Why would this happen? Extractor fan query

aliasojo

Brand new extractor fan installed by experienced electrician on Monday. It was used a handful of times when the family showered and then it stopped working mid shower on Tuesday, less than 24 hours later.

I called the place I bought it from and they are sending a relacement but all of a sudden just now, on Friday, it has started working again. Why might this be?

It's installed on a joist and there's no insulation near it so if it overheated then it must be a problem in the fan itself? But if it was just an overheating issue, why would it take days to start working again?

WestonDave

How is the fan switched on? Does it come on as soon as you turn the light on etc, or is it a humidistat one? I'm just wondering if maybe the changes in weather over the week might be enough if the sensitivity was set a bit wrong.

aliasojo

No, it's not a humidistat one. It is wired to the lighting circuit but it has it's own switch outside the bathroom to switch it on and off (triple light switch...one rocker works the bathroom light, one works the hall light, one works the fan).... it has a timer and it was set to stay on for 5 minutes after it was switched off.

27col

Probably something as simple as a bad connection, either in the fan during manufacture or possibly in the supply to it.

aliasojo

27col wrote: »

Probably something as simple as a bad connection, either in the fan during manufacture or possibly in the supply to it.

Actually, I'm just off the phone to the manufacturer and was coming back to update.....they said the same thing.

They said it was very unlikely to be the fan because if it was, they said the fuse would blow (not sure if they mean in the fan itself or on my main consumer board). They reckon it is the wiring leading to the fan.

I called the electrician who's going to come out again next week but reckons it is most definitely not the wiring to it and it will be the fan itself.



Fight! Where's Harry Hill when you need him?

I daresay it'll get sorted out but my concern is that the company I bought the fan from sent me a replacement (which I paid for) and it arrived this morning...if I get the fans swapped over and send the original one back (which the electrician is sure is faulty) and it gets tested and deemed to be fine...then my refund for the 'faulty one' might be in question. :rolleyes:

macman

This is the problem of buying your own kit and then getting someone else to install it. When it goes wrong, you are left in the middle. If the sparky had supplied and installed it, then it would be down to him to sort it out, wherever the fault.

27col

aliasojo. I think that the fan company was spinning you a line. If there was an intermittent open circuit somewhere in the fan there is no reason why any fuse should blow. If there was an intermittent short circuit then the fuse would have blown or the consumer unit tripped long ago. In the past I have had to deal with intermittent problems in electrical gear. We sometimes found that the problem was heat related. When gear was allowed to cool down, the wires in the bad joint relaxed and made contact again. It usually turned out to be a soldering fault. It sounds as if you might have trouble getting them to admit that it was a manufacturing defect, even if that is what it turns out to be. best of luck with it.

keystone

aliasojo wrote: »

....... it has a timer and it was set to stay on for 5 minutes after it was switched off.

Should be 15. 5 isn't long enough to clear the humidity.

Cheers

aliasojo

Thanks 27col...I think that's what my electrician suspects too. To be fair to him, he's done work in my house for years now and I've never had cause to doubt him or his work.

keystone, the 5 minutes setting was a 'first guide' if you like, to see what difference it made in that time so we could try to judge roughly how long to have it on for. Of course the thing stopped working so we never had the opportunity to change it. Will take on board the 15 minutes advice though.

andrew-b

Out of interest..was this the fan from TLC electrical i've considered before and posted links to? If they dodgy i'd rather be avoiding and not posting links to!

aliasojo

Yip.

Electrician is back this week so will update when he's had a proper look. His initial thoughts were via the phone.

I should say that TLC themselves have been helpful up till now and it's only my own concern that's bothering me re the refund....they've not given any cause to worry. Yet.

I should also add that I bought some under cabinet lighting from them a good while ago now and one was faulty...they exchanged it no bother.