Water is pooling in ventilator fan due to condensation

last year

Above our bathroom is an attic where the ventilation pipe travels to a hole in the top of the roof. The ventilator sits horizontally in the attic between the hole in the bathroom ceiling and the hole in the roof. The attic is not insulated so in the colder months it is cold there which means the ventilation pipes are cold and perfect for the moist air in the bathroom to condense while having a shower and then eventually pool at the bottom point, which is the fan, and create a lot of noise and perhaps safety issues as the fan blades continuously hit and pickup the pooled water. The distance of the ventilation system is not very long, perhaps only 9ft (2.5m). I planned to insulate the space between the ceiling and attic floor as well as insulate the ventilation pipes, but I don’t think this will be enough to prevent the issue. The ventilator is similar, if not the same, as this one…https://www.maxi-trade.nl/vents-buisventilator-quietline-125mm-197m3h-montagebeugel/.

Any help to fix this issue is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Featured Answer

sktn77a

last year

last modified: last year

Looks like the bathroom was remodeled at some point and the vent was relocated. The longer vent pipe isn't helping your problem. Mike's suggestions would appear to be the first thing to try. If that doesn't work, you may need to install some kind of drain at the blower motor (like a high efficiency furnace uses). What's that small corrugated pipe next to the vent?

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Comments (7)

mike_home
last year
The duct work needs to be covered insulation so that condensation will not occur. You use can a duct insulation sleeve to cover the existing duct, or replace it with an insulated type. You should also cover the fan itself with insulation. I recommend adding a slope to the ventilation and elbow going up towards to the roof so if there is any water condensation it will drain back towards the bathroom.
S Langedijk thanked mike_home
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S Langedijk
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the advice! I will definitely insulate the pipes, but I wonder since the pipe outside on the roof is so long that condensation will still occur anyways. The corrugated pipe next to the vent is the electrical cable for powering the fan.

would it be ok to reposition the ventilator so that it's vertical instead of horizontal? I know that wouldn't fix the condensation issue, but at least water wouldn't pool in the actual fan and it wouldn't make all that noise. Or is that a no, no?
mike_home
last year
Out of curiosity, I searched for an inline ventilation fan similar to yours. The installation instructions for the one I found highly recommends installing the fan vertically. If it must be installed horizontally then the fan should be mounted with a 30 degree tilt so condensation does not accumulate inside the fan. It makes sense this type of fan is designed to ventilate in an upward direction.

The insulation won't guarantee no condensation on the coldest days of the year. It will help reduce the problem.
PRO
Austin Air Companie
last year
Thanks for the advice! I will definitely insulate the pipes, but I wonder since the pipe outside on the roof is so long that condensation will still occur anyways. The corrugated pipe next to the vent is the electrical cable for powering the fan.

Yeah you would be right. This is why trying to expel humid moisture heavy air thru what is typically used as a crapper vent to vent bathroom fumes isn't a good idea 9 times out of 10.

You'll get the occasional guy who does it and it works. Maybe they take cold showers?

So you go to all this trouble to install vertically, then the vent fan in the bath is going to drip.

A solution that keeps giving to more problems.
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last year
"This is why trying to expel humid moisture heavy air thru what is typically used as a crapper vent to vent bathroom fumes isn't a good idea 9 times out of 10."

Bath vent fans are indeed designed for exhausting both moisture-laden air as well as odors. The OP's issue isn't the selection of an inappropriate fan, it's an installation issue that might not be an installation issue in a warmer climate zone.

This post is a duplicate post. In the OP's other post, I suggested a condensate trap and drain which are designed for this type of application:

https://www.bpcventilation.com/ductwork-condensation-trap
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last year
last modified: last year
The bath vent fan is this application is similar to the blower on a condensing furnace. It has a condensate drain, too, for the same reason. If you'd like to educate yourself on the application, Ray, you only need to click on the link provided and then click on "description" or "technical specification." They don't include pictures because the description is simple and straightforward, just like the device.

Water is pooling in ventilator fan due to condensation

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Water is pooling in ventilator fan due to condensation

sktn77a

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mike_home

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