Inline Fan leaking

[Murdochcat]

And have you checked the airflow?

Unless the fan can draw air into the room, no fan will improve matters

 

[emmaamme]

Thanks for all your advice. Would it be worth me getting the electrician to swap the white flexi duct at the outlet side of the fan for insulated flexi ducting as I have some spare?

 

[Burnerman]

Good morning Emma!

To get these fans functioning as best they may, keep the ducting length as short as possible and a straight run as possible. Flexible ducting has a large surface area which can maximise condensation so keep it insulated as much as you can.
Dips in the ducting can also allow condensation to settle in pools.
There may be an access problem here but maybe the fan could be moved to the right to enable this?
If this is too much of a faff I'd reduce the length of the flexy insulated ducting if possible, maybe replacing it with a solid length.
Keep the bathroom window shut in winter and rely on the fan - which needs air into the room to expel air out!
Regards
John

 

[Murdochcat]

Thanks for all your advice. Would it be worth me getting the electrician to swap the white flexi duct at the outlet side of the fan for insulated flexi ducting as I have some spare?

IMHO no.

Make sure you do the other things before spending money and 1 thing I forgot and that’s how warm is your bathroom before you use it

 

[emmaamme]

Thanks John, nice to hear from you again. Moving it to the right sounds good but not sure how that would work due to where the ducting comes out of the ceiling?

Thanks Murdochcat. The bathroom is fully tiled so can be quite cold unfortunately.

 

[Murdochcat]

Thanks Murdochcat. The bathroom is fully tiled so can be quite cold unfortunately.

Then make sure the door is open for a while so the room has the ability to warm up a bit

Bottom line is that hot showers in the winter will always produce steam - so you just need to reduce the ways its produced. No shower will eradicate it completely.

 

[emmaamme]

Just out of curiosity if you were using rigid pipe would you insulate it too? I've seen people mention covering it in insulated flexi hose.

 

[Murdochcat]

Just out of curiosity if you were using rigid pipe would you insulate it too? I've seen people mention covering it in insulated flexi hose.

Just lay insulation over it all and try all of the above

 

[emmaamme]

I'll need to buy a roll. Any particular spec i should be going for?

 

[Burnerman]

Any sort of ‘ Cosywrap’ insulation will do - any excess can just be lost in the loft somewhere.
Good luck with it, I’m sure many installations have this problem but most are I spotted or ignored!
I have found that, if a solid ducting is used you sometimes get some noise which the flex ducting prevents to some degree.
John

 

[emmaamme]

Thanks John, appreciate all the advice

 

[BuckshotLeFonque]

We have a similar issue - have you been able to solve it, yet? Once thing I would say is it may be a good idea to use jubilee clips to attach the ducting to the fan as well as the pvc tape which is currently used.

 

[emmaamme]

No joy I'm afraid. Had the fan replaced by a stronger model, covered the insulated ducting in loft insulation and it's leaked from day one! Couldn't make it up. Again leaking from joins/seams in fan body. Called electrician after he left & he reckons its condensation & to leave it till the warmer weather. I've got a drip tray beside it & a cloth under it but far from ideal. It must be the water condensing in the fan itself then leaking out. I'm not willing to put up with it leaking throughout the winter so going to get it replaced with a strong axial fan as at least there'll be no leaking in the loft space. I know it seems like a step backwards but I've had enough of these inline fans. I bet loads of folk have the same issue but are probably unaware of it.

 

[sparkwright]

I would be inclined to place some bits of wood under the bulk of the flexi-duct - to reduce the likelihood of sags which tend to collect water.

Use heavy wood, if you're sitting on loft insulation, as the insulation is 'bouncy' and lighter wood won't stay very flat.

 

[BuckshotLeFonque]

Sounds like we are very much in the same boat. I had a look at your original fan, and it appears to be the same as our Aventa 100T - just a different sticker on it. Maybe these are not great units, as they are pretty cheap. For what it's worth this is what I have found out/might be of use to you.

1) After badgering the manufacturer for a solution, the current suggestion from them is to put silicon around the join between the removable motor and casing. Not ideal, but could/should work, as our leak is not huge.
2) I phoned up the very helpful people at extractorfanworld (not posting a link here in case it's against the rules, but you can easily find their website). They guy on the phone said that he would expect there to be some condensation forming inside the unit at this time of year. In our case he did say that a stronger fan could solve the issue (our current one is set to 187 cubic metres per hour), BUT, and I had not considered this, it would be pointless if there is not enough of a gap under the door to let "new" air in, so that the unit can breathe enough. And sure enough in our bathroom the door fits far too neatly into the frame, and I cannot see how enough fresh air can get in. Don't open the window to mitigate this though, as it makes the condensation worse. So it is possible your fan can't breathe enough. Apparently 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap at the bottom of door is advisable.

It's really not surprising.that water is forming in side the unit - why they aren't better sealed is a mystery to me and my wife and I are thinking along similar lines to you, that this whole system has not been thought through properly, and most people don't notice, as their leak is too small to show up on the ceiling, but it's not good at all for your loft.