I have a 1977 argosy 28 motorhome that my wife and I have worked on for a while. We love it. the problem I had was finding a replacement for the bathroom exhaust fan that died. while trying to remove it to replace the motor, the plastic fan and housing just disintegrated. I looked for a few months in all of the airstream sites I could find and a replacement wasn't to be found. Finally I told a friend at an auto / marine electric repairs facility and he said I should try a marine store. I found the exact replacment manufactured by MARINCO/NICRO in Napa, California. Upon checking the dealers, I found 2 versions, stainless and white, although white is special order. The model # is N20354 S/W respectively. the price I found was $195.00. I don't know about you but I can't afford to be shelling out that kind of dough for a simple exhaust fan.SO, I found a cheap alternative that can be modified with only a few wire connectors and some tape. The item to purchase is called a fridge vent fan manufactured by VALTERRA model# A 10-2618VP. As a member of the presidents club at camping world, I paid only $28.88 total. the CW part # is 00019709000. The modification goes as follows:
Remove the interior fan housing and bracket from the ceiling. Cut the 2 wires leading to the fan or just disconnect them from the switch and motor. Go on top of the motorhome and remove the outer fan cover. Now remove the fan shroud and pull the assembly out of the camper shell. leave the bead of caulk under the fan assy on the shell unless it is completely trashed. Take the fridge vent fan and install with the electrical wires in the hole first. Attach the fan housing to the shell with the same screws that came out and into the same holes already available. Do not tighten down so tight as to crush the existing bead of caulk. Next, take the original outer fan cover and turn it upside down. cover the vent screen with foil A/C duct tape. 3 pieces overlapped will do the job, just make sure to clean the metal before pressing tape in place. place the outer fan cover back in it's original position over the fan assy and install screws. check to make sure that ther is still a small clearance between the screws and between the shell and cover. It may be necessary to put a washer or two between the cover and the shell to have this clearance. The exterior is now complete. On the inside, cut the dangling red wire from the temperature switch and cut the other red wire from the other side of the temp. switch ONLY. Leave the red wire attached to the motor. Cut the black wire to the same length as the red one and strip both wires ends. Now, touch the fan wires to the 2 wires coming out of the ceiling (being careful not to touch the metal of the wires) to check the rotation of the fan. depending on the rotation the wires from the fan may have to be changed around. Make sure that when the fan is going the correct direction, you note which ceiling wire the red fan wire is connected to. Connect these two wires with a wire connector and tape over with electrical tape. The other ceiling wire connects to the center prong of the original switch. The black fan wire connects to the last wire coming from the original switch. Make sure to tape over the connectors if they are not insulated. Now reinstall the interior cover bracket and attach the fan cover back in place. Installation is now complete. Turn on the fan and place your hand to the cover and you should feel air flow into the cover from around your hand. the two-speed function even works.
If you are concerned with touching the electrical wires, remember that this is only a
12 volt system with very low amperage. You cannot get shocked if you don't touch BOTH bare feed wires at the same time.
I hope you will post this in a place that it will save some owners some dough. The system lokks and operates the same way and you would never even know it was changed without removing the covers.
Jeffcat sends
bathroom fan replacement 1977
Linear Mode
