Extractor fan has 2 same colour wires (blue) for L and N

[Pete Marsh]

I've got a replacement extractor fan for my bathroom. it's a basic model, no timer or humidity sensor.

I was surprised to find the wires for live and neutral are both the same colour blue though, as shown below! Can anyone tell me how to find out which is which?

 

[Sureitsoff?]

it doesnt matter

 

[Pete Marsh]

it doesnt matter

So I can put live and neutral into either? I did wonder if that was the case, but a couple of other extractor fans I've installed did have coloured coding for L and N e.g. Brown and Blue.

 

[opps]

your fan seems to be russian made and only available via ebay and some polish websites. Is it not supplied with instructions?

 

[Pete Marsh]

your fan seems to be russian made and only available via ebay and some polish websites. Is it not supplied with instructions?

It says Made in Poland on the box but it was bought from eBay. The instructions are a bit vague and doesn't note that there are two wires with the same colour. It does have some Russian instructions too.

 

[SFK]

but a couple of other extractor fans I've installed did have coloured coding for L and N e.g. Brown and Blue.

They would have been good quality and likely also CE/BS marked.

You have got something with dubious quality.

Sorry tmto say but my worry would be that low quality extends into items such as the insulation on the motor coils being poor quality and shorting or overheating, or the driver circuit being poorly designed and overheating.

SFK

 

[conny]

Think I would box it back up and return it as not suitable.

 

[markyd1]

Rubbish send it back

 

[SUNRAY]

With respect to all who have slagged the product, as far as I remember that looks very similar to a fan I purchased from CEF, even the blue wires and orangey brown coloured connector.

The correct answer has already been given in post #2, the polarity doesn't matter a flying fig as all that's on the end of those blue wires is a synchronous motor. Either can be live, the other can be neutral.

 

[Pete Marsh]

With respect to all who have slagged the product, as far as I remember that looks very similar to a fan I purchased from CEF, even the blue wires and orangey brown coloured connector.

The build quality looks pretty much the same as the other two (Manrose) I've bought over the last year. I've posted a couple of photos of the packaging. As far as I can tell it looks up to scratch.

Thanks to the posters confirming that L and N can be either way.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Here is a Manrose fan if you prefer.

Note the wiring colours.

 

[opps]

Here is a Manrose fan if you prefer.

Note the wiring colours.

View attachment 319825

What happened to the other fixing screws?

 

[EFLImpudence]

It's only a picture from the internet.

 

[Fred Blogs]

As said it doesn't matter. And if all the nay sayers only thought about it everything they buy is made in a communist or used to be a communist country because labour is cheap. We do not have any manufacturing in this country since thatcher devastated this country and certain electronic cleaning products moved their production to china.

 

[EFLImpudence]

The instructions are a bit vague and doesn't note that there are two wires with the same colour.

It would not be correct to colour them to signify Line and Neutral.

There is actually no point having Brown and Blue in appliance flexible cable. Both the same colour would not matter. You obviously have to distinguish the CPC(earth conductor).

This would not matter:

Obviously whichever wire is connected to the fuse will be the Line and the other will be the Neutral.
The appliance doesn't know or care because it is, in any case alternating, current.

Without the UK plug and its fuse, the same would apply to the fixed wiring back to the MCB in the consumer unit.

That's why in some parts of the world it doesn't matter which way round you wire the plug or insert it into the socket.