today i'm going to be showing you how to fit a flatner 2000 air vent with an extender
so my current build of the mark 4 x-bridge gas caddy maxi which i'm converting into a micro
camper i really wanted to fit an air vent so i did lots of research and i've discovered that flatner
seems to be the market leaders in ventilation for air vents going to van they've got loads
different air vents on their website but this is the flatner 2000 so i've reached out to the
guys at flatner and they have very kindly sent me a flatner 2000 and also the extender and i'm
going to need the extender as you can see above me because i've got the insulation and cladding so
i need that little extender there just to bridge the gap in the length there they have also sent me
a flattener floor vent as well so i can cut a hole into the floor and put this in so i'll have a full
circulation of airflow which will really reduce condensation and give me all the benefits from the
flattener products so how is this going to work so you've got the top piece here this is going to
go on the outside of the van on the roof and then you have the extender which is going to go above
my head into this panel here so extender goes up there and then you always have a base plate
so the extender goes in there like that and then you've got this base plate that goes on the bottom
so that sits on like that the cladding touching up to it which will look really nice and tidy
then it will generate the airflow through the vent so you can see that's where i need the
extender because the perfect height to bridge the gap between the cladding the insulation
and the roof of the van the i've got the hole it's already sealed up so that's the original
hole from the original vent and cut all this out and then put the new vent in there so why should
you get a flattened event and why are they so good so if you're sleeping in the van they not
only reduce condensation but they also remove excess heat in the summer along with removing
excess heat they also remove stair loaders and fumes so there's no more smelly shoes
fresh as a daisy another bonus there's no running costs so you can keep that fiber for a pint mind
you probably six quid soon so that's why the vents are so good even if you're using them commercially
if you've got materials in the back of the bands it's gonna get rid of all the stair loaders and
keep them nice and cool if you're like us and you're doing lots of adventures you're going
surfing hiking mountain biking and all your equipment's gonna get wet and it's gonna start
smelling it gets rid of all of that it gets rid of the condensation and it gets rid of smells and
even if you've got dogs they're brilliant as well because obviously it's gonna get rid of all the
stair loaders nobody likes the smell of a wet dog but let's crack on and get it fitted so to fit a
flatten event you're gonna need some ppe such as golds and gloves you'll need a marker pen so you
can mark on the van where you're going to cut out the hole you'll then need a drill and a hole saw
attachment to cut the hole i don't have a hole saw attachment because i already have a hole on the
van so i don't need to do that we're then going to need some rust resistant paint so i've got
some ham right here which is blue so it's going to match in so that's going to protect the van
once you've cut the hole you'll then need a file as well just to smooth off any of the rough edges
you need a flathead screwdriver just to unscrew some of the bolts and the top caps you're then
also going to need some strong adhesive sealant i've gone for sikaflex 221 i think that's how
you pronounce it i've gone for this because it's recommended in all the forums online and it's uv
protected so it should last forever on top of the van and it should be a really good sealant on that
one so if you guys are fitting the extender like i am you're going to need some longer bolts so
i've gone for the stainless steel m4 bolts which is 75 millimeters long i've got these off amazon
so i'll put the link in the video description so guys before you get started you've got to make
sure you've got everything in the box that should be there so you've got the vent itself and on the
back of the vent you've also got the foam gasket you then should have four bolts four nuts and four
washers i've also bought the extra long bolts just because i've got the extender so talking about the
extender here is the extender should have that as well should have an instructional manual which
got all the instructions in there and you can use this to cut your hole in the roof and then you've
got the base plate that goes inside the van on the ceiling which is underneath and it's got the
shutter on the bottom and the shutter just pops off like so so step one to fit the flat in the air
vent so get the vent and press the gray disc from the top of the rotor using a small screwdriver
underneath this will be a couple of locking nuts on the main spindle remove the locking
nut using a half inch or 13 mil socket spanner or socket wrench or some call it a box spanner
hold the rotor and screw the second nut using a flathead screwdriver inserted into the slot
at the top of the spindle turn the screwdriver clockwise to release the nut so step two is going
to be cutting a hole in your van's roof i don't have to do this as the van already has a hole in
the roof from when it was made at factory if you need to cut a hole in your roof check out flatness
video on their youtube channel which is amazing or follow the instructions in the booklet so for
my van it was then time to prep the roof i had to cut out the old seal using the standing knife to
cut for the silicone and undo the screws prying off through the old silicon when i got underneath
it i actually realized it was not fitted that well there's quite a bit of rust on the roof
so i had to really clean this off so i used a standing knife to get all the silicone off i
then wiped the area down made sure it was nice and dry and then i used the ham right to re-prime it
so once i'd prepped the top of the roof i then had to prep the ceiling inside again i then used the
ham right to paint the underneath the ceiling to ensure that all the metal work would be protected
before you head on to step three to fit the vent make sure that if you use an extender you've got
the correct bolts so i've gone for these stainless steel m4 bolts which is 75 millimeters long
i've got these off amazon so i'll put the link in the video description once you've got the
bolts then measure how long you're going to need them and cut them down if needed
so the next step is to fit the ventilator to do this we're going to begin with fitting the base
so using the sealant fit the foam gasket to the bottom of the base
once you've done this add more sealant to the foam gasket which is making contact with the roof
on the outside of the van i would add plenty of sealant at this stage once the gasket is in place
place the base onto the roof and push the four bolts down through the fixing holes
so extend is going to go against the ceiling like a top hat just like that
so when you're screwing in the bolts from the outside to the inside you'll probably need an
assistant not my good friend on the roof and they i need to have style like an orange jumpsuit
anyway all you need to do is have one person with a screwdriver holding the bolts from the top and
the other person's socket wrench screwing them in so you're ready let's go for my left you're right
next one yeah good go on hurry up tighten the base into position using the nuts and washers provided
the next step is to put the vent on the base so to do this you need to place the rotor onto the shaft
and secure it with both nuts this is pretty easy to do and it just slides on through the holes you
then want to get the two nuts and then put these back onto the spindles so grab one of the nuts
and hand thread it onto the spindle clockwise and then gently tighten it into position by turning
the spindle anti-clockwise with a screwdriver so as you're turning the spindle anti-clockwise with
a screwdriver it pulls it all together and that bottom nut will sit within the hexagonal recess
at this point do not over tighten it but once it's sitting in there it's pretty easy to see how tight
to go so then you want to grab the second nut aka the locking nut and tighten the position clockwise
using a 13mm socket spanner the final step is to get the grey disk and pressure onto the vent
make sure you press this down firmly to ensure it's a water tight if you fit the ventilator
correctly the rotors should spin freely and there should be no vertical play god that looks so good
ugh
so guys once you've finished off the roof and you've got all the cladding in place the last
thing to do is attach the sport ring and the shutter so i'm just going to attach the sport
ring now so as i've got the bolts coming through here i can attach the support ring to these bolts
that should pop on like so and then the final thing is to add the shutter
there you go that was a shutter and then you can open and close it
so if you're sleeping at night you might want it shut in the morning you might want to open
i hope that was really easy to follow along guys if you've got any questions or anything at all you
want me to do any other videos just let me know in the comments below i've had this vent for about
two weeks now and i can say that coming after a really hot day like today the van's actually
really cool because the vent's been working and driving along you know when you let a little bit
of a smell out it just gets sucked out the van so it's really really good and i'd really recommend
getting one especially if you're doing adventures you're mountain biking surfing kayaking anything
that's going to get wet make condensation in the van especially if you're going to sleep in the van
like it's absolutely perfect and i'll do another review in a couple months time to see how we're
getting on a bit like always hit that subscribe button like the video and share with your friends