Fabulous Operating Products SAM-1 Vent Fan

[wbdvt]

Hi,
I haven't seen this on the Keystone Forum but it was on the Forest River Forum.
I am curious if others have done this replacement which is supposed to be an improvement over the range vent hood installed in RVs.
I have purchased the kit but since RV is still snowbound and has the Adco cover on it, it maybe a few weeks until I can do the modification. I will report the process here.
This is the link to the manufacturer's website....http://www.fabulousoperatingproducts.com/

[GT2400BH]

web site coud use some work. I like the idea take lots of photos for us. (tx)
What did it cost ?

[JoePK]

Hello, that sounds like a good upgrade. I had a hard time finding info on it too. It looks like it's the brother of the fantastic fan company that runs it. I found someone talking about it on this forum: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/what-was-the-last-thing-you-bought-for-your-rv-89600-292.html They bought there's for $ 180.

[JRTJH]

There's a pretty good article on page 51 of the April 2015 issue of Trailer Life about this upgrade. They list the price as $199. It sounds like a great upgrade for someone who does a lot of cooking inside their trailer.

[Steve S]

This item really has my mind ticking, it seems like a great upgrade"bouncey:
I'll be following this post, don't forget pics:)

[Jack Compton]

Hi Folks,
I just bought a Sam-1 at Adohen Supply. They had 2 prices One was $180.00 and included shipping. They asked that you document your installation, kind of hood, pictures and thoughts. The other price was $199.00 with no documentation and included shipping.`Once I get my trailer out of storage, I'll bring it home and install and send in my documentation and thoughts.
Regards,
Jack

[Jim7411]

Okay folks, I bought the fan and just went out to start the installation. Upon closer examination of the existing range hood fan, I discovered it was ductless!
In other words, the fan upgrade is useless unless I cut a hole in the wall. Why in God's name even put an exhaust fan over the range unless you intend to send the air outside? Another great design idea from the penny-pinching folks at Keystone!:banghead:

[JRTJH]

Okay folks, I bought the fan and just went out to start the installation. Upon closer examination of the existing range hood fan, I discovered it was ductless!
In other words, the fan upgrade is useless unless I cut a hole in the wall. Why in God's name even put an exhaust fan over the range unless you intend to send the air outside? Another great design idea from the penny-pinching folks at Keystone!:banghead:

There are countless posts on the forum about the ventless range hoods installed in a number of RV's. It's not just Keystone, but virtually every RV manufacturer has started doing this on "some of their brands". There are still some RV models that vent the exhaust out of the camper. You might want to do some looking at some of the ways members here have modified their trailers or found "work around" ways to negate the problem.

Good Luck,

[Jim7411]

I emailed the folks at Adohen Supply that sold me the fan and received an immediate response on Saturday! Now that's customer service... He also told me the same thing, that a majority of RV manufacturers choose the cheapest way to do things, rather than the most efficient. Gotta make a profit, right? Anyway, I'm going to go for it and poke a hole in the wall. Not a really big deal.

[Jim7411]

Okay, I've been it touch with the fellow that manufactures the SAM-1 and he was extremely helpful. What I've decided is to cut a 3"x4" hole in the kitchen wall where the range hood fan is (this is the approx. size of the exhaust port on the fan). The grille that comes with the kit is designed to fit a ducted unit, so you would need to cut a much bigger hole, about 4"x12". Rather than do that, I'm going to use a clothes dryer exhaust vent and toss the grille that came with the kit. The dryer vent has a louvered cover that will keep rain out, and also an insect screen. I don't need a damper because the fan already has one built-in. Amazing what a little research and some "deep" thinking can accomplish! :rolleyes:

[wbdvt]

I performed the installation yesterday. The unit replaced was a Ventline so the installation was very straightforward and followed the instructions and pictures closely. Some relevant notes:

1. Install time was 1 hr 20 min as I took my time and also had to get a vacuum to clean up sawdust on the top of the hood unit.
2. I would suggest that a note be added to the instructions to turn off the 12 Vdc when doing the install. Even though a shock hazard does not exist for 12 vdc, an arc can be created if the hot lead touches anything metal that is grounded. An arc can also be created if wire strippers contact metal while stripping the insulation.
3. I did not install the new vent cover. The reason is that the supplied screws are silver and I would prefer black headed screws as that would be a more aesthetically pleasing installation. I will either paint the screw heads black or find black screws to use for that install.
4. I have a sound level meter app on my iPhone. While not precisely accurate, it does show a measureable sound level change between the original fan and the SAM-1 fan.
• Original Fan 72 db
• SAM-1 Fan on low 58 db
• SAM-1 Fan on medium 60 db
• SAM-1 Fan on high 62 db
• Background was 48 db
5. The other noticeable improvement was in airflow. With original fan, the outside vent flap would barely open about ½ in. With SAM-1 on low the outside vent opens as wide as it can, about 1.5 inches.

I hope this is the type of information that you needed back. Overall, I am pleased with the installation and operation of the unit. I will be camping the week of April 27 so that will be the first “field testing” of the unit.