I have replaced one of my Kool a Matic powered roof vents and saved the motor, fan, roof jack and hood. All are good. No cracks in the hood. The aluminum hood support struts are cut, but they would be easy to duplicate. The infamous interior grille is gone. Any or all can be had for my discounted shipping.

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
Any or all can be had for my discounted shipping.

I have a Kool O Matic and am looking for a good motor. Would you be willing to part with it. One of my motors just started to screech last year, last day of using it before I covered it up.

On a related topic, I'll have a Fantastic 4000 (Base unit - no thermostat, no rain sensor) that I'll be replacing with a thermostatic one (as soon as I decide which of the three installed Fantastics gets cut from the team).

If you're interested, PM me - the uncut housing and caps will be new from the replacement fan.

Th motor is yours, Bill. Let me go out tomorrow and connect it up and be sure it is still OK. It never screeched at us, but it has sat for a while.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
On a related topic, I'll have a Fantastic 4000 that I'll be replacing with a thermostatic one.

A regular AC/Heat interior fan switch that would kick on a house AC unit should do the trick. It's just an expansion coil mercury switch. Some of these come with double contacts for slow and fast speed.

You could even reverse the fan to suck in or blow out. You would do low and high on two expansion Mercury switches feeding (supplying) pin 87A and pin 87 on the relay. The load, pin 30, would go to the reversing switch and then to the motor. One of the mercury switch for for high would trip the relay and get it off of low. Default (relay at rest) would be slow speed.

The same pics as the relay and the reversing switch post. You would need to reverse the polarity of your motor to make sure it can reverse. Some DC motors do not reverse. If you hook up a starter motor backwards it will not reverse the spin.

(Edit 3/18: The same pics as the reversing switch. Just use a on-off-on DPDT as the momentary switch pictured would not work.)

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Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Some DC motors do not reverse. If you hook up a starter motor backwards it will not reverse the spin.

Now, you've made me curious. I wonder if the GM mini starter will reverse. Some of the aftermarket minis have PM motors.

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Originally posted by bill h:
I wonder if the GM mini starter will reverse. Some of the aftermarket minis have PM motors.

Those may. I haven't seen one yet that will, then again I'm dealing with much higher torque. Not all DC motors will reverse. The majority of fan motors will.

I intend to do the thermostat thingie wih the furnace - hooking a new one up to the A/C as well, eventually...I'm providing myself the luxury of a unit swap for the fan...

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Originally posted by bill h:
I have replaced one of my Kool a Matic powered roof vents.

What did you replace it with and why? Any regrets, tips, bonding advice etc...

What would you recommend for a lighted & powered bathroom vent? I have no light in the bathroom other then the clear pop up lighted roof vent fan assy and a side window.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

What did you replace it with and why? Any regrets, tips, bonding advice etc...

I replaced the Kool a Matic with a TurbomaXX for several reasons.

1. The KM used too much power for my small (at the time) solar system. 4.1, 6.7 and 9.0 amps on low, med and high

2. We needed a thermostat fan for the dog and cat to prevent overheating when they are left in the coach.

3. Susan wanted a vent that would let in some light in the rather dark hall/kitchen area.

4. The KM rattles.

5. The KM leaks warm air in sub-freezing weather.

6. The KM louver adjusting levers break off.

7. The plastic shaft on the speed control broke and KM wanted three arms and two legs for a new switch.

No regrets. I chose the TurboMaxx over the FF because the TM can be used during rain and is a little quieter. I don't have the figures at hand, but I seem to recall that it might be a little more efficient on the low setting. The thermostat controlled FF is more efficient at low speeds than the non-thermostat fan. At least that was true several years ago when I did the work. I may also replace the forward KM with a FF. If this happens, more KM parts or the whole assembly will be available free to Barthmobile members. I have to use a FF there as the front air conditioner is too close behind it to use a TM. I have used FF on other vehicles, and they are really good, too.

As for bonding, I used 3M 5200, Dicor lap seal or Liquid Rubber/Roof. I have used all three for years, and they are all good. The 5200 is harder to remove, but it is really strong and long-lasting. It has served me well on boats.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

What would you recommend for a lighted & powered bathroom vent? I have no light in the bathroom other then the clear pop up lighted roof vent fan assy and a side window.

I just replaced the light/fan in my bathroom vent. The light was of no use, as we have a fluorescent ceiling light there already. The fan was not as effective as we liked. I removed the fan and its motor and installed a 6 1/2" 200cfm fan from http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/CF-221/220100/12VDC_6.75"#34;_COOLING_FAN_.html . It is a good value for the price, and is quiet and can be converted to two speed or even variable speed. I installed it with a 15 minute spring wound timer and a switch for low and high speeds. The high speed is for max air removal and the low speed is for steam removal when showering or shaving. On a cold morning, the high speed is useful for sucking in warm air from the interior.

I love this fan so much that I am in the process of installing one in the stove hood. I am using rubber shock mounts and damping on the hood, so I have great expectations as far a squietness. I wish I had measured the noise before so I could brag about the before and after numbers. I should also add that the flapper on the Ventline hood is insufficient for keeping bumblebees out. A little work with a hammer has improved things enough to keep out a regular bee or wasp, and a little more pounding the right sized rock should tighten things up even more. I suspect that this new fan is going to move so much air that I will have to improve things outside. That louvered panel doesn't look big enough. Oh well, I need to look for my manometer, anyway. I am also moving the light socket down through a hole in the lens for more efficient lighting. We have a lovely fluorescent light fixture above the counter, but Momma hates the way fluorescent makes the food look, so we gotta go incandescent.

If you want to convert your bath vent to lighted, I think I still have the lens and light assembly, which shouldn't be hard to add to your vent. I still have the fan and motor, too, if you can use it.

You might want to consider leaving the vent alone and installing a regular dome light somewhere on the ceiling. My ceiling is covered with padded vinyl, so running light gage wires was no problem.

I installed a small 3 LED dome light in the ceiling which we leave on at night. It is sufficient for night time relief trips but is not as jarring as a regular light and is easy on the batteries. I originally wired it in without a switch, but got tired of my neighbors and even passers-by knocking on my house door to tell me that I had left a light on at night.

Heck, with that lovely cherry wood cabinetry, it looks so nice at night I like to leave all the ceiling lights on just so everybody can admire it.

The Fantastic 4000 will be going to Bill G...thanks Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
You might want to consider leaving the vent alone and installing a regular dome light somewhere on the ceiling.

I really don't consider this an option. Last year I noticed a little water in the lens housing. I went up on the roof and found the mounting base of the vent cracked. The base is made out of plastic and did not stand up well.

Because I was getting ready to leave with it I used something called "trailer roof tape" it has a tar like backing and can be put on while it's raining. It comes in a roll and after you put it down you heat the backing material and it seeps into the seams. Great for the trucking industry, it last a very long time. A lot of trucking companies use this stuff.

No leaks after that and I have checked it through out the winter. This will not be a permanent repair. I do have a scrape in the right upper rear side section just below the curve in the roof that was damaged by the previous owner (NYS) and I still need to do body work up there. That area has "roof tape" on it for 3 years now. The stuff I use comes in white so unless your really looking you don't notice it.

I plan on replacing the bathroom vent and was hoping someone might have first hand experience and a recommendation on a great unit for the bathroom. I was looking for a metal base or something that wouldn't crack.

I like the idea of leaving the bathroom top open (venting) during a rain event. I can always mount a light somewhere else. The 3 LED lights sound great for the blinding factor.

Bill H. - A couple years ago at a Yuma swap meet I bought a half-dozen, or so computer cooling fans similar to the one in the URL you referenced, except they're 4 inchers, and were 2 or 3 bucks each. I replaced my bathroom fan with a pair of them, hung one on a hinge to circulate air from the bedroom forward, or vice versa, and still have to swap out my range hood fan with the remainder. Two of the 4 inchers should flow about 2/3 as much air as your 6.75" job.

Yours will make a more sanitary installation, but I started making stuff out of other people's cast-offs when I was a little kid, & it's more fun figuring out how to install them.

One can get quite a bit of cfm (over 100) with a 120mm PC fan...they run around $20-25 for a double ball-bearing fan. This 'un moves a lot of air at half the price of the POS stock RV vent.