Detail-Cleaning the MaxxFan Ventilator

[Galileo]

TLDR - this post tells you in words how to detail-clean your MaxxFan
 

I haven’t seen it posted anywhere else so far, so I thought I’d throw this out there.

After three seasons of practically full-time use of our Ollie, the MaxxFan was looking pretty cruddy - especially when it was sunny and you could see the dirt and grime buildup inside the hood. 

The fan “maintenance” I’ve found online seems to be limited to cleaning the screen and maybe the fan blade. I had done that a few times, but it didn’t address the real dirt. There’s no way to clean inside of the hood with the unit assembled. Nor would you want to try doing that with the unit overhead.

Since I had to pull the unit off the roof to replace the motor. (Wouldn’t go above 30% without beeping, and shutting down.) I decide to pull the whole unit apart and give it a serious bath. 

Sorry for no pictures - by the time I thought of that I was elbow-deep into soapy water. Instead, I’m giving you the 10,000 words. 

I pulled the control panel with circuit board, the fan motor, and the open/close gearbox off the unit. I left the rest of the opening mechanism in place. 

I pretty much tore the unit down to individual parts. Every screw - aside from those holding the open/close mechanism to the main frame - was removed. 

Start with the hood in “open” position. It’s probably easiest to remove the interior bezel and manual open/close knob first - though it may be possible to access the power wiring with it in place. 

The black ground wire and white + wire can be disconnected by removing the electrical tape Oliver put over the connectors, and lifting the orange tab to release the wire. (I was originally thinking I’d have to cut & re-splice the wires, believing Oliver used some kind of crimp-on connector. In my case, luckily not.)

Once on the roof, removing two screws on each side of the base on the unit will allow it to lift the unit off of the roof. 

Back on terra firma-

Flip the unit on its back - upside down - on your workbench. (Picnic table?)

If you didn’t remove the control panel and circuit board, do so now and set it aside. (Four screws for the control panel, one more in the center of the open/close knob.) The fan motor and open/close gear motor have keyed 2-wire connectors that attach them to the circuit board pigtails. The hood is held on by eight sheet metal screws that go into “u” nuts, so no worries about screws going into plastic stripping out.  Five at the front edge, three at the rear edge. Once those are out, disengage the hood operating arms and lifting the rest of the unit off/out of the hood. Be sure not to lose the two plastic bushings that fit over the pins in the ends of the operating arms. 

The pivoting rear grille has two keyed tabs that attach it to the main frame. Rotate the grill up to disengage them. That frees the grille. At first, I left the piece of hardware cloth and its plastic retainer attached to the grille. Later, I found I couldn’t clean it thoroughly with it assembled, so I took out the four screws. These four DO go into plastic, so use proper technique when reinstalling them.

The fan motor wiring is held in place with a plastic clamp and two screws. Take out the screws, lift off the clamp and feed the motor wire connector out through the hole. The motor is held in with two nuts onto threaded through-bolts. I think they were 5/16”, but don’t quote me. There are also a couple of wire ties holding the motor wires to the support “spoke”. These can be clipped off. You’ll need new ones. I used electrical tape. 

The open/close gear motor is held on by three sheet metal screws. Be sure to remove the ones holding it to the frame - not the ones holding the gear motor together. There also a splined coupling between the gear motor shaft and the opening mechanism. This is loose, so make sure you don’t lose it.

Now - all the electrical parts are removed, you can do the cleaning. I sprayed all the dirty surfaces with a household cleaner/degreaser. “Fantastic”, “409”, etc. I used Clorox kitchen cleaner because that’s what I had available. I suppose you could use Dawn or TSP or whatever your favorite water-based cleaner degreaser is. 

I used a cheapo hardware store “chip brush” to do the cleaning. There are a LOT of crevices and internal corners to collect grime. I probably took about 30-45 minutes with the brush, then sprayed the parts off with a hose. You’ll probably see spots you missed to revisit with the brush and the 409. 

Dry everything off and admire your handiwork!

As the old saying goes: reassemble in reverse order. Really.

One caution: to avoid stripping out thread-cutting screws that go into plastic, set the screw in place and with just the weight of the screwdriver on the screw, turn it slowly -backwards- until you feel it “drop in” to the old thread. Then gently turn clockwise to tighten. It -should- screw in fairly easily until it’s fully seated. 
 

All of the above just goes to say that if your MaxxFan starts to look like the inside of your range hood (and it will if you use it much - especially if you cook inside of your camper) then you can easily clean it to like-new condition with just some time and effort. 

[Mike and Carol]

Thanks for this.  It’s not a fun job, but do-able.  The first time I did it was while I was doing a repair on the lifting mechanism. Once I got the fan out and disassembled I got concerned that I would be able to get it back together!  Mike

[Galileo]

I kinda dove into it feeling confident that once I saw how it came apart, I’d be able to put it back together. Had I needed to drill out rivets or the like, I would have hesitated to take it further apart. 

It’s really not as complicated as it looks. I did feel the need to take it apart not only because it was disgusting inside, but because one of the operating arms looked like it was about to pop out of the slot in the hood.

Next time (another three years or less I’m guessing) I’ll try to do a video or step-by-step photo essay.

I’d say it’s in the comfort zone of anybody who has rebuilt a carburetor (remember those?) installed a ceiling fan, or shops regularly at IKEA. 

Aside from being a little dirty - it actually was kinda fun! Always nice to see something grimy and needing a bit of TLC look shiny and new again!

[jd1923]

19 minutes ago, Galileo said:

shops regularly at IKEA.

I was with you 100% until this statement. Walked through an Ikea ONCE in Austin TX.

Could not wait to get out of their maze of cheap kits, ASAP leaving EMPTY-HANDED! 🤣 My son who has been an Angie's List contractor, on and off, has installed these kits for the mechanically-impaired for big bucks!

I do however, certainly appreciate your long written procedure, pictures not required!

I have another way to clean this fan QUICKLY (though many forum members do not always like my unique methods)...

With fan fully opened, old bath towel on floor below, pressure washer in hand with short wand and wide tip, blast upwards in a circular fashion for 10 seconds and the whole unit is as clean as can be! I do this every summer (and it works well)! 😂

[John Dorrer]

Getting water in the motherboard has caused numerous fan failures. We remove the screen and with a hex the fan blade. They go into house to be washed with hot water and soap. I then use a moist paper towel to wipe the fan housing.

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, John Dorrer said:

Getting water in the motherboard has caused numerous fan failures.

Yep, when hitting with the hose, stay dead center and clear of the two corners with the two electronic control boards!

[Galileo]

3 hours ago, jd1923 said:

With fan fully opened, old bath towel on floor below, pressure washer in hand with short wand and wide tip, blast upwards in a circular fashion for 10 seconds and the whole unit is as clean as can be! I do this every summer (and it works well)! 😂

I occasionally do some pretty daring things - including flying single engine aircraft and climbing on ladders. This ^^^ is something that increases my pucker factor to an unacceptable level. Then again, I might opt for this method if I was drinking hard with a buddy and he dared me.

Even if I wasn’t worried about the circuit board (which I would definitely be!) how much dirty soapy water ended up -inside- the trailer would be a concern. Another concern would be damaging the hood with the power of a pressure washer.  
 

That said - if it’s working for you - who am I to say not to do it?!

[Galileo]

3 hours ago, jd1923 said:

 

4 hours ago, Galileo said:

shops regularly at IKEA.

I was with you 100% until this statement. Walked through an Ikea ONCE in Austin TX.

Could not wait to get out of their maze of cheap kits, ASAP leaving EMPTY-HANDED! 🤣 My son who has been an Angie's List contractor, on and off, has installed these kits for the mechanically-impaired for big bucks!

 

Hey - I generally don’t care for IKEA “furniture” either. (Though I used to have my share of “O’Sullivan” pressboard bookshelves and entertainment centers.) 

I just used IKEA as a reference gif people who are remotely familiar with common hand tools and putting together adult Lincoln Logs.

[Galileo]

2 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

Getting water in the motherboard has caused numerous fan failures. We remove the screen and with a hex the fan blade. They go into house to be washed with hot water and soap. I then use a moist paper towel to wipe the fan housing.

That’s fine for cleaning the fan blade & screen. Unfortunately, the rest of the fan collects just as much grime and dirt. Aside from @jd1923’s pressure washer trick, the rest of the unit needs cleaning just as much.

[srthomsen]

12 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Yep, when hitting with the hose, stay dead center and clear of the two corners with the two electronic control boards!

Are those electronic control boards a fairly straight forward fix or replace issue IF it's determined that they are bad?

[Galileo]

4 hours ago, srthomsen said:

Are those electronic control boards a fairly straight forward fix or replace issue IF it's determined that they are bad?

The factory is pretty good at walking you through troubleshooting. (The fan mfg - not OTT). They gave me direction to troubleshoot my fan motor - and then sent me one gratis even though it was out of warranty.

I -think- the control board should be a pretty easy R&R. Keyed connectors for both motors, pigtails for power. I imaginare that the circuit board and the membrane keypad are one piece - but don’t quote me. There’s also a temperature sensor. 

You can get up the circuit board by just removing the manual open/close knob (one screw) and the whole faceplate comes off with 4 more screws. Probably best to pull the bezel off as well so you can get to the power wires. Also 4 screws, but I found mine was helpfully (not) also glued on either white RTV and some butyl tape underneath. Just use a credit card to run around the perimeter to defeat the RTV.

[jd1923]

10 hours ago, srthomsen said:

Are those electronic control boards a fairly straight forward fix or replace issue IF it's determined that they are bad?

Just search the forum for "MaxxFan ." If memory serves me correctly, @Mike and Carol has a post on replacing the drive motor, I've read before.

Others have replaced the board, several posts on this site through the years re this fan. BTW, on my post re hitting the fan with the pressure washer...

Remove the screen first. Then use an Allen key and remove the fan. Clean these with good ol' Dawn dish detergent and then blast the opening.

Start your hose at the base of the vent door, at the hinges where it has strongest connection and work you way out, forcing the dirt to expel out the natural opening. When I did mine, we barely had a damp towel below. 🤣

[jd1923]

I'm adding a simple toggle switch to the Maxxfan so that the fan can be stopped leaving the vent door open.

Often Chris likes the fan on, exhausting softly at 30%, as she falls asleep. Later, I want it OFF but would like the vent door to remain OPEN. The mechanism is so NOISY, and you must do it twice, close then open. I place a pillow over it to deaden the sound! 

More on my upgrade later, as I will start a mod thread on this. I started getting into the fan and next thing I have the entire fan in pieces, removed the upper section above the roof too, and have cleaned everything. It's looking great! (pictures later)

I noticed I have a small broken part (on left in the picture). It's the swivel piece that holds the screen in place. Not sure why my iPhone camera made these blue, since they are of course white.

Anybody have an extra one of these? I'm thinking maybe when replacing some assembly, somebody here could have extras. They're $8.49 each but add shipping and one comes to $23! The screen has been holding with 3 of 4 working, but sooner or later I should get one or two.

https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Maxxair-Round-Screen-Frame-Knob-p/05-21233.htm?CartID=1

Edited 19 hours ago by jd1923

[Galileo]

13 hours ago, jd1923 said:

 

I'm adding a simple toggle switch to the Maxxfan so that the fan can be stopped leaving the vent door open.

Often Chris likes the fan on, exhausting softly at 30%, as she falls asleep. Later, I want it OFF but would like the vent door to remain OPEN. The mechanism is so NOISY, and you must do it twice, close then open. I place a pillow over it to deaden the sound! 

 

I just hit the on/off button and the open/close button in rapid succession and the door doesn’t do the whole open/close cycle. 

But yes, the mechanism IS quite noisy (especially in the middle of the night) and possibly worse - each button press gets you a damn beep! I’m tempted to muffle or kill the beep. 

Sometimes if I just want to open/close the vent I use the manual knob. Done slowly it’s pretty quiet. However, because of the deep roof it’s too easy to get your fingers caught between the knob and the bezel. That’s WAY more than a “pinch” and is quite painful. (Often producing more loud sounds than just pressing the button!)

[Galileo]

14 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Anybody have an extra one of these? I'm thinking maybe when replacing some assembly, somebody here could have extras. They're $8.49 each but add shipping and one comes to $23! The screen has been holding with 3 of 4 working, but sooner or later I should get one or two.

Don’t have one unfortunately, and $23 for one is nuts! (Likely worse than having to pay almost $80 to Helm for the owner’s manual that GMC no longer includes when you buy an $80,000 truck.)

Maybe if you are buddies with any shops that install or service these, they’d have a dead unit laying around you could scavenge one off of. Maybe even find a “dead” unit on eBay and buy the whole thing for less than that one part.

I would think that was the kind of part that Customer Service could “find” for you for free and mail it out. When my motor had issues - they sent it out for no charge even though I was out of warranty. I guess it depends if you catch the right person on the right day.