Vortice Micro 100 Bathroom Extractor Won't Turn Off

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I had a Vortice Micro 100 T HCS (Timer and Humidistat model) that was fitted by Barratt around 7 years ago and it started to have a bearing problem.

I replaced it with the exact same model of fan, to try to minimise problems when fitting it myself.

However, the new fan just comes on when I turn the isolation switch on (regardless of whether the light is on or not) and just runs continuously. The day I fitted it, it ran for over 12 hours and I just turned it off to have another look at the wiring.

I have bridged terminals L2 and 4 in the same way that Barratt did. According to the manual this puts the fan in high speed mode. Without this bridging wire, the fan doesn't work at all.

The timer pot is set to minimum (around 3 mins) and the humidistat is set to 70% RH, both just like the old unit.

Photos of old unit and new one:

Old Wiring
New Wiring

I can see that on the new unit the red/grey wires on the right-most terminals are swapped, but I assume this is just how it has been manufactured, since the manual doesn't mention anything about doing this.

Can anyone advise?
 
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How likely is it, really, to be faulty though?

I can't imagine that every time Vortice manufacture one of these things, they are flipping a coin whether it's going to be faulty or not.. In reality it's probably, what, 1 in a thousand that are faulty? Even less?

Am I really that unlucky?
 
How likely is it, really, to be faulty though?

I can't imagine that every time Vortice manufacture one of these things, they are flipping a coin whether it's going to be faulty or not.. In reality it's probably, what, 1 in a thousand that are faulty? Even less?

Am I really that unlucky?
I have been... more than once:mad: As has been said faulty new kit is becoming increasingly more common.

First well done on taking the pictures(y)


Can you confirm the 'before' picture was before you started to undo any wires? Is there any way whatsoever the grey and black were round the other way? I ask this as the grey tends to be used for Neutral more than the black.
On that point are you able to get to the other end of the cable for another picture?

If the black is totally and completely definitely neutral I'd be tempted to wire the old fan back in, if you still have it, to verify it works wired that way for peace of mind (yes I know it seems stupid).
 
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Jobbo:

You are just as likely as anyone else to get the faulty one.


Anyway:

Assuming the old fan worked as it should and the isolator, light and switch have not been altered, and as the fan starts without the light switch being on, I would deduce that the humidistat is operating the fan.

Turn the humidistat up to 90% and see if it stops; however, bear in mind you will probably have to wait until the set time elapses before the fan actually stops.


If that doesn't work then I think you are indeed one in a thousand.
 
Thanks Sunray:
Can you confirm the 'before' picture was before you started to undo any wires? Is there any way whatsoever the grey and black were round the other way?
Yes, that was the first time the cover had been opened since it was installed 7 years ago, so no way they could have been around the other way. How would I confirm (using a multimeter) that the black wire is neutral? Or confirm what the other wires are..?

On that point are you able to get to the other end of the cable for another picture?
I wouldn't really know where to look.. the mains cable disappears into the ceiling to I don't know where.

EFLImpudence:
Turn the humidistat up to 90% and see if it stops
Thanks for the suggestion; I've actually tried this, but after setting it to 90% and connecting it all back up, the fan came on when I turned the isolator on, even when the light was off, so I assumed it didn't make a difference.


What do you think about the red/grey wires on the right-most terminals? That's the only thing that's really "different" between the 2 fans. However, I can't imagine that was done by the original installer...
 
What do you think about the red/grey wires on the right-most terminals? That's the only thing that's really "different" between the 2 fans. However, I can't imagine that was done by the original installer...
It depends how the fan is assembled.

If they connect to the correct capacitor wires (if it matters) then it is not important.

Can you distinguish between the capacitor terminals?


However, your problem is the fan won't stop - it does sort of work.
 
I can't imagine that every time Vortice manufacture one of these things, they are flipping a coin whether it's going to be faulty or not..
That's actually not a bad analogy. If products are faulty 'at random' (be it 1 in 1,000, 1 in a million or whatever) then it's essentially the same a tossing a 1000-sided (or 1million-sided) coin - or, more realistically, choosing one card out of a shuffled pack numbered 1 to 1,000 (or 1 to 1 million)!
In reality it's probably, what, 1 in a thousand that are faulty? Even less? Am I really that unlucky?
I suppose that is an everyday way of putting it but, as EFLI has said, you're no less likely to be 'unlucky' than is anyone else. If 1 in 1,000 (or whatever) is faulty, then someone has to end up with it, and you're as likely to be that someone as is anyone else.

Kind Regards, John
 
Just as likely as anyone else, yes, but in my example that likelihood is still 1 in 1000. I suppose I'll put the lottery on, because:

I had a professional electrician come and investigate, and he couldn't figure out what's wrong with this thing. We went over everything I've done, went over the manual, he confirmed which mains wire is which coming from the light switch/isolator and tried out a few combinations of wiring up the terminals. He was as stumped as me in the end.

I've asked him to get back to me with a recommendation for a replacement unit, which he'll be coming back to fit for me. It's at least peace of mind that A) I wasn't being stupid and something really-not-obvious was wrong and B) I know he'll do the job well.

I should at least be able to get a refund for the fan. This whole project of replacing a relatively simple device with an exact 1:1 copy should not have been this hard.

Thanks all for your advice
 
Just as likely as anyone else, yes, but in my example that likelihood is still 1 in 1000.
Sure, but what people seem often to forget that, no matter how low the probability of something happening to someone, provided it is not a zero probability, it still will happen to some people and, if it is a purely random event, any individual is just as likely to be an 'unlucky victim' as is anyone else - so one can never really use an argument that a particular happen 'cannot' be a random event, just because it is rare, or very rare.

Kind Regards, John
 
Sure, but what people seem often to forget that, no matter how low the probability of something happening to someone, provided it is not a zero probability, it still will happen to some people and, if it is a purely random event, any individual is just as likely to be an 'unlucky victim' as is anyone else - so one can never really use an argument that a particular happen 'cannot' be a random event, just because it is rare, or very rare.

Kind Regards, John
I don't think it's that rare, I've had a fair amount of having to return things.
 
I don't think it's that rare, I've had a fair amount of having to return things.
Yes, but I suspect that, like me, you probably buy/order a very large number of 'things' each year. In that situation, even if the probability of any single item being faulty is very low, you could still find yourself having to return some things.

Kind Regards, John
 

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