I am looking at my coach and comparing it with my friends Newell and it occurs to me that these vents serve very little purpose. Without them one could install ducted air, lighting and seal one more roof hole. Am I missing some vital purpose for these? Opinions are welcome.

I assume you refer to the 14" square openings. Some of the Barths had the crappy little 6" fans installed.

My coach had 3 Fantastic Fans (The rear one - bedroom - paired with a MAXXAIR fan - overkill).

The second is in the hallway opposite the stove, and the third is in the bathroom. Because the hall fan is opposite the microwave, and its exhaust fan blows into the coach, this one becomes the fan to the exteror. I upgraded this one to a thermostatically-controlled fan.

I appreciate having these three, as they can move a lot of air. The bathroom fan only exhausts, but the other 2 (and the MAXXAIR) can reverse and draw air in.

All three have roof shrouds, so they can be left open regardless of rain.

Like Rusty, we have three fantastic vents. On a warm day without ac (days not available in Houston) the vents will keep the inside livable by removing the hot air that accumulates above the window line. The one in the bathroom has the rain sensor and will close if it gets wet. But it sure evacuates the air.

Rethink filling the the holes.

If you get rid of your holes, can I have one?

A hole in our bedroom ceiling would be very nice for sleeping on hot nights w/o AC.

We are big fan users. Our stove fan vents outside, and I put a monster fan in it. Put a monster in the bathroom, too, to replace the puny little thing that was OEM.

The hallway has a TurboMaxx because it is quieter on low and uses a little less electricity on low. It can be run in the rain, too.

The living room has a Fantastic because there is not room for a TurboMaxx, plus the clear lid makes a nice skylight not available on the TurboMaxx without cutting and gluing. The FF auto rain close is not reliable. Both have thermostats to keep the pets alive in heat.

We also use and love our two Fantastic Endless Breezes.

Dare I say it....... we are big fans of fans.

Even if we always had hook ups, we would use our fans. We are just fresh air freaks, and get tired of the noise of generators and air conditioners.

http://www.motorcaravanning.co...pdf/OBro08_72-74.pdf
I searched for an automatic one and liked the above, but it appears to be a european market item only. Anyone ever seen one of these?

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
http://www.motorcaravanning.co...pdf/OBro08_72-74.pdf
I searched for an automatic one and liked the above, but it appears to be a european market item only. Anyone ever seen one of these?

Interesting unit. They are sold in the US by

THULE Inc.
42 Silvermine Road
Seymour, CT 06483
Tollfree: 1-800-238-2388
Tel: 203-881-9600
www.thuleracks.com

Nothing on their site about vents, though.

I had the automatic rain-close Fantastic, and the mechanism didn't work well. With the shrouds on the roof, the rain doesn't matter - and the fans can run in the rain. All three of mine are shrouded.

I called them and they do not sell them in the US. I guess you would have to buy online from Europe and pay the shipping and taxes.

Fantastic has both a thermostat version and a rain sensor verion or both. Or at least they did. When I converted our bus (GM4106) back in the 90's we used the the version with both. On the Barth we just have the rain sensor.

http://www.fantasticvent.com/products/products.html

We have had flawless results with the rain sensor and the thermostat was really nice as we always had power on it and would leave the Fantastic on all the time when it was parked behind our house. Kept it well vented all summer long. Wasn't needed in the winter and not sure if the rain sensor would detect snow.