Anyone have an extractor fan like this?

[swee'pea99]

The extractor in our downstairs loo has stopped extracting. It just groans gently to itself. If I look up into the gizzards I can see fan blades revolving, at about 1rpm. I'd like to get it out and have a play around, and if necessary replace it. But I can't see how to actually remove the thing. Or, in the first instance, remove the top plate to let me have a proper look at the innards.

It's all very neat & sealed...

You can lift the edges of the top plate a mm or two by fingernail, all the way round equally, but it seems firmly gripped in the middle. At first I assumed a screw under that central 'bud'

...so I tried tweaking it with the tip of a Stanley knife. But nope, it certainly doesn't feel happy to pop off. Then I saw that little white screw head on the left, so for want of any other obvious options I had a few tweaks with that - made no difference. Didn't think it would.

Ok, so plan B - remove the whole unit. Now, I didn't fit it, and the main unit is pretty inaccessible, but I did manage to get my phone up into the recess enough to get this:

Some kind of spring-loaded nylon thingy. Now, I can't get my hand round the other side to feel whether there's one on t'other side too (my guess would be yes), but my efforts to raise the unit a little so's to be able to squeeze the clips closed so's to release the unit have been pathetically ineffective. That clip thingy is strong, and it's going nowhere. I guess if push comes to shove I can always go the other way and try to break the clip thingy, but I was wondering if anyone might recognise the unit and come up with the ideal - and probably obvious, except to me - solution.

Any suggestions/advice/ hints 'n tips much appreciated.

 

[CXRAndy]

There might be screws positioned to pull back the clips. Is there a brand?

 

[cougie uk]

Can you slide it in one direction so that the clips come off the edge ?

 

[ColinJ]

Can you get a length of string in round the clips and wind that tighter to close them?

 

[OldShep]

Have you tried prising the whole square cover from the ceiling? They usually come off easily for cleaning.

 

[slowmotion]

I would try and prise/ pull one corner of the face plate downwards and then slip a metal ruler into the gap. Use the ruler to pull the plastic clip off the plasterboard. Repeat with the other three corners.

 

[ColinJ]

Can you get a length of string in round the clips and wind that tighter to close them?

Actually, a long length of a ribbon-like material would be less likely to slip under the ends of the clips?

 

[classic33]

Push the unit to one side, away from one of the fittings holding it in place, and then push the one nearest the edge, in an attempt to get it inside the hole it sits in.

The above method assumes there are only two clips as shown. It would work with three would be but harder.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Have you tried prising the whole square cover from the ceiling? They usually come off easily for cleaning.

This. There's likely a tiny dimple that you push in and then the top cover will come off

 

[bruce1530]

As said above, they usually come off with some gentle persuasion. Some have a couple of screws on the front, under little dome covers, but don't see any here. Similarly, don't see any screws on the edges.
Suspect the screw head you can see inside is maybe the delay timer. Looks like that one might be a "fit once and forget" model.

It looks to be a similar design to this one.... same grille, albeit not chrome https://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-...om-extractor-fan-with-timer-chrome-240v/12473


Can you rotate the whole unit?
If you can get something in where your phone was (say a steel rule) to push the clips in a bit, rotate the thing 180% then repeat...
Or rotate while pulling down - the clip would cut through the plasterboard, but you can rotate 90" when replacing

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks all. Lots of good suggestions, but...

There might be screws positioned to pull back the clips. Is there a brand?

Not that I can see, and I couldn't realistically unscrew anything in that cavity - I can only just get the phone in enough to take the photo.

Can you slide it in one direction so that the clips come off the edge ?

Nope. It's absolutely immovable.

Can you get a length of string in round the clips and wind that tighter to close them?

I could try, but having pressed manually, I just know that wouldn't exert enough pressure. I couldn't squeeze them even a mm.

Have you tried prising the whole square cover from the ceiling? They usually come off easily for cleaning.

Yup. Not this one. Like I say, the edges raise easily, but the middle feels absolutely fixed.

I would try and prise/ pull one corner of the face plate downwards and then slip a metal ruler into the gap. Use the ruler to pull the plastic clip off the plasterboard. Repeat
with the other three corners.

The face plate and the clip are on opposite sides of the plasterboard, and the clip just isn't budging.

Push the unit to one side, away from one of the fittings holding it in place, and then push the one nearest the edge, in an attempt to get it inside the hole it sits in.

The above method assumes there are only two clips as shown. It would work with three would be but harder.

As above, I can't move it at all.

This. There's likely a tiny dimple that you push in and then the top cover will come off

That would be nice! But like I say, I've tried levering of the only real candidate and...nope.

It looks to be a similar design to this one.... same grille, albeit not chrome https://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-...om-extractor-fan-with-timer-chrome-240v/12473

Hmmm. Indeed. I have to say I'm leaning toward just brutalising the clip and yanking the whole thing down through the hole, then replacing it with that very unit - assuming they have one with a white face plate.

Thanks again. Any more ideas, I'm all ears...

 

[alicat]

How pongy does your downstairs loo get? Could you just turn it off and forget it exists?

 

[slowmotion]

Our wall-mounted bathroom fan needs replacing about once every seven or ten years. The fan/motor bearings just start going graunchy and the noise grates. You can spray some aerosol lubricant in but it's a very short-term fix. The one we have is a low voltage DC fan with a remote transformer. A replacement for the fan unit was about £12 last time.

Rip your old fan off the ceiling and replace it. Ebay has lots.

 

[newts]

The cover just clicks in if there are no visible screw cover caps, try a scraper blade in from each side in turn. Once the cover is off there'll be 2 screws holding the fixing clips. Alternatively get an electrician to take a look whilst they're checking the integrity of the lighting circuit. 🤨

(might be one screw holding the cover on, does the small plastic cap in the centre come off?)

 

[classic33]

If you are going to yank it out, bear in mind that you will end up pulling more than the fan/extractor system down.

There will be damage to the ceiling as the type of fitting shown is designed to go one way only, up in this case. It's a hollow wall fitting.