The wind gusts persisted into the early afternoon yesterday, so I scrapped my bike ride plan. Instead, I completed a task I’ve been putting off. Once I got started on my project, it was clear that I had put it off for too long.

Like most RVs, our coach is equipped with roof vents. We have fans that draw fresh air through an open window and circulate it up to the ceiling and out the vent. Ours are made by a company called Fan-Tastic Vent. It uses a 12-inch, 10-blade rotary fan with a three-speed 12-volt motor to draw maximum airflow with minimum noise through the ceiling vent. By leaving a window slightly open on the shaded side of the coach, a continuous supply of fresh, cooler air is circulated. It can drop the interior temperature of the coach by 10 degrees or more. The vents have screens on the inside to keep mosquitoes and other insects out. On the outside, it has a cover that opens when the fan is in use. Most of the Fan-Tastic Vents have rain sensors. If it detects water, it closes the cover and turns off the fan. We have rain sensors, but we also have Maxxair vent covers on our coach. It’s a belt-and-suspenders approach.

We have two of these Fan-Tastic Vents – one in the galley and one in the bathroom. The one in the galley also serves to draw smoke out of the interior when Donna is cooking. Over time, an oily film builds up on the galley fan and dust sticks to the screen and fan blades. The one in the bathroom also collects dust, but it isn’t sticky. It’s more like the lint you find in a clothes dryer screen. Donna vacuums the screens, but the galley fan gets too sticky and eventually the bathroom fan also collects a fair amount of stubborn dust the vacuum cleaner can’t remove.

Yesterday I removed the eight screws holding the screens in place on each of the vents. I was surprised to find how dirty the screens and fan blades were.

Dust covered screen

I washed the screens with a mixture of Simple Green and water. Then I used a step stool to wash the fan blades with a microfiber cloth and the Simple Green mixture.

Dust clings to the galley fan blades

The dust clinging to the fan blades was stubborn, but they cleaned up nicely.

Screen clean as new again

After I reassembled the vent screens, the fans seem quieter than before. It’s one of those insidious things – the dust collects slowly and you don’t really notice the slight increase in noise and drop in efficiency over time. This will have to become a quarterly maintenance item.

Donna decided to keep the rental car for an additional day and went grocery shopping in the afternoon. When she returned, I took the car over to Red, White and Brew to wet my whistle and discuss the New England Patriots Deflategate scandal. We’ll return the rental car today.

We don’t have any wind this morning. Maybe I’ll get my bike out today.