I am sure that the fan goes on the outside of the tent, but I understand how that would be a problem if the hole in the tent is bigger than the fan. I know some others have had that problem though. I think someone else said that they put some cardboard around the fan to close up the gap. I'm not sure if you want to do that or try to do something similar. I'm not real sure that would be a look you wanna go for! But you do what you have to do sometimes! I think the reason your fan was such a mess is because you had it inside the tent instead of outside. If you have it on the outside it will not be nearly as messy with
solution all over the fan.