Electrical Help Needed- Bathroom Fan

JS2006

Hi guys,

I am really hoping someone can help save me money by helping diagnose what my problem is.

So I bought a new bathroom fan as the old one had stopped working. It's one of those which switch on when the light is on too. I disconnected the two wires (blue and yellow) to remove the fan and when I installed the new fan, I connected the same two wires to the new unit (blue - neutral, yellow-live). But alas, the unit won't work.

Please can someone tell me if I've done something wrong? There were 3 terminals- L, N and T. No matter which of the two (L or T) I connect it to, the unit won't operate. I hoped I could post a photo, but the board won't let me for some reason.

Thanks

Fat_Walt

Are you sure it was the fan that stopped working and not the fuse?

JS2006

To be honest, I wouldn't know how to check the fuse as I have no idea where it would be. We needed a new fan anyway, so the old one not working was an excus to get one.

Fat_Walt

Is there one of these in the bathroom?

coffeehound

Does the light still work okay?

unforeseen

Fat_Walt wrote: »

Is there one of these in the bathroom?

I hope not

thescouselander

Sounds like the fan is expecting to have a permanent live (L) and switched live (T) connected from the light switch.

You probably need to have live applied to both L and T at the same time to make it work.

SplanK

Randomly swapping the cables around without much thought isn't the best thing to do! Risk electric shock or fire!

You need to figure out when these wires become live. A multi meter would be very handy here to show you if any of them are live!

Generally thesr will have a permanent line and neutral, plus a 'switch' wire which will signal the fan to turn on. The permanent feed will be there so it can run on after you switch the light off.

It could be that the old fan had a jumper cable between L and T, or maybe only had L and N?

However it could be that it's on a separate switch and the fault is elsewhere, such as a fuse, faulty switch, burnt out wire....

If you are not exactly sure of what you are doing, or understand why your last fan stopped working then I suggest you ask an electrician, or at the very least a friend/family member to assist you

MonsieurFrugal

If you have a yellow and blue there will be a red there somewhere aswell.

Put the red to L yellow to T blue to N

otherwise if you cant find the red etc just put a link wire between L and T and connect yellow to either

The fan will work when only the light is on that way

southcoastrgi

L= live
N= neutral
T= timer

Le_Kirk

Agree with what is being said about T(imer) and needing separate feeds. Did the old fan have a run on timer? What model is the new fan, maybe we can check it out exactly for you rather than guessing.