Roof vent/escape hatch

[Mr P]

I'm looking to change my broken roof escape hatches. I'm thinking of a 12 DC vent fan for one, but I'd like to retain the "escape" function of the hole in the ceiling. Has anyone accomplished that? A forum seach turned up nothing...

 

[nikitis]

I think many have thought of doing that but when it came to brass tax no one wanted to engineer a solution. I don't know of a buy solution for that.

People are either sealing them up with spare sheet metal or adding a cover of sheet metal and then cutting a smaller hole which shrinks the hole for a max air fan fit.

The problem is designing something that will seal every time you close it. Also if you could open it, the heaviness of the fan on top could snap back the door unexpectedly or damage your max air fan potentially.

I like to do mods as you are suggesting but even I felt it wasn't worth the time to engineer.

A thought I had was to keep the plastic outer shroud (assuming that is in tact) and take apart the upper lid, remove it, and then hand make a square top cover, (Bend the edges down and weld the corners) so it fits over the outside plastic rim, then adding a handle Your same lid could have a hole cut in the middle and add the fan that way. This is how I would tackle it if I were to do something like this, but I'd still have the concerns of breaking the fan as well when opening it.

 

[Mr P]

Obstacles to that plan are my broken "hinges" and the insecurity of the hatch. But, if I can find new "hinges", and I add "security"....your plan would work. Off to look for hinges...

 

[magnakansas]

There are roof escape hatches that have fans as part of the hatch. There are also roof escape hatches that are clear like a window.

William

 

[Mr. Beefy]

We replaced our roof hatch with a glass see-through unit that is in all other respects the same as the old one. I love it. Exact same functionality/security/ease of installation, but with a tempered glass skylight. We special-ordered it through Unity School Bus Parts. They sent us a form to use to input the required dimensions. Think it took a few weeks to arrive, but it's been a while. I wouldn't do anything different today. If memory serves I think it was a bit pricey though.

As for a fan, we went with a Maxx-Fan. Also wouldn't change that, but it's less work to cut a new hole for it in an unused portion of the roof than it is to skin-over a hatch hole and then cut a new hole. We only had one hatch and a passive vent up front... the passive vent got removed and the maxx-fan installed there.

 

[Mr P]

Which Maxx fan, if you will?

 

[Mr. Beefy]

@Mr P, The 'deluxe' model.

 

[WLDNWALT]

The front hatch opening I used it for a roof mount AC unit and the rear hatch I replaced it for a new replacement hatch. The rear area is the Harley Bay, so I needed to maintain ventilation for that area.
The openings are there so use them for whatever works for you.

 

[Mr P]

There are roof escape hatches that have fans as part of the hatch.

William

Where do I find them?

 

[WLDNWALT]

I purchased a new Escape Hatch from Yancey Brothers.

 

[Bjorkinman]

I installed two max air deluxe fans, but not with the remote control. if you do install them, put a voltage regulator between the fuse and the unit, like a Drok brand from Amazon. These fans are notorious for burning up boards with voltage spikes.

I ended putting emergency exit windows In the back since I removed the roof ones.

 

[Wuzabus]

We replaced our roof hatch with a glass see-through unit that is in all other respects the same as the old one. I love it. Exact same functionality/security/ease of installation, but with a tempered glass skylight. We special-ordered it through Unity School Bus Parts. They sent us a form to use to input the required dimensions. Think it took a few weeks to arrive, but it's been a while. I wouldn't do anything different today. If memory serves I think it was a bit pricey though.

As for a fan, we went with a Maxx-Fan. Also wouldn't change that, but it's less work to cut a new hole for it in an unused portion of the roof than it is to skin-over a hatch hole and then cut a new hole. We only had one hatch and a passive vent up front... the passive vent got removed and the maxx-fan installed there.

That's the exact same thing I am doing with my hatch holes. I wanted the glass tinted ones as well and that is who I went through.. unity bus. Wanted the option for a skylight and ventilation as we drove or sat. Oh yes.. it's pretty pricey..$981 per hatch wit a 8 week back order but I figured it is worth it.. looking at yours...I know it is. Just beautiful.

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Wow. I was asking my wife the other day how much it cost, and she couldn't remember anything other than 'spensive!'. But yeah, we're really pleased with it. I know you will be too. The one thing people tend to botch, judging from YouTube tales, is DIY skylights. This offers the best of both worlds in a package that works and fits just like the OG. Word of warning though... despite the (light) tint, it still gets really hot underneath it in the summertime. I'd suggest coming up with a means of temporarily covering it if you can.

 

[Wuzabus]

Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate you letting me know that. I have some darker tint sheets I'll cover it with. Hit me in with a pm. Have a question or 2.

 

[BamaBus]

From Youtube

 

[Mr P]

Bama, yup, that's probably what I need to do.

 

[FawnaFox]

I don't know if it helps but for mine, I took aluminum sheets that my uncle used to build airboats, put roofing caulk on the edges and filled the gaps with loctite caulk and put some sheet metal screws in to hold it down, haven't had a leak ever since. Make sure if you do this to make the sheet of metal overlap the hole a bit, so it has a barrier for the silicone to seal, and try to avoid putting it over any rivet lines.

 

[lynn sylvester]

There are roof escape hatches that have fans as part of the hatch. There are also roof escape hatches that are clear like a window.

William

do you have a source for these openings?

 

[magnakansas]

do you have a source for these openings?

I just type bus escape hatch into my search engine