Slowing down a FantasticVent

[shoeman]

Got a question for the electrical wizards here. How can I slow the speed down on my Fantastic Vent fan? Even at the lowest setting it moves way more air than I need and is really too noisy for sleeping. I'm thinking a resistor in the DC+ feed, but have no idea if that is a good idea or what resistance to use. The fan is labeled as either 25 or 27 watts, I forget exactly which right now. Of course it's 12v too.
Any thoughts?

Geoff

[halfdome, Danny]

If you open your windows and curtains all the way it will to reduce the resistance and lower the noise level. We only run the Fantasticfan in the exhaust position. We use a sleeping bag to regulate how cool we want to be. Danny

[Toytaco2]

I'm still in the building stage. Last weekend I ran my wires and hooked up the fan and lights just to make sure everything works so far. Like you, I thought the Fantastic Fan was pretty loud and fast, even on the lowest setting. At the time I thought it was mostly due to no roof insulation or roof skin yet. No doors are installed yet and the front window is still not installed. It would be nice to slow it down a bit and make things a little quieter.

[shoeman]

Yeah, it's designed to move a lot of air through RV's and bigger rigs than we are messing with, so it's really overkill for a tear. There must be a way to slow the revs down.
I've had the windows wide open as Danny suggested but it's still not enough.
I'm thinking slow like a ceiling fan here. As delivered the lowest setting is more like a bathroom vent fan... too fast.

[mikeschn]

The Northern Breeze has a slide control on it, and one can get it running nice and slow.

Of course, I don't have a Northern Breeze handy right now. I just swiped the fantastic fan out of the Escape Hatch, and if you guys can tell me how to slow it down, I'll use it, other wise, I'll be looking for another Northern Breeze.



Mike...

[Mary K]

Yeah, it does move some air. What about a dimmer switch?

Mk

[Steve_Cox]

Classic truck part. A heater fan rheostat would do nicely, and you won't loose any high speed from fixed resistors, just in case you want to exhaust the air quickly because of too much campfire chili.

[mikeschn]

Where do I get this "heater fan rheostat"? What do I ask for?

Mike...

Classic truck part. A heater fan rheostat would do nicely, and you won't loose any high speed from fixed resistors, just in case you want to exhaust the air quickly because of too much campfire chili.

[Steve_Cox]

Found one on Ebay. Fan switch

[Dean_A]

Ohmite has a great selection of rheostats, along with matching hardware (knobs and such). They also have a good PDF on rheostat selection.
http://www.ohmite.com/

It shouldn't be too much trouble to rig up an extra knob on the fan. Here's a good photo of one of Ohmite's rheostats sold as a computer fan controller:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/sirh25wa.html

Let us know how it goes. I have a Fantastic, but I haven't installed it yet.

[planovet]

I was planning on buying a Fantastic Fan soon. Is the fan speed that much of a problem? Is it that loud when you are trying to sleep? Is the Northern Breeze a better fan? Seems a little more expensive to me.

[Larwyn]

I was planning on buying a Fantastic Fan soon. Is the fan speed that much of a problem? Is it that loud when you are trying to sleep? Is the Northern Breeze a better fan? Seems a little more expensive to me.

The three speed Fantastic Fan seems fine to me. But then I slept under one regularly in my 5th wheel, so I may just be more adapted to it (or maybe more deaf...LOL). The one in my TD actually seems quieter and probably is, I know it is a newer model. The rheostats discussed above would be okay if you really need to slow it down, if you use a rheostat, be sure to leave clearance around it, they can get rather hot. Personally I like my fan the way it is.

[halfdome, Danny]

I was planning on buying a Fantastic Fan soon. Is the fan speed that much of a problem? Is it that loud when you are trying to sleep? Is the Northern Breeze a better fan? Seems a little more expensive to me.

We've had a Fantastic fan in two teardrops now and we enjoy it very much. The air capacity and sound were never an issue and still arn't. I did notice the fan in our new TD is a bit quieter. The drone of the fan actually puts me to sleep and I stay asleep. Ear plugs should help if your noise sensitive. I'd rather hear the fan than a bunch of noisy campers in the next campsite. Danny

[Mary K]

I was planning on buying a Fantastic Fan soon. Is the fan speed that much of a problem? Is it that loud when you are trying to sleep? Is the Northern Breeze a better fan? Seems a little more expensive to me.

I like my fantastic Fan. It looks good......But I do also wish I could turn the speed down some. I like to have a fan running when I sleep, and on cool nights, on low, it pulls to much air in for me. And it is a little loud. I could wear ear plugs, but I want to beable to hear if something is going on outside the TD in the middle of the night. If ya know what I mean.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone with the Northern Breeze, even if it was more expensive.

Mk

[Steve_Cox]

I too like my FantasticFan just the way it is, the thermostat shuts it off when the temp drops to the desired setting. I might feel different about it though if I lived in Maine.