Ventilation

[Gold Coaster]

I have a T4 that is a part campervan but doesn't have a pop top so it's hard to have adequate fresh air on warm nights without having windows down (mossies and security!). Looking at cutting a hole in the roof to put in some form of ventilation but am a bit wary of doing this! Has anyone had a go at doing this? Thanks

[James_d1]

My Father had just done a conversion on his T4. He put in a four seasons hatch in, it is about 600mm x 600mm. He carefully cut it out with tin snips and a jigsaw, did a great job. I can take some pictures if you like.

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[Gold Coaster]

Would love some photos thanks, showing both an inside and an outside view if possible. Also I'm interested to know how well it works at moving air (does it have an inbuilt fan) and how high it sits proud of the roof as I need to be able to get under 2.1m.

[James_d1]

Hi Gold Coaster,

Here are the pictures, inside and out. You can pop one end up as shown or the whole hatch. They're is a fly screen that you can slid in place after popping up. The ventilation is just passive, but is most certainly adequate.





Hope this helps,

Cheers James
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[gecko2k]

hey mate,

there is an adaptor to hold the tail gate open a few cm without making it possible for sb to open it from the outside, doesn't work with barn doors. It is a low volume product made in germany.

PM me if you are interested and I can google it for you (might take a while though, saw it a while ago)

[Gold Coaster]

Thanks for great photos. The hatch is a really neat fit between the roof ridges. I was originally looking at a smaller type hatch (350 x 350) but I guess the bigger the hatch the better the ventilation. I suppose my only concern with cutting a hole that large would be whether or not it would effect the structural integrity of the roof?

[Gold Coaster]

Hi, yes I've seen these on the Just Campers site (tailgate vent lock). They look like a good idea in that you can still lock the tailgate but the only problem is that the bugs can still get in! Probably would be useful though on a hot day when you have to leave the van standing in the heat while you are away.

[James_d1]

I am pretty sure the hatch fits in between the strength members, so roof integrity is well maintained.

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[Sunny43.5]

Hi guys as some of you would know I fit sunroofs for a crust we encounter cross roof braces constantly . The T4 is a sweet model to fit a sunroof into as the rear sections have the cross brace only at the high points cutting between these will not affect the strength . My old dearly departed T4 had a fully built in sunroof at the front section and I removed the cross brace for that one but the sunroof and its supports more than made up for its loss . I then fitted an electric external sliding roof into one of the back sections easy as pie to do no brace to remove even fitted a remote switch up at the dash so I could open it with out any one in the back doing it .

[SnowMotion]

When you do cut the hole, DO NOT use and angle grinder.
A friend did this on her van and she had to get the whole van professionally polished to remove all the metal splinters that etched into the paint work whilst hot and then started rusting causing a major issue.
she was advised the best method is a metal nibbler.
Good luck

[Sunny43.5]

We use a Bosch electric shear it slices the steel no filings no clippings it is two hardened steel blades one fixed one tilted the tilted one moves at very fast stroke and only moves a couple of mls so the steel is sliced so to speak the finished edge is so smooth you could not cut your self on it plus it does not distort the finished edge . We still hear of DIY people who have either grinded jigsawed or used nibblers these went out with the dinosaurs in our book . Nibblers are only marginally better than jig saw as they spit out hundreds of what we call robots fingernails . The shear does not cause any filings at all .

[hoddy]

I was always keen to put one of these in the roof:
Jaycar Electronics: Solar Powered Ventilator
or Solar Powered Ventilator - Jaycar Electronics
They're solar, battery back up (48hrs), reversible air flow.
Have not been brave to cut hole in new(ish) T5 (good advice about the angle grinder)

[Sunny43.5]

Just remember if doing a T5 it has a ribbed roof from just behind the drivers door all the way back makes it a real bitch to fit any thing into , when I did fit a sunroof into mine it took six hours to profile cut the frame of the sunroof to fit the ribs then I had to fit packing pieces under each of the ribs on the out side .

[Gold Coaster]

Thanks for all the great tips and info. By the time I decide on which type of vent/hatch to install I’ll hopefully have enough courage to take the plunge! At the moment I’m tending towards one around the 350 x 350 mark mainly because I got the ladder out today and noticed that it looks like you can’t go much bigger than this without taking in the curve of the roof. As I worry about possible leaks, keeping it as flat as possible might help.

[Gold Coaster]

We use a Bosch electric shear it slices the steel no filings no clippings it is two hardened steel blades one fixed one tilted the tilted one moves at very fast stroke and only moves a couple of mls so the steel is sliced so to speak the finished edge is so smooth you could not cut your self on it plus it does not distort the finished edge . We still hear of DIY people who have either grinded jigsawed or used nibblers these went out with the dinosaurs in our book . Nibblers are only marginally better than jig saw as they spit out hundreds of what we call robots fingernails . The shear does not cause any filings at all .

Hi, do you usually mark and cut from the inside or the outside of the roof? Thanks