Maxxfan experts ?

Bobbydaisy

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My Maxxfan suddenly stopped working, had it running almost continuously over the last 3 weeks , other than when we were moving between sites or visiting places.
Looked like it had blown a fuse but when I checked them they were ok.
On replacing the main fuse I took the feed from to the fan , I noticed a small arc meaning some sort of load or possibly some component discharging in the Maxxfan. After this the fan runs ok again. The classic switch it off and switch it on again.
Anyone know if there is circuitry within the fan to switch off in certain conditions ( ie: max runtime or high temp shutdown? )
It’s been scorchingly hot here , high 20’s everyday but thought these were American made for the desert or Death Valley temperatures 😀.
Any help or suggestions greatly received.😉. Fitted in a 21 plate Ducato PVC.
 
My Maxxfan suddenly stopped working, had it running almost continuously over the last 3 weeks , other than when we were moving between sites or visiting places.
Looked like it had blown a fuse but when I checked them they were ok.
On replacing the main fuse I took the feed from to the fan , I noticed a small arc meaning some sort of load or possibly some component discharging in the Maxxfan. After this the fan runs ok again. The classic switch it off and switch it on again.
Anyone know if there is circuitry within the fan to switch off in certain conditions ( ie: max runtime or high temp shutdown? )
It’s been scorchingly hot here , high 20’s everyday but thought these were American made for the desert or Death Valley temperatures 😀.
Any help or suggestions greatly received.😉. Fitted in a 21 plate Ducato PVC.
The Maxxfan had a design issue where if the voltage was too high (I don't know off-hand what "too high" actually is, but it is within normal battery charge voltage range), the controller can burn out/fail.
The later ones (and sorry, don't know the cut over dates) have that resolved.
Your description of the fault suggests that is the problem? maybe partly failed? one way to avoid this on the older units is to fit a voltage regulator, but I think you should be able to get this fixed FOC due to design issue.
 
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Does it work on low fan settings OK or does it switch off on any setting?

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The Maxxfan had a design issue where if the voltage was too high (I don't know off-hand what "too high" actually is, but it is within normal battery charge voltage range), the controller can burn out/fail.
The later ones (and sorry, don't know the cut over dates) have that resolved.
Your description of the fault suggests that is the problem? maybe partly failed? one way to avoid this on the older units is to fit a voltage regulator, but I think you should be able to get this fixed FOC due to design issue.
Ah , now that makes sense to me , it’s is working ok now at the moment, will check out the serial number and see if I can confirm what batch it is in , maybe a new control board is needed? It was purchased only a couple of months ago but could have been on a shelf for a while. Many thanks for the help.
 
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Ah , now that makes sense to me , it’s is working ok now at the moment, will check out the serial number and see if I can confirm what batch it is in , maybe a new control board is needed? It was purchased only a couple of months ago but could have been on a shelf for a while. Many thanks for the help.
Did a search ( try something like "Maxxair voltage issue") and it looks like been a known problem for a while so anything fairly new should have been sorted, but maybe yours was 'new old stock'?
The max voltage is apparently only 13.9V, which is much too low really.
Looking at one of the threads, there is a comment saying a rep from Maxxair said "The Boards can get kinda wonky at higher voltages", which does sound like what you had.

The fans are very clever (I fitted one in my last van and it was brilliant! The only reason I don't have one now is I can't physically fit the cowling on the roof) and I wonder if the high voltage doesn't cause a permanent fault but confuses the control circuitry going by the "wonky" comment?

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Not sure , it’s was on high fan drawing out .
Is your wiring adequate? .
Original wiring supply for my fan was supposed to be 11a , but not I dont think it was up to the job. Fan worked OK in UK before we left on a trip to Spain. Also worked fine when it was cool in Spain. However as the temperatures increased and we ramped up the fan, it started cutting out. I did some checks of teh voltage and came to a conclusion the cables couldnt cope with the load. Swapped wiring last week & it seems OK now. I do have a control unit to fit as well if it plays up again.
 
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Did a search ( try something like "Maxxair voltage issue") and it looks like been a known problem for a while so anything fairly new should have been sorted, but maybe yours was 'new old stock'?
The max voltage is apparently only 13.9V, which is much too low really.
Looking at one of the threads, there is a comment saying a rep from Maxxair said "The Boards can get kinda wonky at higher voltages", which does sound like what you had.

The fans are very clever (I fitted one in my last van and it was brilliant! The only reason I don't have one now is I can't physically fit the cowling on the roof) and I wonder if the high voltage doesn't cause a permanent fault but confuses the control circuitry going by the "wonky" comment?
Brilliant thanks , yeah kinda wonky sums it up 😆 Will check it out when back home , working ok just now so hopefully not a permanent issue but will chase up on warranty ( if I can as I guess it’s a newer one but will check out via serial number) for spare board to cover all the angles . Thanks again 😉
 
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Is your wiring adequate? .
Original wiring supply for my fan was supposed to be 11a , but not I dont think it was up to the job. Fan worked OK in UK before we left on a trip to Spain. Also worked fine when it was cool in Spain. However as the temperatures increased and we ramped up the fan, it started cutting out. I did some checks of teh voltage and came to a conclusion the cables couldnt cope with the load. Swapped wiring last week & it seems OK now. I do have a control unit to fit as well if it plays up again.
I wired it in 2.5mm flexible , at approx 3m length , the volt drop is within limits for a dc circuit , will check via multimeter at different speeds to see if there is an issue , maybe bad joint but everything was soldered and covered in heat shrink when I installed it but you never know , been in the high 20’s most days 😎, thanks for the info 😉
 
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Just check the obvious..... I accidentally selected NO fan position as opposed to IN or OUT - baffled me for an hour!
The temperature activation knob came loose on one of mine and so when trying to encourage the fan to spin at certain temperature I was moving the knob but the mechanism/switch underneath wasn't actually moving - blob of glue and sorted.
 
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