Top RV Accessories and Upgrades: Best RV Vent Fan

I want to share a series of articles on some of our favorite RV accessories we have added to The Tin Can. We have written a good many articles about modifications and other upgrades made during our renovation. Most of those were not about RV specific items and were mainly about how we did our renovations.
Now, I want to focus on some of the more RV specific accessories and upgrades we have purchased over the years and what we like and possibly don’t like about them.

I’m not being sponsored by any of the brands I will mention in these articles nor was I paid to write any reviews on them. These posts do contain affiliate links.

The Old Vent Fan Gives Up

In this first article of my series, I want to share the MaxxFan vent fan. Specifically, the MaxxFan Deluxe model 5100K. The original, single, vent fan in The Tin Can was one of those cheap models with the tiny, little fan that barely moves any air. I think it only had one speed to it. Until one night, when all the blades fell off it. I remember hearing a noise in the middle of the night. At first, I was afraid that the AC was tearing up. But then I went into the bathroom, where the vent fan is located, and noticed all the pieces of fan blade laying on the fan screen. It was definitely time for a replacement.

Finding A New RV Vent Fan

In addition to our unit needing a new vent fan, it also was not equipped with a vent fan cover. Therefore we always had to keep an eye on the weather and close the vent any time it rained. When I started hunting for a new fan I wanted to get a vent cover also. That is when I found the Maxxair model 5100K. It has manual vent control, a 10 speed, reversible fan, a thermostat, and also a built-in rain cover. Though the price tag was right around $200, it had everything I was looking for in one unit. If I had bought the cover and the fan separately it would have cost about the same anyway. Which made the MaxxFan Deluxe the best RV vent fan, at least for us anyway.

Installing The New Vent Fan

Installing the new fan was pretty straightforward. With the old fan removed, I simply had to connect the wires of the new fan to the existing wires. Put some putty tape on the fan’s flange, slide it in place and fasten it to the roof of the RV, then attach the fan to its flange. I also put a bead of Dicor around the base and screws to help ensure a good seal. It’s an RV, you Dicor everything, right? Anyway, the new fan was installed.

We Love Our New MaxxFan Deluxe

The MaxxFan Deluxe has been a great upgrade from the old one. This thing moves a ton of air. With the bathroom door closed, air gushes in from the gap at the floor. It kinda helps dry you off when getting out of the shower. And that’s not with the fan on its highest speed. The fan is also pretty quiet, especially on the lower speed settings. Which is where we usually keep it on. I’ve only reversed the fan one time so far. And it didn’t seem to move near as much air as it does when it’s exhausting, but the door and all the windows were closed too. Which could possibly be why it didn’t seem to do much. Or it may be due to fan blade design.

The built-in rain cover has also worked flawlessly. We have not had any rain blow in the RV at all and we leave the vent open all the time. We couldn’t be happier with this fan, we only wish that we had a second one in the bedroom.

Our Thoughts On The MaxxFan Deluxe

If you’re looking at replacing the vent fan in your RV and especially if you don’t already have a fan cover installed. I would highly recommend the MaxxFan Deluxe. It has performed wonderfully for us so far.

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