Community Forums

michealwhela · 09-19-2014, 05:40 AM

I plugged in my Adventurer to prep for a trip. On entering I heard a motor running in the bathroom. The sound was my (closed) Fantastic fan trying to close. As it was closed and the wall switch was in the close position I thought I might have a problem. (understatement) I pulled the fan control to the manual position the motor kept running. I tried the wall switch moving from open to close, no change. I grabbed the open nob and turned it counter clock wise and the motor stopped. When I hit the switch again it started and would not stop until I turned the manual open switch on the fan counter clock wise to stop the motor. What is my next option? I suspect the gear head to open the fan is stripped but have not yet taken the fan apart. What bothers me is the motor that opens the fan was running with the wall switch in the closed position. Thoughts??

grtharris · 09-19-2014, 04:35 PM

michealwhela, I agree sounds like the gear is stripped.

**TonyDi** · 09-19-2014, 07:38 PM

Try giving a call to Fantastic Fan. 800-521-0298.

They have a good customer service dept. If the gear is stripped they will help you diagnose and repair it.

Best of luck and Happy Trails!!

Sammie · 09-19-2014, 07:56 PM

Michael, You do know that the manual vent open/close knob can be pushed up or pulled down to engage or disengage the auto open motor right?

Sammie

Keith K · 09-19-2014, 08:12 PM

Your problem is pretty common. Unless you use Formula 303 or something similar on the vent cover gaskets, they'll stick and eventually the soft metal teeth will strip. I've had success in the past calling them and getting a free motor replacement, but haven't tried since they changed ownership. Give them a call, see what they say.

"007" · 09-19-2014, 08:40 PM

Had the same problem gear is fine what has happened the arm lift for the cover has come off the pivot pin which is a split cylinder about 1/4" round.
You remove the housing around motor that will drop out from plastic mount with two screws to hold up to fan ring surface. and the arm metal housing.
Make sure you have toilet seat closed because everything may fall out when removed.
You will have to press the 1/4" ring into hole of lift arm and reassemble, its difficult to get arm and cover to line up in slot of cover, old age and looking up, but can be done.
Some one on roof may help to get the two items together while person inside gets the two screws screwed back into the fan holes.

Larry & Rita · 09-20-2014, 03:29 AM

When mine did the same thing I pulled the control motor that controls the lid and fan.
The gear that would engage when you push or pull to go from auto to manual was pot metal and had stripped, Fantastic sent me a new one along with a new improved lift lever.(NO CHARGE).

michealwhela · 09-21-2014, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammie

Michael, You do know that the manual vent open/close knob can be pushed up or pulled down to engage or disengage the auto open motor right?

Sammie

Yes tried that, does not do anything but turn. Thanks.

mike.t · 09-21-2014, 06:10 PM

Did the OP say there was no power going to the fan?

michealwhela · 09-22-2014, 04:26 AM

Yes power is good. I had to pull the fuse to stop the lift motor from running. Didn't matter if it was in auto or manual lift mode the lift motor kept running. Thanks

Afubar · 09-22-2014, 05:13 AM

You didn't give a year on your MH but here's what I experienced with my 96 Newmar. My Fantastic Vent would make noise like it was trying to close even though it was closed after MH had been unplugged then plugged back in. Didn't matter that thermostat was in the off position or not. Called Fantastic they walked me thru a couple of things and determined that the thermostat was bad. They sent me a new one, sad to say the new one didn't help, so I took the old one apart, there was a small blue transistor type thing in it that I removed (the new one didn't have this) put it back together, reinstated and it now works.. Who knows, maybe something like this is your problem. Good luck.

michealwhela · 09-23-2014, 08:43 AM

Called Fantastic this morning. Now they replace the entire motor. The pot metal sleeve is not available. Cost is $47.00 YIKES! Just seems like a lot for a 10 cent part. But i guess that will fix it :(

Bob&AnnaMari · 09-23-2014, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michealwhela

Called Fantastic this morning. Now they replace the entire motor. The pot metal sleeve is not available. Cost is $47.00 YIKES! Just seems like a lot for a 10 cent part. But i guess that will fix it :(

Michael,

Interesting. It looks like the days of "lifetime" guarantee are really gone. What a shame. Thanks for posting your outcome. It is a "heads up" to all of us.

But, I am not surprised that you could not get the part. Most of the things I have tried to repair recently usually come in "kits" with a lot of parts I don't need.
Bob

michealwhela · 09-23-2014, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michealwhela

Called Fantastic this morning. Now they replace the entire motor. The pot metal sleeve is not available. Cost is $47.00 YIKES! Just seems like a lot for a 10 cent part. But i guess that will fix it :(

Here is an update on spending the $47 dollars. I got to thinking about it when I ant to pull the little motor to get the part number. My logic was,,,, this should be a simple fix !! I decided to put the motor in my vice with the motor shaft up. Gently tap the stripped sleeve onto the shaft. Drill a small hole all the way through the sleeve and the shaft, insert a metal screw into the hole and grind it flush to the sleeve. Final step was to apply some JB Weld over the screw and the hole and wipe smooth. It is in the garage drying now. The project took 30 minutes. Tomorrow I will reinstall the assembly into the fan assembly and test it. Worse case I lost an hour time and still have to spend the $47 bucks. Best case is there is a simple low cost way to do this repair. I will let you know how smart I am after testing