Reattaching the fan cover

There were wind advisories all during our week-long trip back from picking up our Noovo in Las Vegas, all through Owens Valley and the mountains. This was my first time driving and this was a ten-foot tall van. It was an exciting drive in all the wrong ways. I was ready for road noise, but I was still surprised by the wind noise. There was a lot of it.

A few weeks later we were back in the Las Vegas area for the Noovo Open House. Wind noise the whole way down, and there were no wind advisories this time.

At a Travel America truck stop, on the way back, Lori noticed something wrong up on the roof. The rounded black rain cap on our MaxAir shower fan was sitting askew. I investigated and it quickly became clear that it wasn’t attached at all, it was just sitting there, somehow not falling off during the drive. We looked for screws but found none, just the black cap.

There was no damage to the black dome, no scratches on the holes where the screws were meant to go, but on the white plastic attachment arm there was, on the near side, a curly stem of plastic that gave me the impression that wherever screw had been there had been removed, with force, and the screw hole was now likely stripped.

Of course, I contacted Noovo and, right away, and they sent a out new fan and scheduled a mobile tech visit to replace the whole thing.

And then I started thinking. Did I really like the way the MaxAir had attached the black cover to the plastic extension arms with those little sheet metal screws? If we put in a new fan, would I feel confident, now that it had blown off once, that it wouldn’t blow off again? No, and no. So I drilled out the hole in the attachment arms and then replaced their design with mine.

If you ever have this problem–and I googled and could find no other examples–then here is one solution:

  1. Remove the screw by unscrewing the four little screws. Cover the drain hole in the shower when you do this so you don’t lose those little screws. Put the screws in small bowl for safekeeping. Finagle the screen out.
  2. If your black dome is not already loose, get a ladder and unscrew the dome. Take the dome with you. You won’t be modifying it, but keep it handy.
  3. The handle is the same part that has the arms that connect to the black dome. You can remove it from inside the van by gently bending the each arm inward which will allow them to clear the the various obstacles.
  4. Since the attachment holes are probably damaged, drill them out. Use the smallest drill bit you can that is as big or very slightly bigger than the existing hole. Don’t drill a giant hole–you want that plastic for strength.
  5. Buy two stainless steel machine screws. I bought M3s, 16mm in length, although in hindsight I’d have preferred just a tad more length.
  6. Buy two stainless bonded sealing washers in the same size as your screw (M3 in my case). A bonded sealing washer is a metal washer with a rubber washer attached to it. The best ones use EPDM, instead of regular rubber.
  7. Buy two stainless nuts, in your screw size, and matching washers, if you are smarter than me and buy slightly longer screws then also buy to stainless washers.
  8. Pro tip: There’s a high probability you will drop and lose one or two of those nuts and one or two of those washers. Maybe buy four of each.
  9. Reinsert the handle into the fan from below.
  10. Go back up on the ladder and take a breath. This may be the frustrating part, especially if you have large fingers like me. The goal here is simple: You put the bonded washer on the screw, insert the screw through the black dome, and screw it into the arm. Put a nut (and, if there is room, a washer, too) on the underside and tighten. Do it again on the far side, where you probably can’t see (I used a mirror). These are tight quarters, so take your time.
  11. Replace the screen using those four tiny screws.
  12. Test the handle, raising and lowering the dome to ensure it seats easily and “locks” properly. Yay, you are done!
Helpful photos
The arm. You would normally hold the handle portion at the bottom, the arms attach to the black dome outside.
Two of the four small screws. Don’t lose them!
The MaxAir solution on the right. A better solution (I think) on the left.
A test run to check fit. If only you could attach them while sitting comfortably at a table!
Don’t over-tighten. You want to compress the EPDM, not crush it.
The underside of the screw (again, on the test run). In my case I had to skip the washer because my screw was a fraction too short and I didn’t want to go back to the hardware store. Plus, I kept dropping and losing them.
The repair, ready-to-roll, with all of the parts and tools at the ready. Note the extra screws and washers. Get extras, it’s a good idea.
Finished and secure and works perfectly.

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering: What about the wind noise? The truth is, as soon as we removed the black dome at that Travel America truck stop, the wind noise vanished. We were a little surprised by how quiet the van was, even on the highway. Once the dome was re-installed it is still quiet. That dome must have been dangling there, attached with one screw, fighting the wind the whole time.