Replacing a Roof Vent

It was time to replace our original MaxxFan, and the new brushless AirPlus fan looked like a good replacement. One of its selling points is that uses the exact same housing & footprint as the original MaxxFan, so it's just a simple drop-in. I found that to almost be the case. Here's what I did.

I removed the four screws in the bezel of the MaxxFan.

I pulled the excess wire out of the ceiling and checked the polarity. Note that the ceiling material is comprised of fiberglass, and the fibers are very loose and will drive your skin crazy for a few days - - use gloves when dealing with the ceiling panel back here.

On the roof, I removed four screws on the side of the fan that attach the fan assembly to the body of the van.

At this point I was able to lift the fan out of its housing. This white housing is identical between the MaxxFan and the AirPlus, allowing the new fan to be a drop-in. I just reused the housing, so no adhesive or cutting was required.

The lid of the AirPlus extends about .5" further forward than the MaxxFan, so for vans with tight tolerances, this can be a problem. In my case, it was impeded by a slat on my roof rack, so I had to cut the slat out of the way. Bummer.

I replaced the 4 screws in identical locations, attaching the AirPlus to the van again.

I used butt connectors for the power leads. In my 2018 Revel, yellow is positive, and I attached it to the fan's red wire.

I connected the three other harnesses from the interior touch panel to the fan itself. They are all different sizes, so it's not possible to do this wrong.

The last step is to attach the internal touch panel to the ceiling of the van with four screws. Fortunately, Winnebago had a solid wood frame in place for the MaxxFan, so I just reused that. I found that overtightening the screws caused the fan to have difficulties lifting the lid, so I backed the torque off, and it worked fine.

This fan has LEDs that are not overly bright.

It also has a built-in shade, which is nice, but note that you can no longer remove the screen (and blade) for cleaning. This is definitely suboptimal, in my opinion.

Eight years with the old fan has caused indentations and screw holes from the MaxxFan, and they are now exposed with the AirPlus. It would be nice if there were a trim plate or flange available for this.

All in all, it has some nice features and feels like a step forward from a design that is probably 30-40 years old (MaxxFan). However, it won't be easy to clean, and seems to be even more reliant on the remote control than the MaxxFan was.

April 25, 2026

Replacing the Glycol Pump

Our Espar heating system suddenly started acting strangely, and when we checked the error codes, we found that it was overheating (error code 14). After diagnosing the problem with Jim Rixen, we found that the upgraded glycol pump from 2020 (with the rotating speed dial on the back) was failing. Rixen said that they've been seeing a fair number of these units fail, and they sent me a new one under warranty. The job in front of me was to drain the glycol out of the system and change the pump.

The Revel's heating system requires Dexcool in a 60/40 ratio, but Jim Rixen said that 50/50 is fine, so I bought a 50/50 solution from Prestone at a regular auto parts store. The system holds a little less than 2 gallons, so I bought 2 of these jugs.

Rixen suggested that I simply loosen one of the hoses going to the Espar furnace and let it trickle into a bucket. This was easy, not messy, and took about 45 minutes.

Since we rotated our dinette seat and have a RoamRig system, it left the side with the pump accessible from behind the driver's seat. I removed the side of the dinette bench, loosened the glycol tank, and rotated it to access the blue glycol pump.

I cut the wires going to the old pump, loosened the clamps, and removed the pump from the two hoses connected to it. There was only a little glycol in the old pump, so a few paper towels cleaned it all up. The new pump is on the left in these pictures, and you can see the black speed dial on the 2020 pump on the right.

The new pump is a 2-speed, and since I have a Revel that with an engine heat exchanger (longer distances to push glycol), Rixen recommended that I put the new pump on high speed. This apparently draws about another amp of power. Instructions show how to wire the pump.

Handy Wago connectors make it very easy to splice into the system - - lift the little lever, insert wire, close lever. Here you can see the white wire joining the brown ones, so this is configured for high speed.

Putting the hoses back on the new pump was difficult, but a heat gun softened the hoses enough to make them pliable. I tightened all the clamps, put the reservoir tank in place, and poured about 2 gallons of glycol into the reservoir (using a funnel). Rixen said that the pump is powerful enough to push all the air bubbles through the line, which it did, and the heater is now functioning properly again.

27-February-2024

Clotheslines in the Revel

We frequently have some wet gear to dry at night and can't leave it outside. I recently added some shock cords to the underside of the bathroom shelves for hanging this wet gear.

I went with 1/8" shock cord, but could also have gone with 1/4". The shock cord terminals seem like they could work on 1/8" or 1/4" shock cord.

2023-November

Bed Motor Cover

I finally removed the cover from beneath the bed in order to free up more space. 

I used a piece of the bed cover to shield the motor.

I also added some hardwired LED strips to the underside of the bed for proper lighting, since the 2018 Revel didn't have any.

I also added the Bed Head Bumper from CAVans to soften the blow.

2023 July

Acrylic Mirror

We've sometimes needed a larger mirror in the van, so I recently purchased these small, self-adhesive acrylic mirrors and installed them on the inside of the bathroom door. They seem to work well.

01 November 2022

Door Organizer

This product from Canyon Adventure Vans ("The Doorganizer") works well on the rear doors for small items. It was an easy 15-minute installation, and is handy for items that I frequently need from the rear of the van.

7-June-2022

Outdoor Shower Curtain

We prefer to use the outdoor shower when we can, and occasionally we're in a place where we need to have a shower curtain. After disastrous jerry-rigged tarp & magnet contraptions, I decided to buy this nice outdoor shower curtain from Vannon.com. It installs in about 10 minutes with a few small pilot holes in the plastic on the rear doors, and fits perfectly. It's well-made, and requires about 30 seconds to set up and take down.

It requires two small holes in each door for the twist fasteners.

It has a shock cord for maintaining tension and flexing with the doors.

It uses a magnetic strap on each door to keep the bottom of the curtain from blowing around.

A view from inside the shower area.

27-April-2022 

Shower Head Replacement

The time came to replace the stock shower head, and based on numerous Revel reviews, we selected this one. It works well, but uses a bit more water than the original unit that Winnebago installed.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have the right fittings to match the van's quick release fixture, so I had to cobble the parts together to make it work.  To do this, I used these two items:

• Male to male connector
• Female Quick Connect fitting (removed from the spout)

It resulted in this compact and sturdy fitting that works well and doesn't leak.

13-March-2022

Wind Speed Gauge (Anemometer)

We frequently camp in places where winds and storms come up quickly, and are always curious to know the wind speeds during those events. After looking around for a simple solution, I found the La Crosse 327-1414BW Wind Speed Station that works pretty well for us. 

The wind sensor (anemometer) is not suitable for traveling on the roof of the van, so I permanently mounted its mast on the roof, and then mount the sensor on the mast when I want to use it. The mast is a black steel broom handle, cut to size, and then mounted in a black aluminum flag pole holder. I fold the mast down when traveling, then erect it when we're in camp.

The sensor/anemometer is battery-operated, so I put the batteries in it when I want to use it, and take them out when I don't. (I've looked into adding a switch, but found that it's probably more trouble than simply taking the batteries in and out.) I added a small thumbscrew for quick & easy attachment.

The wind station itself is also battery-operated, without an on/off switch, so in order to save battery life when I'm not using it, I built a no-solder battery interrupter and attached it to a simple external switch. 

We decided that it should reside near the rest of the instrument cluster in the dinette area, so I mounted it to a folding under cabinet TV mount, and attached that to the bottom of the dinette cabinet. It's about the perfect size, and folds away when we're not using it.

It's admittedly kind of unusual looking, but it works well!

11-Feb-2022