Bathroom extactor fan isolater. reg or good practice???

[Steve3948]

I think this is the thread Doc was talking about see here.

 

[Evans Electric]

Yes Doodlebug, fit an isolator , try above the bathroom door by ceiling if its clear of the relevant zones or outside the room . Put it on a 15mm deep switch pattress.

 

[doodneylucky13]

ok thanks for that , think my question has been anwsered

 

[Theorysparky]

But........ can i throw the wobbly in ??? please please .......

will the fan have an overrun on it ????

 

[M107]

dual back box dual grid plate with fuse modules one side fan isolator the other.............sorted

 

[Steve3948]

Buy the right fan then you can do away with a FCU.

 

[ProDave]

Let's play devils advocate here.

Am I the ONLY electrician who's been asked by letting agents or landlords, to go and REMOVE the fan isolator switch, to stop the tenants from turning the fan off (because it's noisy) and ending up with damp mouldy bathrooms?

I've never seen the point in them myself. A competent electrician will know how to isolate the supply to replace a fan, even one with a permanent live feed for an over run timer. After all we don't have an isolator next to each ceiling rose so we can isolate the supply when one of those needs replacing.

 

[Evans Electric]

I'm with you there Dave, but I seem to have read many moons ago , its for unskilled persons to maintain or clean .

I always set the timers to full and constantly get asked to set them to minimum . The builder I do a lot for always gets me to set them to minimum too , each to his own I guess.

 

[springcrocus]

I'm fairly sure that the manufacturers instructions state that the fan should be cleaned at least once a year because of buildup on the blades. What are you going to do, call an electrician to clean it?

 

[doodneylucky13]

right my question has been anwsered now. thanks for the input. I think my be i should of typed the question in another way like " is there a reg in the 17th edition saying that you got to have a fan isolater ? and if so where should it be mounted?" or " can someone point me in the right direction with regaurds to a fan isolater for a bathroom?" but thanks to people input, Iv found what iv been looking for in the regs book.

 

[Evans Electric]

I went to replace my neighbour's fan ,in loft , bathroom fitters had left 3 m of flexiduct lying between the joists, not ducted out, with at least half a bucketful of water inside it!!

And a local bathroom fitting shop ,now finished, used to exhaust ceiling fans straight into the loft .

 

[davetheglitz]

Have a look at this thread from post 39 on - directly relevent:-

http://www.talk.electricianforum.co.uk/question-answer-board/20378-fan-perm-live-3.html

 

[sprocketflup]

I went to replace my neighbour's fan ,in loft , bathroom fitters had left 3 m of flexiduct lying between the joists, not ducted out, with at least half a bucketful of water inside it!! And a local bathroom fitting shop ,now finished, used to exhaust ceiling fans straight into the loft .

I installed one fairly recently, when quoting had a quick look in the loft, yep no probs, can bring the duct up thru the unboarded loft and back out thru the soffit, lovely.

no. come installation day i discover the whole gutter and soffit facsia is that preformed concretey stuff. poohsticks. took ages to source a suitable roof vent. lesson learned there, did consider exhausting it into the loft i must admit :innocent

 

[wozz]

Let's play devils advocate here.Am I the ONLY electrician who's been asked by letting agents or landlords, to go and REMOVE the fan isolator switch, to stop the tenants from turning the fan off (because it's noisy) and ending up with damp mouldy bathrooms?

I've never seen the point in them myself. A competent electrician will know how to isolate the supply to replace a fan, even one with a permanent live feed for an over run timer. After all we don't have an isolator next to each ceiling rose so we can isolate the supply when one of those needs replacing.

Couldnt agree more. the unskilled worker doesnt hold water with me if they accessing live parts they should be competent to do so, also pretty sure manuf instructions asks for a electrician to work on the fan not any old joe.

 

[NozSpark]

I personally think that they should be fitted from a fire safety point of view.

You have to remember that extractor fans are basically a motor, and if you stop a motors rotor from turning (siezed bearings) it will overheat

 

[davetheglitz]

I personally think that they should be fitted from a fire safety point of view.You have to remember that extractor fans are basically a motor, and if you stop a motors rotor from turning (siezed bearings) it will overheat

And blow the fuse or trip the RCD. How many Joe public will then know they have to switch the fan isolator off to restore power?

One solution is to supply the bathroom light from the switched side of the isolator - ensures the fan has to be on from a landlords point of view but also provides maintenance isolation.

 

[ProDave]

And blow the fuse or trip the RCD. How many Joe public will then know they have to switch the fan isolator off to restore power?One solution is to supply the bathroom light from the switched side of the isolator - ensures the fan has to be on from a landlords point of view but also provides maintenance isolation.

But that only provides EXACTLY the same "maintenance isolation" as turning off the MCB in the consumer unit doesn't it.

 

[NozSpark]

And blow the fuse or trip the RCD. How many Joe public will then know they have to switch the fan isolator off to restore power?One solution is to supply the bathroom light from the switched side of the isolator - ensures the fan has to be on from a landlords point of view but also provides maintenance isolation.

Are you saying then that you have never been out to a siezed extractor fan???,,, because all the ones that I've been to haven't tripped anything:O

 

[ProDave]

Are you saying then that you have never been out to a siezed extractor fan???,,, because all the ones that I've been to haven't tripped anything:O

I've replaced seized bathroom fans, but they are such tiny motors, they don't seem to get particularly hot or bothered sitting there, energised but not rotating.

 

[m4tty]

An extractor fan will never blow a 3a fuse so what's the point in fitting one ... Manufacturers instructions