Help with a vent fan please

[Ediggity]

Hi… 2009 Four Winds Windsport 34B. We are full-time in our RV now and need to create some airflow. I currently have a vent in my kitchen/living room that does NOT have a fan in it - I want to replace it with a MaxxAir.
I removed the cover from the inside and I was happy to see wires… But instead of the normal two wires, I have FOUR wires. I’ve read hundreds of posts about this and I have not come across one with four wires. I am getting no reading on the wires 110 or 12V. I tried tracing them back to my 12 V panel but I don’t believe they go there.
My ceiling lights are all on a main switch so I can’t pull from those power sources. I have no other power source nearby.

Does anyone have any idea what these four wires are or where they lead to? These look like 12 V wires to me… Not stiff Romex. Colors are:
- white
- yellow
- red with blue line
- Blue with red line
As you can see the white and yellow wires are taped together and the red and blue wires are taped together as well.

Any ideas, help, or wiring diagrams are appreciated. THANK YOU MUCH!

[The Gritz Carlton]

It could be those wires are a part of the original "generic" wiring harness in case they installed a Maxxair vent/fan assembly offered as an option in the kitchen area. It opens the vent cap and turns on the fan motor at the same time. Mine has that. It may just need a fuse installed at the panel to activate those wires.

[Ediggity]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

It could be those wires are a part of the original "generic" wiring harness in case they installed a Maxxair vent/fan assembly offered as an option in the kitchen area. It opens the vent cap and turns on the fan motor at the same time. Mine has that. It may just need a fuse installed at the panel to activate those wires.

Thanks for the reply. So you are saying you had four wires like this and they led back to your 12 V panel? I took a look and could not see these color wires there… I even pulled out the 12v fuse panel and opened up several of the wire looms that are back there. I do have four or five open spots for fuses in my 12 V panel, but these wires are not back there.

My restroom vent fan uses a white and solid blue wire for that factory installed fan. So I would assume they would use the same color for an upgrade possibility in the kitchen living room. But I can’t find it.

Any other ideas?

[Redsand]

Just a thought here. Those wire pairs may be routed through the switch on the hood fan. They would be energized only when the switch is closed (on). Worth a look see anyway.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Redsand

Just a thought here. Those wire pairs may be routed through the switch on the hood fan. They would be energized only when the switch is closed (on). Worth a look see anyway.

Good point. On ours there are two rocker switches on the bottom of the kitchen cabinets over the sink. One is the lights over that area, the other is for the ceiling fan. BUT... the fan itself has a small rocker switch in it's frame. Both switches must be ON for the fan to work.

Do you have any "unused" switches in the kitchen area? One pair of those wires may be routed to that area for the switch... the other pair for power. Just a thought...

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Ediggity

Hi… 2009 Four Winds Windsport 34B. We are full-time in our RV now and need to create some airflow. I currently have a vent in my kitchen/living room that does NOT have a fan in it - I want to replace it with a MaxxAir.
I removed the cover from the inside and I was happy to see wires… But instead of the normal two wires, I have FOUR wires. I’ve read hundreds of posts about this and I have not come across one with four wires. I am getting no reading on the wires 110 or 12V. I tried tracing them back to my 12 V panel but I don’t believe they go there.
My ceiling lights are all on a main switch so I can’t pull from those power sources. I have no other power source nearby.

Does anyone have any idea what these four wires are or where they lead to? These look like 12 V wires to me… Not stiff Romex. Colors are:
- white
- yellow
- red with blue line
- Blue with red line
As you can see the white and yellow wires are taped together and the red and blue wires are taped together as well.

Any ideas, help, or wiring diagrams are appreciated. THANK YOU MUCH!

Maybe there was an option to install a vent fan with a wall control for temp. Could be those wires go to the location where the wall control would be installed. Hopefully someone with a model like yours that has the factory installed fan will respond. You might consider purchasing a wire tracer. They come in handy for finding where wires are routed.

https://tinyurl.com/243vexnj

[Ediggity]

Good ideas. One of them going to a range hood seems plausible. My RV came with a convection microwave, no range hood... and no exterior vent. But it is possible the wires are behind the microwave. I replaced it about a year ago, and I don't recall seeing additional 12v wires back there. but I guess they could be in the wall. Hmmm...

And there are no switch plates or mystery switches anywhere in the kitchen or living room... so I think that's a dead end. Unless the wires are sitting behind the paneling somewhere... which is useless for me. I'll pull some switch plates and see if these wires are back there.

Thanks for the help... i might just need to try and find another way to route power to this vent. A shame since the wires are right there!

[Redsand]

I would consider a call or email to Thor and ask for some help. I know it's a long shot but maybe you get lucky and get the right person to help.

[The Gritz Carlton]

I haven't pulled mine apart to see the colors up there but I do know there are two separate power supplies. One for the fan and the other for the vent cap opening. They must be tied into the wall switch as it will allow both functions to operate at the same time. As mentioned...the right CS rep at Thor can probably help. A good dealer technician might be able to help also. Last resort, call the factory service center and beg for help there also. They know these coaches very well and might put a tech on the phone with you that can explain it.

[Ediggity]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

I haven't pulled mine apart to see the colors up there but I do know there are two separate power supplies. One for the fan and the other for the vent cap opening. They must be tied into the wall switch as it will allow both functions to operate at the same time. As mentioned...the right CS rep at Thor can probably help. A good dealer technician might be able to help also. Last resort, call the factory service center and beg for help there also. They know these coaches very well and might put a tech on the phone with you that can explain it.

OK... Man, I hate calling these places. As nice as I am, I have the worst luck getting any info.

This motorhome was made by Four Winds... 2009. Not sure if that matters.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Ediggity

OK... Man, I hate calling these places. As nice as I am, I have the worst luck getting any info.

This motorhome was made by Four Winds... 2009. Not sure if that matters.

Thor Industries has owned Four Winds since 1992. Thor MC was formed by Thor Industries in 2010. Thor plant 150 (the old Four Winds class C plant) still produces the small 2 wheel drive, gas class C motor homes.

[JeffThor325]

I think Redsand and Chateau_Nomad nailed it. I have a 1995 Thor class A and the light and vent above my mid-coach kitchen area each have both a local switch and are also controlled by a switch along the side of a cabinet just inside the door. Positions may move over the years and with different models, but there seems to be a theme with having this one central light/vent set be remotely "controlled" (switched).

[Mr Sunshine]

When I added a Fantastic fan to my 2016 Vegas, there were wires there when I removed the manual vent.. Since there was power to them and no switch, i bought a fan with remote. No idea where those wires came from, just know the fan worked when I connected it.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Thor Industries has owned Four Winds since 1992. Thor MC was formed by Thor Industries in 2010. Thor plant 150 (the old Four Winds class C plant) still produces the small 2 wheel drive, gas class C motor homes.

The same structure applies to nearly all "big" corporations. General Motors, Thor Industries, General Electric, etc. A "parent" corporation ultimately controls the purse, and dictates the who, what, why and where a particular widget is produced. It's called a "parent" for a reason - it's where the "buck stops"...

It's why even back in the 1980s it was common to find Audi parts under the hood on Volkswagens. The father of a LONG ago girlfriend of mine used to play that game... he had a parent corp. with several other rather small manufacturing companies - but if you didn't know better you would have thought they were unconnected... although HE wrote ALL the checks.

Just like GM puts a different label (Corvette, Cadillac, onStar - even GM Financial) on it's (shrinking) product line - it's STILL tightly dictated/controlled/manufactured by General Motors.

In the end, the final word comes back to the parent - just like a family with kids. There's plenty of evidence of corporations (and families) who let their children have too much leeway... So you can bet that those corporate "children" are on a short leash when it comes to their operations.

On that note... the wiring harness most likely follows a common Thor Motorcoach design/layout found in "sister" motorhomes with a different logo.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

The same structure applies to nearly all "big" corporations. General Motors, Thor Industries, General Electric, etc. A "parent" corporation ultimately controls the purse, and dictates the who, what, why and where a particular widget is produced. It's called a "parent" for a reason - it's where the "buck stops"...

It's why even back in the 1980s it was common to find Audi parts under the hood on Volkswagens. The father of a LONG ago girlfriend of mine used to play that game... he had a parent corp. with several other rather small manufacturing companies - but if you didn't know better you would have thought they were unconnected... although HE wrote ALL the checks.

Just like GM puts a different label (Corvette, Cadillac, onStar - even GM Financial) on it's (shrinking) product line - it's STILL tightly dictated/controlled/manufactured by General Motors.

In the end, the final word comes back to the parent - just like a family with kids. There's plenty of evidence of corporations (and families) who let their children have too much leeway... So you can bet that those corporate "children" are on a short leash when it comes to their operations.

On that note... the wiring harness most likely follows a common Thor Motorcoach design/layout found in "sister" motorhomes with a different logo.

How was the breakfast bar at that Holiday Inn Express you stayed at last night?

[Ediggity]

Hi… Not sure what these last couple posts are about, but anyway… I wanted to put up a reply here in case anyone else lands here that has the same RV. I ended up looking behind my main control unit for the RV where my AC, water tank, slide outs, and all systems are located for my RV. After some digging I found the 4 wires in there and checked for continuity… and sure enough, those are the wires. They were not hooked up to anything so I connected to power, put a fuse in place and everything is working now. Yay!

Here’s a pic of the control panel and final install done. Thanks for the help guys! This fan does move a good amount of air and I’ve also put the reflectix insulation material in all the windows… It’s dropped the temperature inside the RV at least 10 degrees. Wife is happy!

[Ediggity]

Nothing special… but pictures here.

[16ACE27]

Looks factory! Way to persevere.

[Redsand]

Good for you. Mystery solved and happy wife to boot. Nice install to be proud of.

Your posts got me thinking about a fan vent I have above the cabover bed. My rig is older and first thing I noticed when we brought it home was the fan didn't work. I wound up removing the whole inside unit only to discover wires going nowhere. The previous owner must have replaced the whole original vent with the fan model. Some day I may decide to power it up. By comparison your project was simple. Imagine if ya had no wires to start? Like they say better to be lucky than good any time.

[JeffThor325]

On a semi-related note, everybody talks about Maxxair vent fans. I have a 14" Maxxair, two 14" Hike Crew, and an 11" Hike Crew fan. Both brands move a similar amount of air, both are reversible, both are super quiet. But the Hike Crew fans are almost 10% cheaper and seem more durable.

I like my Maxxair, but it has overly sophisticated electronics that I fear are just going to be a source of the fan quitting working at some point. I do know for certain before I replaced my entire power control center that the Maxxair was super finicky about power. It would not start up using inverted 12V power. Only native 12V. Once it was running, I could switch on the power converter and it would continue running but if I wanted to turn it on when it wasn't already running, or reverse direction, I'd have to shut off the power converter first. (That issue went away after I ditched the 26 year old 30A power center and replaced it with a new WSCo 55A power center.) The Hike Crew fans were not as picky.