Bathroom extractor fan ducting All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[martymonster]

Hi everyone,

Hope I've got the right forum for this!

OK, my centrifugal bathroom fan went mad the other night and wouldn't stop (even though it's on a 20 minute timer) and I had to (at 3am) disconnect it from the ceiling.

Water sometimes dripped through the unit and it didn't seem to clear the bathroom all that well. Many times I took it off and cleared the back of the unit from debris etc as the ducting goes straight up through the roof.

I've decided to buy a decent inline (either Vortice Lineo or Vent Axia ACM100T) to do the job. I've noticed that a condenstation trap is available and am planning to fit one. However, the bathroom is on the inside of the building (hence no window) so I guess I just need some advice on where I'd channel it to?

Thanks for any help given!

[rosebery]

"martymonster"However, the bathroom is on the inside of the building (hence no window) so I guess I just need some advice on where I'd channel it to?

Which is probably why the fan you are trying to replace is ducted up into the roofspace because there wasn't any other sensible route.

You probably have condensation forming on the inside of the duct as the nice hot humid air is sent up into a (relatively) much colder roof space.

I think I'd be tempted to have a look at the ducting arrangements to see if any improvement can be made there first. Otherwise on a "site unseen" basis there's not much more to say. Sorry!

Cheers

[martymonster]

Thanks roseberry.

Today, seeing as I wasn't at work, I ventured into the loft and had a look at the ducting arrangements. It appears the pipe from inside the bathroom goes straight up through the roof, via a length of pipe approx 4ft between ceiling and roof outing. If I was to fit an inline fan, I'd struggle to also fit a condensation trap and channel the excess water away. Would a better fan do the job or would I have the same problems as before? Could I channel the excess into the expansion tank?

[rosebery]

If you are going for an inline then 4 feet seems more than adequate for the fan and a condensation trap - but as I say, I can't see it and certainly not how it's oriented vis-a-vis the F&E tank. No I wouldn't put the drain in there anyway.

Have you thought about just replacing the ceiling mounted fan?

I see from elsewhere that the problem seems to be associated with the timer mechanism on your existing fan. Why not try fixing that first and fitting a condensation trap at the samw time?

Cheers