I love the ducted air on our 2020 Airstream Globetrotter. It's quiet and sleek—a huge improvement over the 2005 Airstream Safari that I had previously, where a person had to shout in order to be heard over the roar of the air conditioner.
The only thing I don't like about the ducted system is the difficulty of removing the return air vent covers, in order to check and clean dust from the filters. If you ignore this maintenance task, the dusty filters will eventually reduce the efficiency of the air conditioner. But removing and replacing the air vents is kind of a pain, so I often neglected to do it. (I'm guessing many of you can relate.)
The air vent hassle factor
Airstream used 4 Philips screws to fasten each air vent cover, making it time consuming to take them on and off.
In my mind, it should take 10 seconds to check the dust filters. But because of the 8 screws – not to mention the awkward position of them on the ceiling – it was taking me several minutes.
A simple, inexpensive hack
There are various aftermarket solutions you can buy to modify these covers, but they are expensive and complicated. Some even require drilling. Nah.
Instead, I worked up a better solution using rare earth magnets. This hack costs only about $30 in parts we found on Amazon, and can be installed by just about anyone.
To be clear, this is not an AIR GEAR product. Just a little hack you can knock out on a Saturday morning. If you enjoy DIY solutions, you'll love this one. The modification takes only about 20-30 minutes.
How well does it work?
We tested this hack on 4,000 miles of recent travel, including some extremely rough roads. It works perfectly. The vent covers never came off during travel.
The filter covers can easily be removed in seconds, and replaced just as quickly after removing dust from the filters with a dry paper towel.
This video shows you how to make this modification, as well as the parts and tools you will need.
11 comments
Gil Jarvie
I love that hack, Rich! We went with jack nuts right after we acquired our Globetrotter so simply screw in thumb screws. However, I like you you hack even better so will have to do some thinking. I enlarged the holes in the ceiling to accommodate the jack nuts so might have to attach a small aluminum sheet to convert to your magnet hack using rivets. Certainly doable and appreciate you sharing your ingenuity with us.
Greg Heuer
WOW! What a great tip for our Airstream family. You Are The Best!
Darrall Henderson
Great idea. Can’t wait to try it out.
Michelle Headrick
OMG – brilliant! Every time I look at the filters I think, “Naahhh, not today.”…and never get back to it.
Gerald Zimmer
Our 2016 Flying Cloud has no screws to hold the vents in place, just a clip of sorts. Your idea sounds great , vents are now hard to keep in place. I can’t wait to try your magnet fix. Thank you for constantly trying new ways to make our coach better. GZ
Jim Ruimerman
Rich. This is a great idea! It also eliminates the need to tighten the screws every so often (mine have fallen out several times).
I just have two questions, as follows:
For the 1/8 inch rivets, what is the reach (1/2 inch?)
For the large magnets, does the recessed side face down or up?
Thanks much
Rich Luhr
Jim R: The magnet can go either way. The rivets are aluminum 1/8" diameter with a grip range of 0.25 to 0.312 inches. These are a very common size, easily found in hardware stores.
Kim R
Rich, This is a fantastic idea. what strength of magnets did you purchase? They come in numerous strengths and I want them to stay in place but I also want to be able to remove the covers easily.
Rich Luhr
WHERE TO BUY THE STUFF REFERENCED IN THIS VIDEO:
Large magnets – on Amazon:
“70lbs Force Neodymium Cup Magnets 25mm with Countersunk Hole” Round 25mm x 5.5 mm thick
Small magnets – on Amazon:
“TRYMAG Magnets, 30Pcs Strong Rare Earth Magnets Small Round”
Round 12mm x 3mm thick
Diana Davidson
Rich, I have a 2022 Airstream Atlas. I bought all the equipment you referenced, including the same magnets, and followed your instructions. But I must have done something wrong because the vent covers fall all the time. Even the magnets superglued to the vent covers come loose when they fall so I’m picking up magnets and vent covers at every stop. I triple checked that I faced the magnets the right way, I tried stacking the magnets to get a stronger hold. Currently I have the edges of the vent covers velcroed to the roof to keep them in place and it looks very,very ugly. I would appreciate any suggestions because I’m really sorry that I tried this hack 😖
Rich Luhr
Hi Diana
Sorry to hear of the troubles! I only tested this hack on an aluminum Airstream trailer, not on an Atlas, and I’m not familiar with what the differences might be with your particular setup. I’m afraid I can’t offer any advice other than to go back to using the original screws. You can remove the riveted magnets by drilling them out, if they won’t just pull out.