Fantastic Fan Rain Sensor

[Sweeney]

My fantastic seems to be touchy, and I am not sure if it is working as expected or if I have an over-sensitive unit.

I did have a bad sensor --- on a 80 degree sunny afternoon, it would detect rain and close. Putting a new sensor, it seems OK. The question is more than that.

If I wake up in the morning, and red light is not flashing, and I open the fan where there is only high relative humidity and no precipitation (or drops of condensation) usually within a few seconds, he light starts flashing and the door closes. I have manually opened the vent and dabbed the sensor and removed any possible drips on the lid, opening the cover the light flashes and it closes again.

Is high relative humidity alone enough to trip the auto closing feature, or do I have a "touchy" fan?

If I wait an hour or so, and the sun burns off the morning 'moist' everything works fine.

I'm curious what the normal behavior is.

 

[Tom Sutor]

Mine is touchy too. It will close when I wake up in the morning, sit up and breath the wrong direction. All you can do is take it out of gear and manually crank it back open.

 

[campdude]

Hmm..never had that happen yet.

 

[Lipster]

Try cleaning the rain sensor.

 

[Sweeney]

Try cleaning the rain sensor.

I've done that --- and even replaced it. The initial sensor was certainly bad. It would close on an 80 degree day with low humidity, and not a cloud in the sky.

What is happening now is limitied to the high humidity mornings without rain -- just fog. Initially I thought water was dripping from the lid when it opened and just hitting the sensor. But this appers not toe be the case. I dabbed the sensor and the rim area of the vent cover...and within just a few seconds the door closes again.

I have access to a control board --- I just frankly don't want to take it apart again....nor do I want to just swap out a part for what seems abnormal....I'd like to verify but I have precicely a sample of 1.

I have had Maxair rain sensing vents --- completely differet manufacturer --- those were not that sensitive...AND the vents could run with the door closed --- which makes me almost want to "upgrade" I love white noise when I sleep and a little air movment wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Sweeney]

I replaced the controller on the Fantastic --- same problem. Just high humidity is causing it to open. I did a search on "IRV2" and found that there is a fix to the 'battling rain sensor phenomenon' -- it consists of two options:

1] Cut the wire on the sensor
2] Just replace the Fantastic with a Maxxair.'

I thin a SPST switch on the wire to temporarily bypass it might be the best solution. I really am a bit surprised that others on this forum haven't experienced the "Its a sunny morning, why is my fan closing?" symptom...but, for better or worse, it apperas to be a well known problem in the Newmar world as well....

Maxxair is in my amazon cart...we'll see how that goes once I get home from this trip.

 

[Van_and_Terri]

I replaced the controller on the Fantastic --- same problem. Just high humidity is causing it to open. I did a search on "IRV2" and found that there is a fix to the 'battling rain sensor phenomenon' -- it consists of two options:

1] Cut the wire on the sensor
2] Just replace the Fantastic with a Maxxair.'

I thin a SPST switch on the wire to temporarily bypass it might be the best solution. I really am a bit surprised that others on this forum haven't experienced the "Its a sunny morning, why is my fan closing?" symptom...but, for better or worse, it apperas to be a well known problem in the Newmar world as well....

Maxxair is in my amazon cart...we'll see how that goes once I get home from this trip.

Maxair has experienced issues with humidity getting to the control board. The fix seems to be conformal coating the board.

 

[rmbrowder]

I added a vent cover to resolve the “open and close” concern. Yes, it looks like a blister on top but I can keep the fan running in most rain events. If it’s a tremendous downpour the vent can still close automatically. Since installing the awning and a ½ rook basket the vent cover blends in.

 

[Sweeney]

Maxair has experienced issues with humidity getting to the control board. The fix seems to be conformal coating the board.

I hate that stuff ....the "slabbed" main boards used in heaters and fridges are the only thing that is worse But its probably easier to wrap the board in rubber than to figure out the odd airflow that carries the water where it shouldn't go, so I can't blame them....as long as they sell the board as a repair part...Right to repair is VERY important to me.

I'm thinking I'll replace mine with a MaxxAir 7500K. I like a couple features of it...

1] Built in shroud
2] it can run with the cover closed
3] Brushless motor --- longer life, and uses less power.

My recollection of MaxxAir though is they have several bright LED's. I'll probably have to vinyl cut a label cover to go over the area to keep the inside of my rig from looking like a science experiment gone wrong (I can see the shafts of red and green light coming from the windows)

MY other option is to install a switch and just cut the wire...I'd need to remember to enable the feature when I leave -- and that is something I will forget to do...

For all the pain, even as it is, it still worth it. The refusal to stay open starts about the time the dew falls, and after it burns off.

I'd never go back to a manual operation if I an help it --- the motor holds it closed wile travling, and it's just a lot easier to flip a switch and have the cover open --- I think we call both of those "Modern problems"