What is the purpose of the manual roof and side vent

[jasperkins]

I am not sure if other AS models have these industrial hand pull down rectangle vents which I have on my EB 27FB. 1 on the ceiling next to the Fantastic fan, the 2nd below the couch on the back left side.

What purpose do they serve? The fantastic fans circulate air. So why would anyone use these? Is this for driving down the road and circulating air through the trailer?

[AWCHIEF]

Edit after Paula's post. Makes sense to me.

[Foiled Again]

Those vents are designed to work when you're underway - and you are carrying something with a gasoline motor - like a motorcycle or jetski.

A basic design flaw with many SOB Toy Haulers - even with a separate room for the toys - is that the whole unit starts to smell like a poorly vented garage - gassy! (NPI)

Fantastics will generally be OK if you forget to close the cover when towing... but it will wear out the lid eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if these aren't also used in racecar hauling trailers or horse trailers.

Paula

[jasperkins]

Oh- underway- that makes sense. I could see the fan lids getting ripped off. So do I open the vent to into the wind or away from the wind

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by jasperkins

Oh- underway- that makes sense. I could see the fan lids getting ripped off. So do I open the vent to into the wind or away from the wind

yes

[Foiled Again]

"YES"

Kidding. I think they only open one way - AWAY from the wind. The one under the seat sorta blows, the one on the roof sucks (will I get censored for that one)

The vents would clog with leaves, bugs, etc. if opened directly into the wind. Something as simple as a discarded plastic bag could completely block one instantly.

Paula

[CDONA]

Mine open both ways,
Didn't the ad copy go on about vents for drying wetsuits while traveling?
Gas fumes can be an issue, I haven't had them in my past 9 years with a toy hauler.
I have hauled my genny inside and I'm working on hauling a moto, it would be easier to roll it out the back vs, unhitching to roll it from the TV bed for recon duty.
My thought about towing down dusty dirt roads, if you open just the roof vent front side, would it create a positive internal coach air pressure to keep dust from entering anywhere else?

[mefly2]

They rotate either direction (squeeze, pull down slightly and rotate) ... front inlet and rear is outlet while underway - BUT, dust does collect...most notably on plastic surfaces like the televisions. The perforated screen holes are larger, so bugs can get in if left open.

[WisePharm]

I didn't notice that these vents opened in two directions at first. I had left the bottom one open after we returned from our last camping trip. Didn't think twice about it. Had a lovely puddle waiting for me after a night of heavy thunderstorms. I had opened the vent facing up instead of down.

[idroba]

Back in the old days, Airstream roof vents could be opened either forward or backward. In the old manuals they said when traveling on dusty roads, open the front one forwards and the back ones rearwards to "pressurize the trailer" and keep dust out.

We tried that on the Alaskan highway in the late 70's and early 80's. It didn't work. But it did scoop the dust in really well, the dust from the other rigs traveling the road. What a mess we had. But great adventure.

[mefly2]

While underway, we usually leave the front vent open to the rear as it is less likely to be broken from vibration or wind gusts as the plastic vents. The rear stainless vent is rarely used, but the rear Fantastic vent we have covered with a MaxxAir vent cover; so, we leave it open about 1/2 inch. That keeps fresh air inside and vents out any collected odors.

As a reminder, the stainless vents are not screened and have rather large perforations - so be advised that bugs may enter freely.

[jcanavera]

Short of the vents for the toy haulers, I'm not sure if I would want a vent open when I travel. I've often heard that opening up a vent creates a lot of negative pressure which causes a lot of road dust and dirt to make its way into the trailer. I can't prove or disprove that theory other than stories from some fellow owners.

Jack