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Crassus

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Hi all, I'm a newbie to the forum and I'm replacing a wall mounted extractor fan in the kitchen. The existing fan wasn't working when we bought the house, but it is wired on twin and earth cable and is switched off and on by an isolation switch (no pull cord). I assume that it didn't have a timer. The new fan does have a timer and so has a terminal for a 3 core cable (L1, L2 N). So my question is, because I'm not too concerned about the timer facility can I get the new fan to work just by connecting it to the existing cable? If so, would I just connect the live supply wire to L1 (switched live) in the fan. Even if this works is there a better solution?
 
Without seeing the instructions, I can't be 100% sure, but it's an educated guess that suggests if you connect L1 and L2 together and connect them to the live, it will work as you intend.
 
Without seeing the instructions, I can't be 100% sure, but it's an educated guess that suggests if you connect L1 and L2 together and connect them to the live, it will work as you intend.

Hi SparkyChick, thanks for your reply. So just to be clear, if I connect the supply to a terminal block, and then take a 2 core wire from the terminal block live to the L1 and L2 terminals in the fan, that should work?
 
Hi SparkyChick, thanks for your reply. So just to be clear, if I connect the supply to a terminal block, and then take a 2 core wire from the terminal block live to the L1 and L2 terminals in the fan, that should work?

I believe so. But as I say, without seeing the instructions it's an educated guess based purely on the labelling L1, L2 - Line, N - Neutral
 
Hi,have you confirmed the voltage of the old fan?

Mains switching and mains cable,does not mean mains voltage :)

Hi PEG, I've checked and the old fan is 220-240 volts which is the same as the new one. However the old fan is 40 watts whereas the new fan is 20 watts, does that make any difference? The power cable from the isolation switch to the fan looks like 1.5 twin and earth rather 2.5 twin and earth mains cable.
 
Make sure you safely isolate the circuit, then double check (don’t know how you’ll do that but it’s been advised now)
 
Make sure you safely isolate the circuit, then double check (don’t know how you’ll do that but it’s been advised now)

Hi Rpa0, the isolation switch isolates the fan and also acts as the on/off switch as there is no pull cord. The isolation switch is fused and the fuse has been taken out so the wiring to the fan is not powered.
 
In the trade we use contact voltage indicators that will definitely tell you whether electrons want to flow up your arm or not. It gives a massive peace of mind. I won’t say I never touch a circuit without the voltage indicator used but I will need to ‘know’ that circuit and it’s isolation point before getting my grubby hands in there. We check Line to Earth, line to neutral and neutral to earth so that you don’t get an surprises.
If you haven’t got the contact voltage indicator then be as careful as you can that’s all.
 
I believe so. But as I say, without seeing the instructions it's an educated guess based purely on the labelling L1, L2 - Line, N - Neutral

Hi Sparky, I have a further question, and it is just out of curiosity really, is there a difference between 1) running two cores of wire from the live terminal on a connection block, one to L1 on the fan and one to L2 on the fan, and 2) running one core of wire from the live terminal on the connection block to L1 on the fan, and then running one core of wire from L1 on the fan to L2 on the fan? Would both of these configurations get the fan to work?
 
In the trade we use contact voltage indicators that will definitely tell you whether electrons want to flow up your arm or not. It gives a massive peace of mind. I won’t say I never touch a circuit without the voltage indicator used but I will need to ‘know’ that circuit and it’s isolation point before getting my grubby hands in there. We check Line to Earth, line to neutral and neutral to earth so that you don’t get an surprises.
If you haven’t got the contact voltage indicator then be as careful as you can that’s all.

Hi Rpa07, thanks for the advice, I definitely will, I'm a novice with limited knowledge of electricity and I know that it is definitely not something to be messed with.
 
Hi Sparky, I have a further question, and it is just out of curiosity really, is there a difference between 1) running two cores of wire from the live terminal on a connection block, one to L1 on the fan and one to L2 on the fan, and 2) running one core of wire from the live terminal on the connection block to L1 on the fan, and then running one core of wire from L1 on the fan to L2 on the fan? Would both of these configurations get the fan to work?

Yes. If you only have twin and earth, then link L1 and L2 in the fan itself.
 

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