The MaxXfan Deluxe by MaxXair is an amazing ceiling fan for installation in every type of nomadic vehicle. I would go so far as to say that it is currently the best fan on the market designed for mobile homes. This is how we installed our MaxXfan Deluxe Installation.
The MaxXfan Deluxe Installation
Concerns About MaxXfan Deluxe Installation
Let me start off by saying that I reluctantly purchased this product because our Palomino Bronco 1500 is a pop-up camper. The roof cannot support my weight. This meant that the MaxXfan Deluxe installation had to be done off of a ladder. I did not relish the idea of spending days bent over my roof putting in a fan. We replaced an old vent that did not have a fan in it so while we did not have to cut any new holes we did have to remove the old sealant which was also something I was dreading. I am happy to say that for us neither of these concerns really panned out and that among our many renovation projects, this was one of the easiest. The MaxXfan Deluxe is a well-thought-out design intended for easy installation.
Measure Before Ordering
The MaxXfan Deluxe unit will fit into a standard 14″ x 14″ opening. I would highly recommend measuring your existing fan’s opening if you have one. If you don’t have a vent and are looking to cut a new opening then you only need to make sure you have enough space around your intended spot to accommodate this fan’s hood. The overall dimensions of the hood are 23″ long by 16.5″ wide.
Starting the Renovation – Removing the Old Vent
Before I could get to work on the MaxXfan Deluxe installation, I first had to remove our factory-installed vent. To my surprise, this was not very difficult other than one snafu I had with a solo cup (you can check out my misadventure in the video below). I used acetone to loosen the bond of the old sealant. I let that sit for a minute or so and then used a flat head screwdriver to peel off the old sealant. Once I got the first piece removed the rest came off very easily.
Removing the Factory Vent
I then had to remove 28 screws from the roof that held down the factory installed vent. This seemed overly excessive. The MaxXfan Deluxe only has 16 screws holding it in place.
Next, I moved to the inside of the camper where I had to remove the four screws holding the inside trim cover in place. After that, there are two screws holding the bug screen onto the roof piece, but before removing those I had to pull out the screw holding the vent’s handle. The screen cannot be removed with the handle on.
Once all 35 screws were removed the inside and outside pieces separated and the whole unit slid out. This process took less than 30 minutes to complete which was a huge relief to me as I thought removing the old vent would be the most arduous part of this renovation.
Removing All the Old Sealant
Next, I had to finish completely removing all the remaining sealant. I used acetone here as well and spent the better part of an hour making sure I got all that old sealant off. I then used soapy water with Dawn dish soap to clean the entire area to make sure the remaining acetone was neutralized and simultaneously remove dirt and debris from the surface.
MaxXfan Deluxe Installation
The first step in the MaxXfan Deluxe installation is to mount the fans roof bracket. I placed the bracket on the roof and lined it up with the old screw hole for the corners. Again my roof had 28 old screw holes and only 4 of them lined up with the new fan’s bracket. Once I had the bracket in place I traced the outside edge with a pencil. I then removed the bracket and filled in all the old holes with Proflex RV sealant. I also applied an even amount of sealant within my pencil line and the opening and smoothed it out with a soapy water mix.
Mounting the MaxXfan Deluxe Bracket
Once the sealant was on, I placed the bracket back on the roof, making sure the metal tabs were located on the sides of the camper (not the front and back). I then screwed down the corners of the bracket and followed by the other 12 screws. I would suggest that you pre-drill these holes in the initial placement phase before putting on the sealant. A lot of sawdust ended up in my sealant and I had to pick out the large pieces before smoothing it out. I hope this introduction of foreign material doesn’t create a less than perfect seal for me. So far we are 100% watertight, but I still recommend doing the pre-drilling prior to putting on the sealant.
Sealing the Screws and Bracket
Once the bracket was screwed down I then added more sealant to the tops of the screw heads and around the entire outer edge of the bracket. I then smoothed the sealant out with my fingers using more soapy water mix to keep it from sticking to my fingers.
Installing the Fan Housing
Once the bracket is mounted the next step is to place the fan housing into the bracket. This slides in very easily. The only thing to keep in mind is that the hood scoop should be towards the back of the vehicle so that it doesn’t pick up wind forcing it open while traveling. Also, watch the wiring and make sure that it doesn’t get hung up on the roof, but instead ends up inside the camper/RV.
Once the fan housing is in place I used the vent knob to raise the hood. The MaxXfan’s vent knob has a push lock on it so I had to pull down on the knob to unlock it before turning the knob to raise the hood. Raising the hood up allows access on the roof side to the metal tabs that are really nuts for the mounting bolts. The MaxXfan Deluxe comes with 8 machined bolts. I used the wrong four bolts at first and had to replace them later so make sure that you use the four screws with the rounded heads on the roof and save the four recess screws for the inside cover.
Mounting the Internal Cover
The next step is to mount the inside face cover to the unit. This covers up the remaining opening of the fan and makes it look nice and clean from the inside. This is my only small complaint with this otherwise amazing unit. For this step, I had to measure the thickness of the roof to determine where to cut the recessed part of the cover plate. I understand that they use this “cut to size” piece in order to keep the cost of the product down. One size fits all. It is, however, the worst part of this unit. When cutting plastic it can be easy to snap, but luckily that didn’t happen.
Cutting the Cover to Size
My measurement ended up at 1 3/4″ depth. I marked all four corners on both sides (8 measurements in all) and then used a straight edge to connect these marks. This gave me a line to follow with my cut. A fine tooth saw is recommended for this to cut, but since I don’t own one and I was in the processes of selling most of my worldly possessions in order to move into a truck camper full-time, I decided to use what I had. What I had was a jigsaw. I clamped down the bottom side and jigged the opposite side and then spun the unit and cut again. I repeated until all four sides were cut. When done the cut needed a little sanding to take off some of the burs/melted plastic. It still didn’t look perfect, but it is hidden away in the ceiling so who cares.
Once cut I placed the cover in the ceiling and ran the wires along the inside of the edge to the area where they would leave the covering. Here I cut a small hole in the lip to allow the wires to pass through and not push on the cover. I then screwed the cover plate into place.
Wiring the MaxXfan Deluxe
The last step when doing the MaxXfan Deluxe installation was to wire the 12V fan to the battery. I like having dedicated runs back to the fuse box so I know the load on each wire. It also makes troubleshooting later easier. I choose to use the cover track for a nearby light fixture to channel the new wiring. I also choose to tie in the fan’s negative wiring to the light’s negative wire but ran a 14AWG positive wire back to my breaker box. If you haven’t read my solar panel installation post you can check that out to find out more about my 12V system.
Along with the light’s channel I used my solar system’s counter to ceiling tube to run the wiring. This allowed for a more direct path to the breaker box than had I followed the factory installed lighting wire around the camper.
Once wired the fan was ready for testing. Everything works great and the fan has met and at times exceeded our expectations and needs.
Purchasing the MaxXfan Deluxe
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The MaxXfan Deluxe has three models to choose from. This installation guide is about the middle-class model. In contrast, the base model has 4 speeds and is exhaust (pushes air out) only. This is not recommended as the multi-directional flow is very useful. An electric motor is added to the high-class model to remotely open the lid. This looks like a cool feature for larger mobile homes. All three models come in white or smoke (black) finishes.
