No More Bathroom Fans!!

[Tinyhse]

Whats with that? As I was shopping for my 145RB i couldn't help but notice the many RV's that no longer include the small exhaust fan in the bathroom vent.
Anyone else notice this phenomena?

[ttavasc]

As I recall when we were looking in late 2014/early 2015 for our current 195RB this was more the norm for the smaller trailers. I added a Heng's Vortex II powered fan conversion to both my vents this last winter. Easy install as it fits into your existing roof vent. No need to tear up the roof removing the existing vent to replace with powered one.

[GHen]

I took the factory fan out of mine and put a fan-tastic fan in. Easy swap out.
Hopefully they still wire those vents so a fan can be added.

We have a Jayco 2017 291rtst 5th. The fan is too high for my wife to reach, I should have spent the money for the one with the remote control.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by GHen

I took the factory fan out of mine and put a fan-tastic fan in. Easy swap out.
Hopefully they still wire those vents so a fan can be added.

We have a Jayco 2017 291rtst 5th. The fan is too high for my wife to reach, I should have spent the money for the one with the remote control.

In my 2015 model no wiring run specifically for vent fans but both vents had lights close enough that I was able to tap into wiring for those without any difficulty.

[maintguy67]

Hi, Im new, I bought the 2018 195RB not realizing there was no fan! Did you wire off the ceiling light? Is the circuit big enough or did you run new circuit? and does that fan work ok with the lid raise mechanism? Thanks

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum.


We have a Vortex II ceiling fan like ttavasc. Very easy installation. The power is from the ceiling light circuit. No problems.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by maintguy67

Hi, Im new, I bought the 2018 195RB not realizing there was no fan! Did you wire off the ceiling light? Is the circuit big enough or did you run new circuit? and does that fan work ok with the lid raise mechanism? Thanks

Yes - I tapped into the wiring for the bathroom light using quick-splice connectors. The single-speed fan (Heng's 90043-CR model #) is listed as having a 0.8 to 1.4 amp draw. It works fine with the existing vent hood and I've had no issues with the unit since installing it. We use it regularly to eliminate the moisture after showering. Rated at 188 CFM it does that fairly quickly.

[RogerR]

Figuring out how to take the bath light out took about as much time as actually installing my Heng Vortex II. Wire is tiny but has enough size to carry the fan. Actually works well to dry hair after shower on downdraft mode.

Handy to have spouse or tall kid to hold fan while finalizing the wiring. Some YouTubes out there should help if you are a first timer.

[bdreinv]

With solar we let are bath fan run 24-7 helps keep the camper a little fresher!

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by bdreinv

With solar we let are bath fan run 24-7 helps keep the camper a little fresher!

I can not have my bathroom fan running when we flush the toilet. The sewer smell gets sucked right back into the camper...

[Sundancer330]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I can not have my bathroom fan running when we flush the toilet. The sewer smell gets sucked right back into the camper...

I always wondered why the cheap RV industry doesn't use a filter on the vent like boats do. My boat has an inline filter off the black tank, it vents right on the side of the cockpit area, works great but boy you know when it needs to be changed, about once every three years. It would be one less thing through the roof you have to keep sealed, no critters climbing down the pipe, and no smell being drawn back inside.

[bdreinv]

Humm whats next the mattress in the bedroom?

[Siamese]

My 26BH came with a fan, but no cover over the fan/hatch. If it's raining, and you want to use the bathroom exhaust fan, you'll get water down the hatch. Or, if you forget you have the hatch open and it rains, you'll get lots of rain down the hatch. We added a hatch cover to keep the rain out, but it's something that ought to be included.

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Welcome to the forum.


We have a Vortex II ceiling fan like ttavasc. Very easy installation. The power is from the ceiling light circuit. No problems.

Originally Posted by ttavasc

Yes - I tapped into the wiring for the bathroom light using quick-splice connectors. The single-speed fan (Heng's 90043-CR model #) is listed as having a 0.8 to 1.4 amp draw. It works fine with the existing vent hood and I've had no issues with the unit since installing it. We use it regularly to eliminate the moisture after showering. Rated at 188 CFM it does that fairly quickly.

When you guys tap into the ceiling light power to install your fans does that mean the light has to be on to run the fan? Sorry, electrically challenged.

[RogerR]

In the bath the power is always on to the light. You turn that light on with the little switch in the center of the light. Some of the other lights are controlled by wall switches.

So all you have to do is tap the wire going to the light. There may be two wires, a positive and a ground. Not sure of the color. Some are grounded to the metal of the frame.

If there are two wires than you will have to test which one is hot or positive with a meter.

[ttavasc]

I happened to have already received the structural and electrical schematics for my unit from Jayco before doing any of the wiring work. That made it easy to confirm how to splice in the fans and reading lights into existing lines. In general the white wire is negative/ground and the colored wire is positive/hot. If there is any doubt as to which wire is which, as RogerR noted, test with a meter to ensure the correct connections are made.

RogerR is correct that when tapping into the bathroom light circuit the light does not need to be on for the fan to run. For the install in the main vent above the dinette/stove I spliced into the light that is above the pantry. That circuit requires a wall switch by the door to be in the ON position before the fan will work.