Maxxfan Replacement options?

[RoadPheasant]

I took delivery of my Elite in May of 2018, and the Maxxfan has been a disappointment.  It began with the fan spontaneously activating its closing function—even though it was already closed—-then additional malfunctions accumulated from there.  While the unit is still covered by the two-year warranty, I see that Airxcel makes their (up to 45-day) process of repair or replacement time-consuming and inconvenient at best.  
 

I’m wondering if any forum member has been similarly disappointed with the Maxxfan, and has chosen to replace it with another brand’s unit that they have judged to be more reliable?  I would be willing to do just that, while also having the Maxxfan unit repaired or replaced and then kept as a back-up fan to be used as needed in the future.  (Meanwhile, I would not have to deal with having a hole in my trailer’s roof for the next 45 days.)  Any thoughts or experiences on this issue...?

Edited November 16, 2019 by RoadPheasant

[Overland]

I don’t know anything about the maxxfan’s reliability relative to any other fan.  In terms of features it does seem to be the best available. 

I wonder if a better strategy to having an entire fan as a backup might be to just have a spare control board handy.  

[topgun2]

You might want to check with Jason in Service to see if Oliver can either speed up the warranty process or make it less painful for you.  Probably Oliver has a bit more "pull" with any supplier than you would have on your own.

I agree with Overland but since I've never had a problem with my fan, hauling around a spare control board doesn't make a bunch of sense to me.  But, I do always carry a small battery powered additional fan anyway.

[RoadPheasant]

Overland and topgun2, thanks for your responses.  Yes, will give Jason a call on Monday.

[Trainman]

We pickup our Elite II in the first week of July and our Max Fan has not worked properly since our first camping trip three week later. We took at trip back to Oliver and they checked out the fan and said it was ok now, I did not check out the fan mainly because the weather was cold and rainy, but 350 miles down the road it started acting up again. I talked with Jason and he sent me the module and new remote, I install it, but it did not fix the problem, still has a mind of its own and goes into lockup mode and the only way to get it out of lockup is to remove the fuse and then reinstall it. It will now works for a minute of two and goes into lockup mode again. One Wednesday of last week I talked with Jason on this matter after installing the new parts and he said he would check with Max Air and see what to do next, so far I have not heard for him. I'm going to suggest to him to just send a new fan kit in the box and I will install it myself, as this unit has a problem that can't be repaired with replacement parts. I'm pretty unhappy with this fan, I will say that we had the same fan in our Casita and it did work perfect for the two years we owned the Casita, so I expect this fan to do the same. If I don't hear from Jason by after Thanksgiving I will give him a call and see what he is going to do on this matter that is now 5 months old and still no properly working fan unit. 

trainman

[RoadPheasant]

Trainman, thanks for your response.  I’ve decided to just buy a replacement for mine and send the original unit back to the factory for repair. 

[Trainman]

I talked with Jason (Oliver service mgr.) yesterday and he has spoken to Maxxfan on our fan that will not operate properly. They suggested that I check in 12v voltage to he fan and make sure it is receiving between 13.7 and 10.9 volts and that there is no voltage drop when the fan goes into lockup mode and can not be controlled again till I remove the 7.5 fuse and reinsert it. I preformed the test on the fan three times and all with the same results, 13.5 voltage and no voltage drop when the fan goes into lockup mode. Do note here that the fan will lockup as soon as it turn on with the remote and and only removing the fuse will clear the fan to start again and then it will only run to a few seconds and then lockup. MaxxAir has told Jason to send another fan board and remote a see if this will fix the problem, it will be the second set as the first set did not take care of the problem, fan still locks up as it did before. There is not much other to replace in the fan other then the motor and MaxxAir said this would probably not be the problem, so we will see if these new parts take care of the problem. I asked for a new fan kit, but Jason said that they couldn't do that, or MaxxAir would have to make the decision on that. I will say here that I'm pretty mechanical minded and this is about as simple as things can go as far as replacing parts, it's plug and play. Will see what happens when the new parts are replaced.

trainman

[Trainman]

13 hours ago, RoadPheasant said:

Trainman, thanks for your response.  I’ve decided to just buy a replacement for mine and send the original unit back to the factory for repair. 

Probably not a bad idea, I hope MaxxAir will just send you a new fan, as most things like that are just replaced and not repaired. Buy your fan from someone who offers and extended service policy, looks like you will probably need it. Walmart has a no questions asked return policy, I bet they have no problems getting their money back from MaxxAir. 

trainman

[Patriot]

On 12/4/2019 at 10:14 AM, Trainman said:

I talked with Jason (Oliver service mgr.) yesterday and he has spoken to Maxxfan on our fan that will not operate properly. They suggested that I check in 12v voltage to he fan and make sure it is receiving between 13.7 and 10.9 volts and that there is no voltage drop when the fan goes into lockup mode and can not be controlled again till I remove the 7.5 fuse and reinsert it. I preformed the test on the fan three times and all with the same results, 13.5 voltage and no voltage drop when the fan goes into lockup mode. Do note here that the fan will lockup as soon as it turn on with the remote and and only removing the fuse will clear the fan to start again and then it will only run to a few seconds and then lockup. MaxxAir has told Jason to send another fan board and remote a see if this will fix the problem, it will be the second set as the first set did not take care of the problem, fan still locks up as it did before. There is not much other to replace in the fan other then the motor and MaxxAir said this would probably not be the problem, so we will see if these new parts take care of the problem. I asked for a new fan kit, but Jason said that they couldn't do that, or MaxxAir would have to make the decision on that. I will say here that I'm pretty mechanical minded and this is about as simple as things can go as far as replacing parts, it's plug and play. Will see what happens when the new parts are replaced.

trainman

Trainman,

Did you get this issue resolved? Did the new parts work? Any updates? I had the exact same problem with a Max Air fan on a smaller camper. Ours shut down and beeped a few times waking us up out of a deep sleep. The dealer replaced the board and it fixed the problem. Hopefully yours will get resolved as well.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Patriot

[Trainman]

On 1/30/2020 at 5:29 AM, Patriot said:

Trainman,

Did you get this issue resolved? Did the new parts work? Any updates? I had the exact same problem with a Max Air fan on a smaller camper. Ours shut down and beeped a few times waking us up out of a deep sleep. The dealer replaced the board and it fixed the problem. Hopefully yours will get resolved as well.

Yes, Oliver sent me a complete new MaxxFan Kit, installed it and all works as it should, this was after two board replacement that did not fix the problem. The problem was not in the fans PC board, but somewhere in the motor, etc., or some other electronic device in the fan. I sent back the old unit and hope Jason can let me know what they find what was the problem, would be interesting to know.

trainman