# Anyone have an extractor fan like this?



## swee'pea99 (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

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


----------



## cougie uk (3 Oct 2022)

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


----------



## ColinJ (3 Oct 2022)

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


----------



## OldShep (3 Oct 2022)

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


----------



## slowmotion (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

ColinJ said:


> 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 (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

OldShep said:


> 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 (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

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



CXRAndy said:


> 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.


cougie uk said:


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


Nope. It's absolutely immovable.


ColinJ said:


> 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.


OldShep said:


> 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.


slowmotion said:


> 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. 


classic33 said:


> 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.


Bonefish Blues said:


> 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. 



bruce1530 said:


> 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 (3 Oct 2022)

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


----------



## slowmotion (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

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 (3 Oct 2022)

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.


----------



## presta (3 Oct 2022)

alicat said:


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



I put a fan in the bathroom to try to curb the mould. It used to run non-stop from when I showered first thing in the morning until bedtime, and never made any difference at all, so when it packed up I never bothered replacing it.


----------



## ClichéGuevara (3 Oct 2022)

Well it clearly doesn't work anyway, so......


----------



## slowmotion (3 Oct 2022)

classic33 said:


> 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.



Pah! Just a spot of "making good"......


----------



## Cerdic (3 Oct 2022)

ClichéGuevara said:


> Well it clearly doesn't work anyway, so......
> 
> View attachment 663308



Beat me to it…


----------



## TissoT (4 Oct 2022)

The outer cover comes off by the screw in the centre behind the cap
once off you can get your fingers in to release the clips


----------



## Milkfloat (4 Oct 2022)

+




 =


----------



## swee'pea99 (4 Oct 2022)

Interesting....much to consider, and try!

Thanks all. I'll report back on progress, if any.


----------



## Phaeton (4 Oct 2022)

As others have said I would have expected the front to come off, failing that can you get a wire coat hanger into the void, attached to the clip to pull & break them, then the unit should hopefully drop on side, to then possibly twist & do the same to the clips at the other side.

Remember to disconnect the power before doing all of this.


----------

