Bathroom Vent Fan

Shane39562 · 03-29-2022, 10:28 AM

Hello ! I have a 2019 Keystone Loredo 5th wheel. The vent fan in the bathroom, above the toilet, quit working. Yesterday I removed the screen cover to look at it. As soon as I touched the fan, it started turning, but not at full speed. If I put my finger in the center of the fan and push up, it runs at full speed. As soon as you remove your finger, the fan stops running again. Anyone have ANY idea what is going on with it ?? Thanks in advance !

wrvond · 03-29-2022, 10:53 AM

Those little fan motors aren't exactly top shelf. I'd say the internal bushings have worn allowing the shaft to settle into the motor causing a mis-alignment of the stator and the rotor.
A great excuse to upgrade to a Fantastic Fan or similar.

**JRTJH** · 03-29-2022, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane39562

Hello ! I have a 2019 Keystone Loredo 5th wheel. The vent fan in the bathroom, above the toilet, quit working. Yesterday I removed the screen cover to look at it. As soon as I touched the fan, it started turning, but not at full speed. If I put my finger in the center of the fan and push up, it runs at full speed. As soon as you remove your finger, the fan stops running again. Anyone have ANY idea what is going on with it ?? Thanks in advance !

Yep, like a young puppy, it's "finger lonely"....

Those little motors corrode very easily. They are in a wet area, tasked with pulling shower steam out a little hole in the ceiling and then they sit there, wet and corroding away until the brushes just can't make good contact. That's about the same time that the cheap plastic crossbar that the motor is mounted to starts to sag from the weight of the motor and the cheaper fan blade starts to droop from the sun shining through the cheaper lid on the roof vent.....

When it stops working is when most people turn on the switch, and if the fuse doesn't blow, start thumping or pushing things until either it smokes or starts turning.... Fortunately, yours didn't smoke....

What to do ????

I'd consider it a "great time to replace the "fart fan" with one that actually moves air. Maxx-aire, Fantastic or even a "surface mount Heng's" are all replacements that will make you wonder why they even installed such a tiny fan in the first place....

Of the three "most popular replacements", Maxx-aire and fantastic are the most "sophisticated" (meaning least noise most air moved with greatest number of features) but they require getting on the roof and removing the entire existing vent assembly and installing the "new vent and fan" in the hole on the roof. Heng's is a "bolt on fan assembly" that mounts to the inside of the existing vent assembly after you remove the fan blade/motor that "loves your finger"....

While you're at it, now is a perfect time to install vent covers on all the roof vents. They'll allow you to leave the vents open and not worry about rain causing everything inside the trailer to get wet if you have an open vent and are 50 miles away enjoying your vacation.... They also help keep dirt/dust out of the trailer and most prevent leaves, twigs and dead bugs from collecting on the vent screen.... So, kill 3 or 4 "birds with one stone" and just spend all your spare money at the RV parts store.....

Shane39562 · 03-29-2022, 11:00 AM

Not exactly how I discovered that it runs full speed if you push against it, but I discovered it none the less lol ! Well, sounds like i'm going to buy the Henge's. Thanks to all !

bobbecky · 03-29-2022, 07:58 PM

The little motor in our bathroom fan failed a couple years ago, and I just ordered a new motor on Amazon. The fan assembly is a Ventline brand and this was the motor for it. It was pretty easy to replace, no need to cut any wires as the wire connectors are just tiny spade connectors and the fan just pulls off the splined shaft.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

rhagfo · 03-30-2022, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbecky

The little motor in our bathroom fan failed a couple years ago, and I just ordered a new motor on Amazon. The fan assembly is a Ventline brand and this was the motor for it. It was pretty easy to replace, no need to cut any wires as the wire connectors are just tiny spade connectors and the fan just pulls off the splined shaft.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well before I dropped $35 for a new motor, I just replaced the fan with a Heng's Vortex fan. I just looked and the V1 is $53 on Amazon, no need to remove the vent assembly from the roof. No not as quiet as a FanTastic, but no where near the cost.

That is what we did, it was the middle of winter and I didn't want to open the roof. we have been very happy with it.

Scttw · 03-30-2022, 05:55 AM

Trust me - you need that motor that BobBecky posted. I have the same amazon link in my account still.

Mine did the EXACT same thing last summer. I even started with twist ties because holding the wires seemed to help (for a couple minutes).

Install was 3 minutes - works like a charm. You have a 50/50 chance of putting the 2 power wires on the connectors (They are not marked). The wrong way spins that fan backwards so make sure you know which way it is suppose to turn first.

Trust me on this one

rhagfo · 03-31-2022, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scttw

Trust me - you need that motor that BobBecky posted. I have the same amazon link in my account still.

Mine did the EXACT same thing last summer. I even started with twist ties because holding the wires seemed to help (for a couple minutes).

Install was 3 minutes - works like a charm. You have a 50/50 chance of putting the 2 power wires on the connectors (They are not marked). The wrong way spins that fan backwards so make sure you know which way it is suppose to turn first.

Trust me on this one

Why just replace the motor, and keep the crappy little fan that doesn't move much air?
The Vortex, isn't very loud and moves a ton of air, and gets the moisture out!

Scttw · 04-01-2022, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Why just replace the motor, and keep the crappy little fan that doesn't move much air?
The Vortex, isn't very loud and moves a ton of air, and gets the moisture out!

I wasn't suggesting to not replace the fan, I was simply explaining that what has actually failed is the motor. It's acting the same way our did.

If he can replace BOTH with a new vortex and that fan is a lot better, then sure .... why not.

lestahhh · 09-22-2022, 06:51 AM

Hi everyone.

Pardon me for hijacking this thread, but I'm now in this situation. The Vortex II is over a 100 bucks on Amazon and even 160-195 at retailers. The Vortex 1 is still cheaper about 50-60 bucks on Amazon. My question is, is it worth upgrading to the V2? Or would the V1 be just fine? Just need it to remove smells out. My toilet is that one toilet that retains urine so now it's causing smells. Disgusting now that the fan broke. But that's another issue for another time. Thank you.

**sourdough** · 09-22-2022, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestahhh

Hi everyone.

Pardon me for hijacking this thread, but I'm now in this situation. The Vortex II is over a 100 bucks on Amazon and even 160-195 at retailers. The Vortex 1 is still cheaper about 50-60 bucks on Amazon. My question is, is it worth upgrading to the V2? Or would the V1 be just fine? Just need it to remove smells out. My toilet is that one toilet that retains urine so now it's causing smells. Disgusting now that the fan broke. But that's another issue for another time. Thank you.

What kind of toilet do you have? Some of them are known for retaining "fluids" in the base that get quite rank over time.

KimNTerry · 09-22-2022, 08:18 AM

I just installed a vortex 1 as my original bathroom fan gave up the ghost. It is much louder than the original but moves a lot more air. Other than that and having issues installing it (Not as clean as YT videos show) I had trouble lining up the knob that opens the vent. It works fine.

There are YT videos that show converting it to a variable speed fan with inexpensive components. I may do that id the noise gets bothersome.

rhagfo · 09-22-2022, 01:15 PM

We have a vortex I in our bathroom, not as quiet as the Fantastic in the kitchen but, it works great. The Vortex II is multi speed and reverseable.

LHaven · 09-22-2022, 03:20 PM

OP #10 is asking us whether Vortex II is worth the premium over Vortex I, so if anyone with experience can answer that question directly, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

**sourdough** · 09-22-2022, 03:47 PM

Lestahhh I don't think I read your post #10 close enough. Do you actually have a toilet that you know is retaining fluids causing the smell? If that is the case why don't you replace the toilet (root cause) vs trying to upgrade the vent (unneeded solution)? Toilet won't cost much more and is no harder to install - then you fix the problem instead of constantly trying to either cover it up or add more fans. btdt

WNY Bullet · 09-22-2022, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KimNTerry

I just installed a vortex 1 as my original bathroom fan gave up the ghost. It is much louder than the original but moves a lot more air. Other than that and having issues installing it (Not as clean as YT videos show) I had trouble lining up the knob that opens the vent. It works fine.

I just installed a Vortex II in our Kitchen vent last week and liked that it is reversible. So this week I installed a Vortex I in our bathroom vent and removed the on/off switch and installed a on/off/on reversing switch. The DW is a happy camper...

WNY Bullet · 09-22-2022, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestahhh

Hi everyone.

Pardon me for hijacking this thread, but I'm now in this situation. The Vortex II is over a 100 bucks on Amazon and even 160-195 at retailers. The Vortex 1 is still cheaper about 50-60 bucks on Amazon. My question is, is it worth upgrading to the V2? Or would the V1 be just fine? Just need it to remove smells out. My toilet is that one toilet that retains urine so now it's causing smells. Disgusting now that the fan broke. But that's another issue for another time. Thank you.

For our bathroom, I didn't think the upgrade was worth it since we had a Vortex II in our kitchen area. I thought a single speed was just fine for the bathroom, but I modified it so I can reverse it if I want.

RickV · 09-23-2022, 02:01 AM

First off why do they even put that little joke of a fan in our RVs? I know the answer

but they are pretty much useless. It's funny that this thread popped up because just yesterday the DW and Me were discussing changing it out and were looking at what options are available. I had put the Heng's Vortex II in the old 5ver's bathroom and was thinking about putting one in the Alpine. The problem is the DW while she is not that short can barely reach the vent opener and the switch on the existing fan because the ceiling is 7' high. So I am looking at ones with a remote. Getting back to the Heng's I liked that it had a variable speeds and a reverse, the noise wasn't that bad unless you ran it wide open.

You may also like: