vent axia Vent Axia Kinetic Sentinel Plus B "grinding/humming" noise

[bladerunner94]

Hi Everyone,

 

In my new build flat, which is 4 years old I have a Vent Axia Kinetic Sentinel Plus B model installed. In the first 2 years the machine was operating correctly, I usually replaced filters every 6 month, and I had a major service carried out by HRV Group in 2023 September, where they told me the machine is working correctly. During that service I mentioned to them that I hear an unusual sound from the machine, and it got louder. When the technician visited, he told me it's normal.

 

A year almost passed and yesterday on the 6th of June I noticed the machine got loud like an airplane. I have created a video which you can find here:

 

I contacted Vent Axia to ask about warranty, and if they are able to investigate and rectify the issue without any extra costs for me, but no answer yet.

 

My questions are:

 

Is this noise normal with a 4 year old unit?

What is the warranty on these machines?

What could be causing this excessive noise?

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

[ProDave]

Sounds like motor bearing failure.  Several others have posted about similar issues including at least one who replaced the bearings himself.

[Blooda]

50 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Sounds like motor bearing failure.  Several others have posted about similar issues including at least one who replaced the bearings himself.

 

There is a post here:- 

 

 

@bladerunner94 Can I ask what they do on "major service" do they take the Heat exchanger out and wash it? or do they just give everything a coat of looking at?

 

[bladerunner94]

@Blooda, unfortunately very minimal for the price. I had mixed experience. The engineer said "due to difficult installation location of my MVHR unit", he couldn't remove the side board to do any sort of internal inspection and cleaning. The main reason I wanted a service to have an experienced independent company setting up the correct airflow for my unit, as the people who commissioned the units in our development had no idea how to properly set the airflow, and the systems were running inefficiently, with high humidity level and unbearable heat almost all the time. This has been rectified by HRV group, however I certainly won't call them again and just do the maintenance myself (or maybe a different company in the future). Funny thing, vent axia directly recommended HRV group to me as their authorised service partner.

 

I agree my unit is installed weird as half of the unit is behind a wall, and I have difficulties replacing one of my filter due to lack of space, but nothing a small length screwdriver cannot fix to be honest as I was able to remove all the screws from the panel myself later.

[bladerunner94]

Update: Vent Axia confirmed it's a bearing issue, after I shared the details and the video with them. As my unit is 10 weeks away to be 5 years old, they are apparently sending out to me a complete, brand new motor (497818 Motor Assembly & Patch Cable Kit)! Unfortunately they cannot organise a technician under warranty anymore, as the unit is more than 2 years old, however this new part free of charge is already reassuring. I will update this post after I received and installed the new part to share my experience. However so far, Vent Axia handling the situation prompt and very professional.

[Blooda]

Well done. And thanks for the info.  Ours is still under 5 years old.  

Keep the old motor and fit a replacement [quality SKF?] bearing, ready for the next time.

 

[bladerunner94]

5 hours ago, Blooda said:

Well done. And thanks for the info.  Ours is still under 5 years old.  

Keep the old motor and fit a replacement [quality SKF?] bearing, ready for the next time.

 

Thank you, that's actually a nice suggestion, I like it a lot! I read on this forum about SKF as a trusted replacement brand for our units, so I might give it a go.

[bladerunner94]

Another question: how many bearings are recommended to purchase and in which size? I see on this forum despite being Sentinel Kinetic Plus B model, there might be different size bearings (6mm or 7mm or 8mm etc.)?

[bladerunner94]

Update: after 3 weeks, vent axia sent the replacement motors. They look like this, from manufacturer Torin-Sifan.

 

I didn't manage to remove the old fans yet, as the unit is built into a very difficult position in my flat, and I will need another person so we can remove the unit, and the old motors with the dodgy bearings.