Traveling with fans open?

[SteveSueMac]

We're going in a local trip this weekend but it's going to be very hot. I would like to do something to help cool down the trailer on the short hour long drive to the campground. I don't have covers for the fantastic fans so I don't want to use them, but I'm wondering if it would be safe to travel with the bathroom and shower fans open?

[mojo]

You can leave them open. And you can manually crack open a fantastic fan about an inch as well. But with a vent cover, you can leave the FF wide open and also leave it open when it's raining sitting still or moving.

[dkrug]

You can leave the shower and bathroom vents open. I would invest in covers for the fantastic fans. They aren't terribly expensive, they are easy to install and really nice to have.

[Skater]

Fantastic Fans can be left open, full blast, with no extra cover, while on the road. I used to do it all the time in the B190. This info was in the manual for that one.

Of course, if you travel across a dusty road, you'll get a lot of dust in the camper. Fair warning!

[AirsDream]

Fantastic in fact recommends leaving them open and running on dusty roads, blowing IN ... their thinking is that this pressurizes the trailer with "clean" air from up above the clouds of dust and thus keeps dust from filtering into the trailer. I've never done it myself, but it says here ...

... 'course, if you're following someone on a dusty road (always seems to be true when I'm on a dirt or gravel road) then you'll just suck in clouds of dust!

[dznf0g]

I tried leaving them open...ONCE...had a dusty mess to clean up. Never again.

[MrUKToad]

I've never tried it; those spindly supporting arms and brittle plastic covers look a tad too fragile. I've also heard about the dust problems. Still, if FF say it's OK then I guess it is.

[SteveH]

Years ago Airstream used a front fan/vent with an aluminum cover that gave you the option of opening just the front, just the rear, or the whole thing.

My dad frequently traveled with just the front of the cover up a ways, and said it did sort of pressurize the trailer to keep dust out.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

We're going in a local trip this weekend but it's going to be very hot. I would like to do something to help cool down the trailer on the short hour long drive to the campground. I don't have covers for the fantastic fans so I don't want to use them, but I'm wondering if it would be safe to travel with the bathroom and shower fans open?

Hi, I have vent covers on both of my vents, one powered and one not. I do not drive/tow with my vents open. I like to keep everything closed, curtains and all, to keep it cool inside. A one hour trip probably won't make much difference on inside temps.

[SteveSueMac]

Thanks everyone!

[SteveSueMac]

I've been driving with the shower and bath vents open and the fantastics cranked about an inch. It's been helpful. I noticed that the bath and shower vents seem to have rain caps over them. Could those just be left open all the time? It's stored outside - wondering if that would be beneficial? Thanks!

[switz]

If you store the trailer with vents open, flying insects will check out possible new home. If there are no inside screens, the bugs would have access to the entire insides of the trailer.

[SteveSueMac]

That's a good point - I didn't check to see if there are screens there - I'm assuming there are, but will have to take a look...

I really should rephrase the question - I know I CAN do it, but what - in addition to bugs - are potential downsides? Thx!

[switz]

In our area around Phoenix, occasional dust storms pop up. Openings allow that stuff inside....

[Gene]

All the fans have screens, but dust and insect parts can get through them.

I asked a guy at Fantastic Fans whether a fan cover had ever blown off. He said they will send you a new one if it did, though it was very rare. I don't want to tape over the hole if one did blow off, but my wife decided to keep them closed anyway. Since I've had problems with the bathroom fan leaking, anything that stresses it—like driving with it open—is not something I want to test.

I've thought of getting the covers, but didn't want to spend the money and put more screws in the top of the trailer.

In an hour, a trailer can get very hot, though less so where you live. You could run the A/C at 60˚ before you leave and cool the interior, but I suspect it would heat up anyway. With a high ambient temp on a sunny day, these trailers are not well insulated and bringing more hot air in isn't going to make much difference. Think about a car on an 85˚ day with just the vents open—it gets hot fast. Faster with the vents closed, of course.

So it doesn't make a lot of difference I think. The thing I worry about when we're traveling is medications in the trailer—they are supposed to be at room temperature, but the trailer can be more than 100˚. I have to remember to keep them in the fridge.

The best thing would be flow through ventilation like cars and trucks. A vent above the front and back windows with a filter at the front one. No fan necessary. But I doubt that's what you need right now.

Gene

[dkrug]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

I've been driving with the shower and bath vents open and the fantastics cranked about an inch. It's been helpful. I noticed that the bath and shower vents seem to have rain caps over them. Could those just be left open all the time? It's stored outside - wondering if that would be beneficial? Thanks!

We close the bathroom and shower vents when we store ours.

Occasionally, if we travel through a serious rain storm, the bathroom and shower have gotten wet.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by dkrug

We close the bathroom and shower vents when we store ours.

Occasionally, if we travel through a serious rain storm, the bathroom and shower have gotten wet.

But on the other hand, if you're going to leave a vent open in the rain, that's the one to leave open. The shower is designed to get wet, after all, unlike the rest of the trailer. And any water that does get in ends up safely in your gray tank where it can do no harm.