Skylight and roof vent questions

[joeblack5]

It is pretty easy. Took me an hour of measuring and cutting. Take a 1" hole saw at each corner.. Cut the center out ..deburr.. And use sikaflex or similar to glue a piece of lexan onto it.. Light comes in and operable as hatch or vent.

 

[HappyInTN]

Flange or new vent hole

I was wanting to install either a max air or fantastic fan. As we all know they don’t fit exactly. My intent was to make a flange of sheet metal to cover over the existing to escape hatch holes. I’d like the fans to be where the escape hatches currently because my escape hatches leak anyway, win win. Can anybody tell me if the flange idea is good or bad, I’d really rather not cut new holes?

 

[david.dgeorge07]

Assuming that you have pulled out the inner sheet metal roof skins, use that sheet metal and cut a square that is a couple inches bigger in both dimensions than the hole left when you took out the hatch.

Line the edges of the patch with butyl tape that will be sandwiched between the outside of the bus roof and your patch.

Then use short self drillers on 2” centers to attach the patch. Clean off excess butyl tape that squeezed out.

Check for leaks.

Then use the fantastic fan template to mark and cut the fan hole in your patch.

Paint your patch to match the roof and install fan.

Check for leaks.

Wire in your fan to your 12v load center.

Enjoy your fan!

 

[Ninjakitty]

For fans, stay away from the e-z-breeze model. I have two. While they do let a nice ambient light in, work for ceiling fan or exhaust, they are cheaply made and I would have been better off with anything else.

 

[o1marc]

Not sure what you mean by "making a flange"? The hatch hole is 24". I bought tinted Lexan, 26" to cover the hole using screws and butyl tape. I will seal it further with the roof coating or a sealer. I then cut a 14" hole centered in the Lexan to mount the fan/vent. This way I still have a surround of ambient light coming through.

 

[Mark_In_MA]

Not sure what you mean by "making a flange"? The hatch hole is 24". I bought tinted Lexan, 26" to cover the hole using screws and butyl tape. I will seal it further with the roof coating or a sealer. I then cut a 14" hole centered in the Lexan to mount the fan/vent. This way I still have a surround of ambient light coming through.

Nice work!
I like that idea.

 

[HappyInTN]

Assuming that you have pulled out the inner sheet metal roof skins, use that sheet metal and cut a square that is a couple inches bigger in both dimensions than the hole left when you took out the hatch.

Line the edges of the patch with butyl tape that will be sandwiched between the outside of the bus roof and your patch.

Then use short self drillers on 2” centers to attach the patch. Clean off excess butyl tape that squeezed out.

Check for leaks.

Then use the fantastic fan template to mark and cut the fan hole in your patch.

Paint your patch to match the roof and install fan.

Check for leaks.

Wire in your fan to your 12v load center.

Enjoy your fan!

Sadly my sub ceiling was perforated.. I'll have to find two steel plates elsewhere.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I was wanting to install either a max air or fantastic fan. As we all know they don’t fit exactly. My intent was to make a flange of sheet metal to cover over the existing to escape hatch holes. I’d like the fans to be where the escape hatches currently because my escape hatches leak anyway, win win. Can anybody tell me if the flange idea is good or bad, I’d really rather not cut new holes?

Hmmm
I take a piece of steel and rivet/screw it down over the hole. Then cut a hole for the roof vent. Its pretty easy.

Couldn't find pics of the seam sealer, but use seam sealer. I had a couple small beads on the underside of the panel and did a bead around the edge afterward.

 

[Drew Bru]

Hmmm
I take a piece of steel and rivet/screw it down over the hole. Then cut a hole for the roof vent. Its pretty easy.

Pretty much what we did (minus the fancy hat). We cut out a 14" hole for the fan, then popped it right into place. It really couldn't have been any easier.

 

[o1marc]

Sadly my sub ceiling was perforated.. I'll have to find two steel plates elsewhere.

If you have any seats left over, you can cut the back panel of steel out of them and use them for a patch. They are 27" tall. just right.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

I want to retain the roof access, have a skylight, an open/close vent that I can drive with open in the rain, a fan, and be warm in the winter nights.
So I am building my own e-hatch replacement.
See pics.

The green one is the inner flange; non-structural to the actual hatch. I polished the aluminum to a mirror finish, and then painted it with "Metalcast" paint (only 4 colors to choose from, or I would have chosen another shade of green - this one is a tad toward blue-green, I would prefer "emerald"), which is a tinted clearcoat that allows the mirror to show through. Sunlight can reflect off of it and brighten up the space, while the side-window curtains are up for privacy when parked in public spaces. The darker green tint will keep the in-your-eye glare down, I hope, and add a warm-fuzzy-cheery ambiance. I'm going to polish all the original aluminum framed bus windows the same way (3 done already), and paint them green inside also, and MetalCast (dark) blue on the outside to match the exterior color scheme. The dark blue for inside trim would be too dismal on rainy days when you're stuck inside a small metal box. And the factory interior ceiling paint is off-white towards yellow, so green works.

The frame with the panel in front is the top-exterior one. The panel is clear poly-carbonate (a.k.a. Lexan, still in its protective wrapper) and will fit inside the frame and be held in place with brackets riveted to the sides of the frame. No holes drilled in the poly-carbonate or the top surface. It will hinge to the third frame at the front edge with hinges that have removable pins, so the whole door can be removed quickly if desired. But the pins will be internal, so thieves can't sneak in. I will polish this down to near-mirror and paint it with MetalCast blue on the exterior surface, to match the rest of the chromed metal parts on the exterior of the bus (marker lights, BlueBird insignia- originally bus-yellow or black, etc.)

The third frame is heavy-duty thick 2" aluminum T-bar for the exterior flange. The surface that faces the interior will be polished to mirror and painted the same MetalCast green, to match the interior flange, so when you look up from he inside, the whole portal will be shiny green up to the window.

I have some untested ideas for spring-loaded pop-ups, based on the original hardware from the original e-hatch. When done (I hope this week), I'll post pics here. But I want the hatch door to stay open 1"-2" like the original one, open to a full 90°, or seal shut; and "lock" in all three positions, using a single (or matchhing on each side) spring loaded piston with hinges in key places...
Oh, and check out the voo-doo dishes. Someone told me years ago that you could balance an egg on its pointed end during the equinox. These dishes managed to balance themselves during the equinox-supermoon last week. They were leaning up against the big gallon bottle, but when I added in the plate, they stayed up by themselves and I removed the bottle.

 

[Native-SKO]

Ah ECCB, I like your use of cargo straps to bend the sheet metal down to the roof surface evenly. Nice!

 

[EastCoastCB]

Thanks, man!
I've used them a bunch for bus metal work.

 

[musigenesis]

If you have any seats left over, you can cut the back panel of steel out of them and use them for a patch. They are 27" tall. just right.

Can the seat backs be used to patch holes in the floor, or is the steel too thin for that? I have 22 seats and a strong urge to do further damage to them.

 

[o1marc]

Can the seat backs be used to patch holes in the floor, or is the steel too thin for that? I have 22 seats and a strong urge to do further damage to them.

Just about any thickness metal can be used for patching holes. The seat panels are more than thick enough for that purpose. I patched some with soda cans.

 

[Native-SKO]

Thanks, man!
I've used them a bunch for bus metal work.

Wow, that was another fine example of using the cargo straps for sheet metal work. I've used them for pulling bar and angle stock into place, just never thought to use them for shaping curved surfaces. That technique is going into my bag of tools!

 

[tugboater-SKO]

Does anybody have any recommendations for what brand of skylights to use to replace the current emergency hatches? Also what brand exhaust fans have you guys seen work best? I'm at the point where I'm ready to paint my roof and figured I'd do all the roof stuff at once. ANY advice wold be appreciated.

I marked this fella's method for skylight installation & plan to use it.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/4-curious-georges-2001-saf-t-liner-18205-12.html

This reminds me...I've been meaning to hit him up and ask how they're holding up. They've been in for over a year I think.

 

[diannetea]

The guy who owns Gilligan Phantom, Justin, used marine hatches, you can get them in a size that is almost an exact fit (just a teeny bit tight). This is what I'm hoping to do on my someday bus as well.

 

[matthews2001]

Well I bought the 26x26 suggested, $97 on Amazon.

The hatch was hollow inside so i just cut the largest hole i could,, and screwed the skylight onto the remaining (flimsy) 'frame' with sealant. It stiffened the cutout hatch back to normal and the hatch still works. Love the lightened up inside (I have smallish windows), price and time. Need to trim the inside and not look at the outside-looks rough!

 

[matthews2001]

i posted pics, took an hour! but i dont see them!