13. More airflow.

 This was one of those jobs that I thought "This will take no time", and then it takes all afternoon. It was hot, and inside the van was hotter. So I decided to install my second fan/vent. This one goes in the wetroom ceiling (even though the wetroom doesn't even exist yet!), and is called a MaxxAir Dome. It's a cute little pop out fan/vent unit, but unlike the MaxxAir Deluxe I installed down the other end of the van in the bunk area, this one only vents outwards (although it can be used passively in either direction, just be leaving it open).

Step one was to drill in the ceiling where I wanted the centre to be. I used a really long brad point drill bit, and went right through the ceiling, insulation and outer fibreglass in once pass.

Here it is popping up through the roof. Next I used a 6.25" hole saw bit to cut through the fibreglass, using my hole as a guide.

That's the insulation you can see in there. Once I pulled the fibreglass disc out of the hole saw, I drilled through the insulation.

Once again I cleared the hole saw of waste material, then I cut through the ceiling.

We're in! Here's a look from the inside:

Note the air gap between the insulation and the fibreglass roof. Next I had to fit a tube that connects the outer parts of the fan to the inner parts. It was about 1.5 cm's too long, so I trimmed it with an angle grinder and test fit it in the hole.

Once it was situated where I wanted it, I surrounded it with butyl tape on the outside, to fill in the valley the tube sits in.

Then I added Sikaflex 221 sealand/adhesive, screwed the outer part into the roof, then covered everything in more Sikaflex.

This last pic was taken when I was adding Sikaflex, I cleaned it up a bit afterwards. It was still a messy job though. Somehow I had lost the nozzle that came with this fresh tube of Sikaflex, so I had to just squeeze it out the hole in the end in big globs, and... it was no fun at all. Still, once it dries it will be a very solid and well adhered unit. So although it won't win any beauty contests, it will do the job I need it to just fine.

The light ring and switch unit was dead on arrival. I reached out to MaxxAir and explained in a video what was wrong, and they sent me a whole brand new unit. I couldn't believe it, it was such excellent customer service. I opened up the broken light (the fan worked great), and removed the COB LED lighting strips, and replaced them with some I had lying around from the bunk area. This new strip was warm white. Once I put the unit back together it worked perfectly.

Time to install the one I got for free!

Same steps to make the hole. I forgot that the roof has those corrugations when I was drilling up from the inside, so as you can see I hit one, which means the outside unit doesn't have a level surface to screw into. I ran out of daylight, so I threw a bucket over the hole for the night.

I roughly cut out 2 pieces of scrap plywood, put wood glue between them, and clamped them together with screws.

Once it dried I removed the screws, hung it outside and sealed it with clear coat.

It has to be the ugliest thing I have ever made, but the whole thing will be buried in silicone, so it doesn't have to look nice.

After the clear coat dried I put it in place, and was happy with the fitment. I could then add the dome, drill through the roof, and screw them all down together.

That was the test fit.

All screwed down firmly.

Buried in silicone (I did a better job this time, but it's still ugly). There is a tiny ring of ply visible right now, so once this silicone dries I will add some to cover that plywood lip, and that's the outside done.

The plastic shaft is a little too long (everyone's roof is different). So I marked the difference I will need to remove.

Oscillating cutters were absolutely made for jobs like this. Super easy. I cleaned up the new lip of the tube using a pair of scissors as a scraper.

Then I screwed in the second light ring.

As you can see I've made a mess of the ceiling slats around the lights. I will be adding framing around the edges and then securing them firmly in place, then using a thin waterproof plastic for the ceiling in this wetroom area. So despite appearances, everything will turn out great. Because I replaced the LED's in one of the units, one light has warm white light, and the new one has bright white. I actually wanted this, so if I'm having a vibey shower I can use just the warm white one. Then if I'm shaving or doing something where I need more light intensity, I can switch on the new bright one.

I'll leave this entry here- we have fans and lights in the wetroom! I will hide the wiring and button up the light ring install in the wetroom post, which hasn't happened yet.

See you next time!