Question about electrical for vent fans

[jclements2]

Hey all, I have a 2012 Swift SLX 184BH, and my parents bought me a Fantastic Vent for Christmas that I've yet to install. I thought about having it professionally installed, but I'm told by other RV owners that it's really easy to do. My one single concern though, is that I've been told my several people that when I remove the original vent, Jayco will have already provided 12v power, and it should be lying right next to the vent hole, ready to be connected to a vent fan. I don't know why I feel skeptical about this, but I do. If the power is really already provided, then I'm comfortable doing this installation myself. If I pull out the vent and there is no power, then I will have to put the vent back in and take it to a professional, as I'm not comfortable dealing with electricity just yet.

Does anyone here have any experience with this? I would love to hear that they prepare these vents for power, but I'm having trouble believing it.

This is my first post beyond saying hi in the new members forum, so thank all of you in advance for any info you can provide.

Thanks!
Jclements

[Threebutchers]

I installed a (5) speed Vortex Fan in my 154BH in the bathroom and there was no wiring roughed in (I pulled power off the ceiling light). I didn't check the second vent above the kitchen, so I don't know if there is wiring roughed in that opening or not. It wouldn't have made a difference if the kitchen vent was roughed in because I wanted the fan in the bathroom anyway....(for several reasons - lol)

Good Luck

[jclements2]

Thank you for your answer, that pretty much confirms for me that I need to do the wiring as well. It doesn't look difficult, but I've not had much experience with wiring, I might let the pros install it this time and be done with it.

[Chakara]

It is very easy to pull down the cover from the inside (assuming your trailer is like mine) and you can see what is there. If the wires are there it is easy. In hindsight I wish I had done a writeup of my install as I ended up tapping into wires that were "near" my vent. Oh well...

-Chak

[Murphie]

I just installed the Fantastic Fan in our trailer about a week ago. I installed it in our bedroom vent. I had to take power from the ceiling light about 14 inch away. I used a long drill bit to begin with and used a coat hanger to tunnel the rest of the way thru the foam. Cleaning the caulking off the roof from the old vent was time consuming. I used a dremel to cut the inside trim piece to the right size. I have the 5000 model which has the thermostat. I have it draw air in from the rear of the trailer and expel it out the bedroom vent. It turns itself off when it cools down.

[Tail_gunner]

Originally Posted by jclements2

I've been told my several people that when I remove the original vent, Jayco will have already provided 12v power, and it should be lying right next to the vent hole,

Not true.

I just put a FanTastic vent fan in our 2013 Eagle 284BHS. Even though we had the $300+ 2nd AC prep w/50 amp service option, the only wires at the vent opening were the 120v romex cable. I figured out how to route some wires for 12v positive and negative from the fuse panel to the roof vent to power the Fantastic vent. There were plenty of non-utilized fuses in the fuse panel, so I wired it to use one as a dedicated fuse for the Fantastic fan.

On our previous camper, I found that a light fixture near the roof vent location that was on it's own fuse. So I wired the Fantastic vent into that circuit. It worked quite well.