Dylan Woods

Hello forum, I am seeking some advice in relation to internal damp problems at my in-laws house on the Norfolk coast. The house is around 150 years old, end of terrace, solid masonry walls with a stone flint exterior, which is painted white externally on 2 of the 3 elevations. The house was refurbished around 10 years ago, at which point internal dry lining was installed on some of the internal walls but not all. There are two separate areas in the house where the damp is most prevalent and I am seeking some advice as to what might be causing it. The house does not have a bathroom extractor fan or any passive background means of ventilation such as trickle vents, but as a house is used infrequently for a few days every 3-4 weeks, so not occupied all of the time. Damp Area No1 (see photos below) Damp visible on ground and first floor level on one external wall. The external photo highlights the position of the damp externally. The damp patches are visible at ground and first floor. Damp at high level and low level, both wet looking walls and blistering. This area of wall is plaster on solid wall (not dry lined) and I am unsure if it is lime or cement based plaster. The damp is blistering the plaster. The ground floor is partially subterranean but only a few hundred mm I think. The gutter apparently sometime overflows due to being connected to the neighbours, however I am now sure this would cause wall damp and apparently the roof flashings have been inspected and are in good order. Damp Area No2 (see photos below) These damp patches are located on walls that are above external ground level – see external photo showing internal floor level in blue and damp in red. These walls are dry lined. Generally damp at low level with damp patches and ‘spots’. I have suggested to in-laws that they should install some background ventilation and get appropriate extractor fans, however I think the problem is more serious that this given the varying types of damp. Any help or advice much appreciated and thank you in advance. Best, Dylan

@TimEtherington did you manage a successful repair after stripping down and finding the fault?

Hi dpmiller, Thanks for the input. Yes, it is two back to back fans and they seem free to rotate all fine. How would you work out if the temperature sensor has been damaged or disturbed? Cheers, Dylan

Hi all, Really appreciate all of your replies. Food for thought. In response: ProDave - I have removed the fan and it seems free to rotate. Changing the filters seems pretty fool proof so yes, pretty certain they're in correctly. Temp - thanks for the links, I'll try and figure out if its a capacitor issue. Do you think this is something a layman could realistically diagnose and repair? Post and beam - I took the filters out, turned the main off and then back. It did the same vibrating noise for 10 or so seconds, I then tried to activate the unit via switch and it still doesn't spin jfb - I have taken the unit away from the ducting and dismantled it. Whilst doing this I attempted to turn the power on without ducting connected, unfortunately no luck. I have attached a couple of images from the manual, if of any use to anyone. Thanks all again. Dylan

Hello all, I’m looking for some advice regarding a recently broken MVHR unit in my flat, model Heatrae Sadia Advance. The unit is out of warranty and Baxi, who provide product support, have suggested I employ a Heating & Ventilation engineer to diagnose the problem. Before I do, I would like to attempt to resolve the issue myself, perhaps with some help from these forums. Where I am up to: · I have recently changed the filters on the unit and given the fan unit a clean. · I performed a reset as per the manual. · I note that my unit doesn’t have an LED indicator on the top (see attached photo) so I am unsure why the malfunction has happened. · When I turn the unit off by mains power, and then turn it back on, the unit makes a vibrating sound for around 10 seconds and then stops. · Baxi have recommended I check for blockages in the ducting or that I may have any issue with the motor assembly or PCB, both may need replacing. My questions / thoughts from this are: 1. Does anyone have experience of this issue? 2. New components are very expensive (upwards of £550) and I have no guarantee that these will fix the problem. It seems a big risk to purchase these blindly. See links below to components. 3. If the ducting is dirty, would this stop the unit from working altogether? We’ve had the unit for about 5 years. 4. I found a similar looking MVHR unit (link below) and wondered if this might be a more cost effective replacement than attempting to replace individual components. Any help or insights would be much appreciated. Or if I have come to the wrong place, guidance on where I should post this question would also be appreciated. Cheers, Dylan https://www.showerdoc.com/heatrae-sadia-advance-200-plus-motor-assy-7035035 https://www.heatingspareparts.com/boiler-spares/partno/7035035/507129 https://www.ventilationland.co.uk/product/27745/itho-daalderop-hru-200-eco-unit-e-rft-high-rise-200m-h.html?utm_source=googleshoppingUK&utm_campaign=googleshopping-FeedUK&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2cWgBhDYARIsALggUhqMqR2fvlrLrRGSZYLv6JYfkKiOJ4pMz7CLU8yueYthDoUlDgeQqrYaAq9gEALw_wcB