A Happy Accident

I picked up my new Maxxair roof vent yesterday. As I was checking out what was in the box to make sure nothing was damaged, I noticed a couple of things I hadn’t expected. One was a remote control. To save money, I’d decided to buy another fan with manual controls, not the fancy automatic one I’d wanted to install in the back of the van so I don’t have to climb over the bed to operate it anymore. On the fan itself, twisting the knob to manually open the vent made the distinct sound of an electric motor being turned by hand. I’d ended up with the automatic one anyway.

I’m not sure how this happened. Amazon takes so long to deliver things these days (I ordered this two weeks ago) that I can’t remember exactly which link I clicked in my wish list, where I had both stored. It’s also possible that I bought a scratch-and-dent version, which an excellent tape job and special stickers on the box indicate this is. Maybe I found an automatic one discounted to the same price as the manual one? Going back through my orders isn’t telling me what I paid, and only links back to the full-priced $300 automatic model. But regardless of how I got it, I got what I’d actually wanted in the first place.

I tested my theory that all of the mounting hardware is identical. By removing four screws and clipping the two wires, I took out my manual fan, then installed the new one. It fits perfectly. I spliced the old wires to the new fan, put batteries in the remote control, and everything just works. The replacement took about five minutes. Immediately, I have a functioning automatic fan mode again, which is why I bought the second fan in the first place. Plus, with the remote control, I can adjust the fan and open or shut the vent all the way from the front seat, or anywhere else inside the van.

This also means that my old manual fan will fit perfectly into the mounting hardware that came with the new fan. The manual controls will be within easy reach at the front of the roof I’m not quite ready to install it yet, though. I need to buzz around town and pick up some Dicor sealant. I also want to thoroughly clean the old fan while it’s out of the van and more accessible than ever.

The A-Team said it best.