with this stuff), and sure enough someone had messed with the white wires and didn’t tighten the wire nut very tight, so the connection was loose.
I’m glad it was just that, so I’ll be buying a new fan blade and trim, and putting everything back together soon. I kind of like things stock for now until I can get everything working, then upgrade later if I decide to.
On to the next fix.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 26th, 2019, 2:12 pm
by Blue~Go
How did I miss that you are already on to the next fix? Duh :oops: Well anyway, I'll leave this here for reference.

*******

I can't tell for sure what you mean, but just in case: The cutout in the fiberglass shower liner "roof" is only for getting the screen and garnish on and off. The main body of the vent comes off from the top. But maybe that's already obvious :geek:

My shower cutout was also was cut a little too large, so two of the garnish screws pulled out (they only had a couple of threads of fiberglass between them and the cutout. I epoxied a couple of wood blocks up inside (to the top/back side of the liner) to give the screws something to bite into (they only hold the garnish).

Couple of other notes:

1) As I'm sure you've noticed, this is not the world's best quality vent. OTOH, it has a nice low profile, and lots of open area (potentially).

2) The plastic that covers the lights tends to die, but new ones are available. I did a post on this some years ago with part numbers, etc.

3) Another option (what I have done) is to remove the fan (well, actually the blades just fell off) and that whole interior section with the lights on it, and just buy a normal screened section (Amazon around $16) which fits right on. Then you have a larger opening and can use the lighting wire to supply lights in some other way. You can have - or not have - the fan part.

4) You can put in a better quality RV roof vent (they are still relatively low quality, but worlds better than this type). I have stuck with this type just because I like the low profile and large (without the light bar part) opening. I do have a low profile Fantastic Fan waiting in the wings in case I feel like changing it.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 31st, 2019, 4:02 pm
by Astrodokk
So while I’m waiting for my new fan blade to arrive, I noticed at an RV store that there are clockwise and counterclockwise fan blades!
I looked at my old one and see that the previous owner installed the blade with the flush side up. I reinstalled the blade and saw that it turns counterclockwise.
I’m wondering if correct blade shape dynamics makes a difference. I hope I’m not reading too much into this!
The photo shows how it was before I took it off. It looks like it would blow air up and out if going counterclockwise, but it looks funny with those angles on the blades.
When it turn it on, I feel air going in both directions, and yes, I opened the vent lol.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 31st, 2019, 4:37 pm
by Astrodokk
The inside of the blade housing says CW FLUSH FRONT.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 31st, 2019, 8:23 pm
by Blue~Go
Well this is timely. I was just looking at the hub of my fan (nothing else left) and thinking that if I could find another one, why not replace it (realized it just pulled right down and off). Guess what? Same inscription as yours, plus a few numbers that I was going to Google later this evening. I'll report back if I find anything.

Reason I was messing with it is that I finally (third try) got a new screen that didn't come broken. I removed the big screen with the light bars built into the side, and ordered a "plain" screen unit. (I'll use the wires for some other iteration of a light). That light cover (even though I bought a new one) was so flimsy, plus I like the additional ~30% more open area without it. Anyway, so as I was fitting that in I noticed that the fan hub just pulled right down and off. Figured it would take more than that.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 31st, 2019, 9:01 pm
by Astrodokk
Yes, the fan motor shaft is a D shape, and the impeller? just pulls right off. On mine, the flush side faced up, so it makes sense that if looking from the top (or roof), it would be going clockwise, hence their directions of flush front. That would move air out of the bathroom, so I’m glad about that. I ordered a new one from eBay for 7.99 free shipping.

Re: Bathroom fan and light

Posted: January 31st, 2019, 10:31 pm
by Blue~Go
Do you have a link or model number I could use?

I think mine was flush side up too - which makes sense because otherwise it would be a water dish.

I wasn't too bummed not having the fan, but on the other hand, why not?