Vent repair saga. Happy, sad, very happy

[Goin camping]

We have a '25 FB and as some of you know the bedroom vent from the factory is pretty flimsy. So I went to a local Airstream authorized repair facility* and had a Fantastic Fan installed. Happy.

Well it rained right before Thanksgiving as we loaded the trailer for a trip to Quartzesite. I found the bed soaking wet. Fortunately we have a foam pad on the mattress so it was dry. We then saw the water dripping from around the vent and put out pans to catch the water while we dried the bedding. Sad.

Last Saturday I pulled our trailer to Area 63 in Orange to find the problem and fix it.

Uwe and I laddered to the roof where we found that the replacement vent was installed and sealed with ugly heaping gobs of silicone. The silicone had cracks and holes where the water was clearly getting in. We also found an indentation in the roof at the back of the fan where water had puddled.

The silicone was peeled off and we also found where the fan shroud had been cracked on installation. We also found the silicone was gobbed on top of the original Vulken**. Sad and miffed.

So the rest of the silicone was removed along with the fan. Then the Vulken was removed chemically and we were down to clean metal.

Uwe crafted a spare/stringer to add strength to the roof at the rear of the fan so the fan would have strong positive anchoring at the front and the back. Uwe then using Vulken reinstalled the Fantastic fan. The install now looks clean. Happy

We've had big rain out here for the last few days and when I went and checked. No leaks. No moisture. No problem. Very happy.

The re-repair cost less than the original simple job. It took area 63 less time and at a lower labor rate for a better outcome than the original repair.Re-repair money spent. Worth every cent.

I'm sharing this as a reminder to all. Ask what the technician is going to do before they start the work and when it's done check it. If I had seen those gobs of silicon when I picked it up I would have had questions.

* I am not mentioning the repair place as I have not discussed this with them. There was no point as I had lost confidence when their work failed due to poor workmanship. But in order to not cast doubt on the innocent. This place is not a commercial vendor on this site.

**Nasty vile can't get it off of anything it gets near stuff. By some bending of the time and space manages to get places it has no logical way of getting to. Try to avoid it if possible.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

We have a '25 FB and as some of you know the bedroom vent from the factory is pretty flimsy. So I went to a local Airstream authorized repair facility* and had a Fantastic Fan installed. Happy.

Well it rained right before Thanksgiving as we loaded the trailer for a trip to Quartzesite. I found the bed soaking wet. Fortunately we have a foam pad on the mattress so it was dry. We then saw the water dripping from around the vent and put out pans to catch the water while we dried the bedding. Sad.

Last Saturday I pulled our trailer to Area 63 in Orange to find the problem and fix it.

Uwe and I laddered to the roof where we found that the replacement vent was installed and sealed with ugly heaping gobs of silicone. The silicone had cracks and holes where the water was clearly getting in. We also found an indentation in the roof at the back of the fan where water had puddled.

The silicone was peeled off and we also found where the fan shroud had been cracked on installation. We also found the silicone was gobbed on top of the original Vulken**. Sad and miffed.

So the rest of the silicone was removed along with the fan. Then the Vulken was removed chemically and we were down to clean metal.

Uwe crafted a spare/stringer to add strength to the roof at the rear of the fan so the fan would have strong positive anchoring at the front and the back. Uwe then using Vulken reinstalled the Fantastic fan. The install now looks clean. Happy

We've had big rain out here for the last few days and when I went and checked. No leaks. No moisture. No problem. Very happy.

The re-repair cost less than the original simple job. It took area 63 less time and at a lower labor rate for a better outcome than the original repair.Re-repair money spent. Worth every cent.

I'm sharing this as a reminder to all. Ask what the technician is going to do before they start the work and when it's done check it. If I had seen those gobs of silicon when I picked it up I would have had questions.

* I am not mentioning the repair place as I have not discussed this with them. There was no point as I had lost confidence when their work failed due to poor workmanship. But in order to not cast doubt on the innocent. This place is not a commercial vendor on this site.

**Nasty vile can't get it off of anything it gets near stuff. By some bending of the time and space manages to get places it has no logical way of getting to. Try to avoid it if possible.

You could post the city that vendor operates in.

Andy

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, sorry to hear about having to have one job done twice, not to mention the aggravation of the leaks and non professional installation.

Was this shop located very close to my home?

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

You could post the city that vendor operates in.

Andy

Andy,

Since I did not discuss this lousy work with the shop and thus deprive them of the opportunity to make it right. I don't feel its fair for me to name them.

However since you are well known on this forum I did not want people to jump to the conclusion it was you when it was not.

I just wanted to remind everyone to ask questions and check the work done on their trailers. Even a good shop can fumble the ball.

[willyd]

Seems sad to have this problem when it should not have happened. you should make a complaint to the Airstream company - especiallr with a 2007.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

Andy,

Since I did not discuss this lousy work with the shop and thus deprive them of the opportunity to make it right. I don't feel its fair for me to name them.

However since you are well known on this forum I did not want people to jump to the conclusion it was you when it was not.

I just wanted to remind everyone to ask questions and check the work done on their trailers. Even a good shop can fumble the ball.

People are people, and we can all make mistakes in our work, regardless of career.

Mistakes, can easily be corrected, usually.

Sloppy workmanship, to me, is highly discriptive of a mechanics attitude. "Hey, if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for you" type thinking, is a hazard for all of us.

Thanks to this Forums, shops or people that do less than acceptable type work, are usually weeded out.

Scares me to think if a shop turns out sloppy work that you can see, what might they have done under the covers?

All of us, must be cautious of who does what for us.

If the shop is good, let others know. If the shop does sloppy work, let others know.

Same is true of labor charges.

Andy

[Lily&Me]

We have had a chronic leak with our Fantastic Fan vent, factory installed on our '06 Interstate we have owned for 2 years. After reading forum posts regarding leaks, we decided it was time to replace the gasket/caulk, and ordered Sikaflex from the AS store. Doug gets on the roof today in 90+ heat (plus our high midwest humidity), finally gets all 28 screws loosened and removed. What does he find??? Two screws in at a clear angle, one in a drill-created hole NEXT to the hole it was supposed to be in. Hmmmmm---suppose they contributed to the leaks??

The good news: called the 800 number for Fantastic Fans, spoke with a very nice, knowledgeable service tech named Bob. They replace gaskets and screws at no cost, ours is going out in today's mail. They will also do a "return and repair" at no cost other than shipping, if the vent is found to have cracks around the screws because they were tightened too much at the factory. Apparently, a fairly common problem.

And so, if your Fantastic Fan & Vent is leaking and you can't get it fixed, might be more to it than a need for more caulk.

[Lily&Me]

Update:

Gasket and shiny new screws arrived by UPS From Fantastic Fans two days after our call, no charge to us. With some additional tech support by phone from Bob at FF, (we are not very handy, it is all a learning experience) old stuff was removed and new gasket installed. There were not 2 but 4 screws in drill-created holes next to their original holes.