Bathroom Exhaust Fan Power
- Thread starter rpotter
- Start date
taskswap
Well-known member
Every circuit will have a fuse, so that's a good first thing to check. It can be frustrating because it may not be well labeled. I personally believe every RV owner should have a cheap DMM in their toolbox - Harbor Freight has one for $8 that would do almost everything an RV owner would need.
Checking fuses is one common task. Some fuse body colors are easier to see through than others. You can usually tell at a glance when a 20A (yellow) fuse is blown because it's easy to see through. The 10A red ones can be harder. So you pull each fuse and check it with the DMM in continuity-tester mode (always remove the fuse first!). Since you don't know for sure which one is for your fan, just do them all one by one. It only takes a minute.
Checking fuses is one common task. Some fuse body colors are easier to see through than others. You can usually tell at a glance when a 20A (yellow) fuse is blown because it's easy to see through. The 10A red ones can be harder. So you pull each fuse and check it with the DMM in continuity-tester mode (always remove the fuse first!). Since you don't know for sure which one is for your fan, just do them all one by one. It only takes a minute.
travelin2
Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
The bathroom fan is 12v. Likely the fan’s power is tied in with other 12v fixtures. Are there others not working ex:lights in the bathroom or hall? In the fuse panel, If a fuse has blown there will be a red fault light next to the bad fuse. The fan’s power switch must be in the on position
I tested every 12 volt fuse in the kitchen fuse panel. All had voltage passing thru them. The bathroom ceiling light, vanity light, shower light all work. They have a thinner white and black wire running to each of them On their own switches. The fan however has 2 white and 2 yellow, much thicker grade wire and no wall switch.
The two yellow wires go directly to the fan, the two white wires go to the small switch on the fan housing and then from the switch to the other side if the fan. To eliminate the switch I tested the white and yellow wires directly and get a phantom voltage of 2.9 volts.
Unfortunately, other than the fuse panel located just inside the 5th wheel entrance door I cannot find any other fuses to check. I am not sure if heartland buried an inline fuse somewhere else in the unit. 🙄.
I also looked in the battery compartment and didn’t find anything. Checked all breakers and they are fine. Very frustrating.
I could run a connection from the bathroom ceiling light to the fan but then the fan would only work when the ceiling light is on. Also the ceiling light is a much thinner grade wire, not that the fan would draw much power.
Everything else in the 5th wheel appears to be working including the fantastic exhaust fan in the kitchen ceiling. i will call heartland customer service and see if they can tell me the source location of the two white and two white wires.
thanks everyone. I will respond with an update once I determine a fix.
The two yellow wires go directly to the fan, the two white wires go to the small switch on the fan housing and then from the switch to the other side if the fan. To eliminate the switch I tested the white and yellow wires directly and get a phantom voltage of 2.9 volts.
Unfortunately, other than the fuse panel located just inside the 5th wheel entrance door I cannot find any other fuses to check. I am not sure if heartland buried an inline fuse somewhere else in the unit. 🙄.
I also looked in the battery compartment and didn’t find anything. Checked all breakers and they are fine. Very frustrating.
I could run a connection from the bathroom ceiling light to the fan but then the fan would only work when the ceiling light is on. Also the ceiling light is a much thinner grade wire, not that the fan would draw much power.
Everything else in the 5th wheel appears to be working including the fantastic exhaust fan in the kitchen ceiling. i will call heartland customer service and see if they can tell me the source location of the two white and two white wires.
thanks everyone. I will respond with an update once I determine a fix.
Any resolution to your issue? Both my bathroom and kitchen Fantastic Fan switches will not open the lid in my 2017 Road Warrior 427. If you manually open the lid the fan motor runs. No power to the switch that raises/lowers the lid. Checked all 12V fuses I can find. Anyone know where the fuses are for the Fantasic Fans?
They sent me a complete wiring schematic of my trailer. It seems when I replaced the fantastic fan in the kitchen ceiling I didn’t reconnect one wire which turned out to connect to the fan in the bathroom. They are both on the same circuit in my trailer. My bathroom fan is a manual ooenin and closing model only. If has a power switch at the fan, none in the wall. The fantastic fan in the kitchen area is only on a single wall switch that has off and several speed settings. When you choose a speed setting it opens the fan lid automatically. Do you have separate switch’s for the fan that opens the lid and controls the fan? I suspect It’s the lid motor in your fans that are not working. Although 2 at once gives me pause on that assumption, unless they didn’t happen at the same time.
Both my bathroom and bedroom have switches (see attached photo) that open/close the vent lid. There is a separate switch up on the fan ceiling enclosure that you turn on the fan and control the fan speed. I can manually crank open the lid and the fan runs normally. Both lid opening switches quit working at the same time which makes me think it is fuse somewhere blown and I mentioned the wall switch has no 12V power to the switch on either
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wdk450
Well-known member
Regarding the post about blown 12 volt fuses having a red LED "blown fuse" indicator:
This indicator requires that an electrical load (even a short) PULLING CURRENT be connected to light the LED. If the switch for the 12 volt device is turned OFF, or there is no short BEFORE the switch, or there is a broken wire/connection, the LED won't light for a fault. Also, this LED's miniscule forward current without being lit can cause a high impedance DVM (miniscule testing current needed for voltage sensing) to read good voltage testing at points away from the fusebox. This is a time when a test lamp drawing more current is a better test device than a DVM. The LED actually bridges around the fuse, and a good (intact) fuse will shunt current around the indicator LED keeping it from lighting with a good fuse. If the good fuse is removed (simulating a blown fuse), and the circuit load.
Think of the LED as a blown fuse with circuit current flow indicator.
switched on, the LED should light, testing the LED.
This indicator requires that an electrical load (even a short) PULLING CURRENT be connected to light the LED. If the switch for the 12 volt device is turned OFF, or there is no short BEFORE the switch, or there is a broken wire/connection, the LED won't light for a fault. Also, this LED's miniscule forward current without being lit can cause a high impedance DVM (miniscule testing current needed for voltage sensing) to read good voltage testing at points away from the fusebox. This is a time when a test lamp drawing more current is a better test device than a DVM. The LED actually bridges around the fuse, and a good (intact) fuse will shunt current around the indicator LED keeping it from lighting with a good fuse. If the good fuse is removed (simulating a blown fuse), and the circuit load.
Think of the LED as a blown fuse with circuit current flow indicator.
switched on, the LED should light, testing the LED.
trvljnkeez
Member
I've been trying to find the cause of a similar issue on my '10 Bighorn. My bath vent fan and front AC would go out at times and mysteriously come back on. This also affected the kitchen fantastic fan. I had checked wiring and fuses and all were fine. Today I decided to pull & reset each 12v fuse, since the bath fan is 12v, and the fantastic fan and AC require a 12v input to operate. The fuse marked FANS is fine, but the connector on the circuit board doesn't always make connection - found this with the fans on and pressing the fuse into the connectors. When I let off pressure on the fuse, the fans stopped. Going to have to pull it out and do a little re-soldering.
david-steph2018
Well-known member
Great job finding the issue!!!!!
Can you share the Heartland contact info for getting the wiring schematic. Both my kitchen and bathroom wall switches that control the opening and closing of the lid quit working at the same time, which makes me question both lid motors going bad at the same time...not impossible but not probable! The fan runs when you manually open the lid so it appears the lid motors are on a separate circuit than the fan motors
