Open or not open, that is the question

[Gene]

Jason, you can use Reflectix on skylights, fans, and windows, attaching it with Velcro. I have seen it at Lowe's and RV stores. It has aluminum foil on the outsides and bubble wrap like material in the middle, so it does provide a little insulation and reflects sunlight. It does help.

Steve, the dog story tells how dumb people can be. At least they didn't strap the dogs to the roof.

Gene

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Jason, you can use Reflectix on skylights, fans, and windows, attaching it with Velcro. I have seen it at Lowe's and RV stores. It has aluminum foil on the outsides and bubble wrap like material in the middle, so it does provide a little insulation and reflects sunlight. It does help.

Steve, the dog story tells how dumb people can be. At least they didn't strap the dogs to the roof.

Gene

Don't do a half *** (that word was way) job, bubble wrap the whole trailer.

Ken

The only reason the dogs weren't on the roof is because when they get sick, the puke runs down on the windows.

[purman]

Originally Posted by w7ts

Don't do a half *** (that word was way) job, bubble wrap the whole trailer.

Ken

The only reason the dogs weren't on the roof is because when they get sick, the puke runs down on the windows.

Hummm! that way it will stay cool and be protected.. a reflective bubble condom for your AS. (thats awesome) I will design it right after the witch WD hitch..

[RoadHungry]

You've gotta be freakin kidding me. And they probably vote and reproduce as well. The wife back there is one thing but the dogs?? No way

[JimGolden]

I installed three new Maxxair Deluxe Vent fans in my 34 footer. These are longer than the 14" square hole and lay down flat against the top of the trailer, but when you open them, the air exhausts out the bottom of the raised vent. Maxxair says you can leave them open in the rain and not have to worry about closing them, as well as tow with them open.

I did tow with them open. They worked fine. I am very happy with them. But, they are especially made for this treatment.

My original Hammond fan's vent cover was accidentally left open and it blew off along I-95 somewhere.

Make sure your vent is rated for the behavior you give it!

Cheers,

[NorthernWind]

Maxxair vents will allow you to tow with them open for sure, just don't do it on a dusty roads or you will spend the next few hours cleaning up inside, one vent open ok, two vents open, very large silver vacuum cleaner!
Steve

[slowmover]

I recall (decades ago now, ha!) one of the ways to travel the unpaved portions of the Al-CAN highway was to properly ventilate the trailer so that the "vacuum" of a closed trailer would not pull in all the dust. A furnace filter was used at both positions to keep the dust at bay. (See posts by Andy/Inland RV on building a rock guard: same as what I read way back when [1960's].

The pneumatic tankers I pull are all required to keep the main tank vent open when empty and underway for this reason. Pressure builds on the interior relative to the friction of air on the exterior while going down the road. Closed vents/windows or not, there will be air exchange.

Controlling that will be of concern in some areas more than others (high humidity and dust, etc, not just ambient air temps).

.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by w7ts

Don't do a half *** (that word was way) job, bubble wrap the whole trailer.

Ken

Hi, Like this:








And I still got rock dings in my trailer. Even got a spider crack on my front window's rock guard.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, Like this:

And I still got rock dings in my trailer. Even got a spider crack on my front window's rock guard.

Wow, I didn't know there were spiders big enough to crack a window rock guard.
A long time ago we got a grouse dent in the front of our truck camper. That might have cracked a window rock guard.

Ken

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by w7ts

Wow, I didn't know there were spiders big enough to crack a window rock guard.
A long time ago we got a grouse dent in the front of our truck camper. That might have cracked a window rock guard.

Ken

Hi, spider crack in rock shield. [inside red circle]

[Gene]

I've got one of those too. Spiders in the west are really big and nasty.

Gene

[NorthernWind]

The mosquitoes are so big here that they will go right through a window,
ok maybe not that big, but just one bite and you can pass out from blood loss.

[phbarnhart]

One of the nice little features of the Eddie Bauer is that there are a couple of vents that are designed to be left open while moving. One is in the ceiling of the bedroom area and the other is in the back on the driver's side just at about floor level. The if you open both of them you can basically get air circulating through the trailer. I guess this was incase you put something smelly inside and wanted to vent while driving?

In any even, the low rear vent works great when used (as a stop) with the front Fantastic Fan.

[robapperson]

I have had great success keeping my trailer cool by leaving my front and rear Fantastic Fans open with the rear on exhaust while driving on road. (I have Maxx Air 2 vent covers). Well yesterday I drove 15 miles down a dirt road kicking up massive dust. I could see that the front vent was not seeing any of the dust so I thought it was OK. I did not think that there would be a negative air pressure inside the trailer. It sucked massive dust in from underneath. Inside cabinets, behind drawers, under water heater you can see the dust piled in there. I had caulked and sealed every hole and gap under the trailer I could find, but it still got in in a very bad way. Lesson learned!

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by phbarnhart

One of the nice little features of the Eddie Bauer is that there are a couple of vents that are designed to be left open while moving. One is in the ceiling of the bedroom area and the other is in the back on the driver's side just at about floor level. The if you open both of them you can basically get air circulating through the trailer. I guess this was incase you put something smelly inside and wanted to vent while driving?

In any even, the low rear vent works great when used (as a stop) with the front Fantastic Fan.

...but the perforated holes are so large that they allow bugs inside ... why didn't AS provide screening ?

[jdalrymple]

We crack out Fantastic Fan open during the summer. The trailer is much cooler after a day on the road.

This is a screen shot from the FF web site, saying it is OK, and touting the lifetime warranty on the dome:

[Gene]

I would like to leave a vent open, but my wife doesn't believe it won't fly off. If I convinced her it wouldn't and it did, you can imagine the rest. Yes, I could get FF to replace it, but what do we do in the meantime? Aluminum tape I suppose, if the tape stays on. Plus I would have to climb up on the roof and I hate it up there (I am not a height friendly person). My wife won't climb up there even though she would do better than I up on top (and getting down is the worse part).

Cars have had flow through ventilation for decades and from what I read above, it appears that at least the Eddie Bauer model does too. Of course, car companies provided screens. Any other models have that?

Gene

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by robapperson

I have had great success keeping my trailer cool by leaving my front and rear Fantastic Fans open with the rear on exhaust while driving on road. (I have Maxx Air 2 vent covers). Well yesterday I drove 15 miles down a dirt road kicking up massive dust. I could see that the front vent was not seeing any of the dust so I thought it was OK. I did not think that there would be a negative air pressure inside the trailer. It sucked massive dust in from underneath. Inside cabinets, behind drawers, under water heater you can see the dust piled in there. I had caulked and sealed every hole and gap under the trailer I could find, but it still got in in a very bad way. Lesson learned!

Andy at Inland RV addressed this problem years ago based on AL-CAN Hwy experience of others. Had to do with using a pair of furnace filters, counter intuitively. Not roof vents, but windows. Thread and his posts also had DIY gravel guard discussion for that road ( though I understand it is paved in main nowadays).

[Gene]

Yes, the Alaska Hwy (hardly anyone calls it the AlCan anymore and people living and working along it call it "the highway") is paved all the way except for construction areas. Very few people use gravel protection though you will often get paint chips and dings on the windshield, but that happens everywhere.

The idea of using furnace filters is a good one, but don't travel with contemporary windows open—the ones that hinge on the top and pop partly out at the bottom. They may get sucked out by a passing truck or shatter in some manner. They are not cheap.

Gene