Mvhr funny noises and dripping

[MJNewton]

3 hours ago, Pocster said:

The water I assume must be from ‘extract from dwelling ‘ . Still confused how this happens ….

Remember the 'extract from dwelling' air will have some heat extracted from it thus raising its relative humidity which, at the saturation point, will cause condensation to form. 

[Pocster]

3 minutes ago, MJNewton said:

Remember the 'extract from dwelling' air will have some heat extracted from it thus raising its relative humidity which, at the saturation point, will cause condensation to form. 

So perhaps its ’normal ‘ ??

[MJNewton]

2 minutes ago, Pocster said:

So perhaps its ’normal ‘ ??

 

Yeah, and of the four air sections I'd expect it to be the only one where water would appear. (Okay, perhaps the occasional stray raindrop might get sucked in through the outside air intake too.)

 

There's still the issue of why this water wasn't draining away though. Or have you solved that?

 

[ProDave]

So you know both sides collect condensate, and both have a hole in the bottom.  So find another fitting then tee both condensate outlets to your drain.  Think of it as a product upgrade.

[Pocster]

Well !

vent axis instructions insist on ONE drain .

Apparently according to them - 2 drains can conflict and cause vacuum on the other .

So drain on left side as instructions dictate . Water on right - as there is no drain .

I want to know why vent axia don’t mention this ….

I simply can’t be the only person ever to experience this .

Edited November 20 by Pocster

[Canski]

I’m having a similar problem with one of my in-line fans. It was noisy from day one so the plumber turned the power down. It still passed the ventilation test but since then got louder and louder then silent apart from the sound of trickling water. He’s just been up in the loft to inspect and drained some water out and turned it back up a notch. It sounds fine at the moment but ( while it’s still under guarantee) he’s going to order a replacement and switch them over. There is a very slight rise (about 10 mm in 250 mm) from the extractor to the condense trap but he thinks this won’t be the cause of the problem. When he installs the replacement he will raise it up anyway. 

[Mike]

I can't help with that system, but:

• Condensation should only form on the exhaust ("to atmosphere") side. In winter, warm moist air from the house is being chilled by the incoming air, so the air will no longer be able to hold as much water, causing condensation if the temperature drops enough.
• If a unit isn't built with good enough insulation between the supply and exhaust sides, or if it allows air to leak from one side to the other to any great extent, then theoretically condensation could form on the wrong side. I've not heard of that happening though, and it would be surprising if that happened only after 3 years of use. Unless the heat exchanger has been removed and hasn't been seated correctly afterwards?
• You definitely don't want two drainage points; that would be a route for air to leak between the intake and the exhaust.

[Pocster]

12 hours ago, Mike said:

I can't help with that system, but:

• Condensation should only form on the exhaust ("to atmosphere") side. In winter, warm moist air from the house is being chilled by the incoming air, so the air will no longer be able to hold as much water, causing condensation if the temperature drops enough.
• If a unit isn't built with good enough insulation between the supply and exhaust sides, or if it allows air to leak from one side to the other to any great extent, then theoretically condensation could form on the wrong side. I've not heard of that happening though, and it would be surprising if that happened only after 3 years of use. Unless the heat exchanger has been removed and hasn't been seated correctly afterwards?
• You definitely don't want two drainage points; that would be a route for air to leak between the intake and the exhaust.

Condensation is as you say on the exhaust pipes ( to atmosphere ) . So as expected .

I’ve never removed the heat exchanger unit now so *assume* it’s in the right way round ! . How can I tell ? I think it would fit in either way which sounds like bad design imho .

Heat exchanger is a snug fit so no chance of sitting incorrectly.

[Pocster]

So it’s dripping again from the front . Opened both valve caps empty of water . So the heat exchanger I assume .

Do I clean it ? Just rinse water through it ??

[Pocster]

Notice felt guide on one side bent . Other side fell off . Ct1 that side back on ?

Is this enough to cause water to run forwards ? 

[Pocster]

Stuck a small spirit level inside it as best I could . Assume really I want it to be slightly tilted back so water runs away from the front and to the left where my drain is . Seems to be the opposite in both axis !!

[Pocster]

I managed to pack it off the wall at the base . So it tips a bit more backwards .

At this point in time as it’s run flawlessly for 4 yrs - I can only assume it’s moved slightly causing water to pool forwards and to the right ( bit with no drain ) .

Or maybe dirt/ dust in the heat exchanger changing water flow direction ??? . How best clean that ? . Just sit in the bath and run hot water and detergent through it ??

 

All back together now . Want too see that water out the front has been solved . Then it’s in the lap of the gods if it flows left ( hurrah ) or right ( boo ) 

Edited November 21 by Pocster

[Eric]

Just wash the heat exchanger in the bath, I’m sure I read somewhere that it has to be fully dry before it’s fitted though?

 

I had to pack my vent axia unit out a touch at the bottom as I had water coming out of the front but only slightly, this helped the issue. I was shocked at how much water the unit produced in the winter as I was catching it in a bucket until I got the drain sorted.

 

Mine was in a cold attic & insulated as good as I could get it.

 

[Pocster]

7 minutes ago, Eric said:

Just wash the heat exchanger in the bath, I’m sure I read somewhere that it has to be fully dry before it’s fitted though?

 

I had to pack my vent axia unit out a touch at the bottom as I had water coming out of the front but only slightly, this helped the issue. I was shocked at how much water the unit produced in the winter as I was catching it in a bucket until I got the drain sorted.

 

Mine was in a cold attic & insulated as good as I could get it.

 

I’ll let it run for tonight and see . When I did take the heat exchanger out it did have a surprisingly large amount of water in it .

 

[Chanmenie]

On 20/11/2024 at 15:39, Pocster said:

Poor vent axia ! . The ‘technical’ guy is obsessed that as I don’t have a Hepvo valve this is the issue . I’ve tried explaining multiple times that the water is in a section with no valve . He clearly doesn’t get it !

I bet you spoke to the same guy I did, I had a strange gurgling noise, tech guy said I have to have a Hepvo valve but I said the instructions say a U Trap is ok.

Any ways I used gaffa tape where the condensate pipe enters the stand pipe trap and that stopped the gurgling.

I am getting condensation on the left filter, haven't removed the heat exchanger yet, and don’t have any water dripping out.

My unit set for Left Handed and it’s tilted backwards so I assume the drain is working correctly.

[Pocster]

9 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

I bet you spoke to the same guy I did, I had a strange gurgling noise, tech guy said I have to have a Hepvo valve but I said the instructions say a U Trap is ok.

Any ways I used gaffa tape where the condensate pipe enters the stand pipe trap and that stopped the gurgling.

I am getting condensation on the left filter, haven't removed the heat exchanger yet, and don’t have any water dripping out.

My unit set for Left Handed and it’s tilted backwards so I assume the drain is working correctly.

What confuses me is you can configure left or right - but how does the water know which side to run too ! ? 🤣

[RobLe]

Vaguely reminiscent of my vent axis sentinel kinetic BH plus - it was installed 12 years ago ish, and some 6 or so years ago it started leaking.  When I took off the front panel, the plastic base had a cm of water in it (it’s right under where the mains elec pcb is!).  It has a drain, that had been working absolutely fine for years, with lots of condensate coming out of it.  In confusion I ended up tee-ing in the other condensate drain which fixed it.  On my model the drains both come from the same void at the base of the unit, so it can’t be an issue using both.  Maybe I should have some sort of routine dettol type drains maintainance ?  I didn’t actually discover what was wrong, just bodged another pipe on🥴

[Blooda]

12 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

tech guy said I have to have a Hepvo valve but I said the instructions say a U Trap is ok.

 

 

Depends where you are draining to, if you are draining to foul drain, then a waterless valve [commonly known by the trade name of the leading brand Hep_vO, or more colloquially known as a <Censored> Trap] is to be used.  This is because a U Trap can dry out and let smells up into your MVHR, and by nature of design distribute those smells throughout the house.

 

[Pocster]

No water out of front . But some still pooling in right side where there’s no drain . Think I’ll have to do the double drain bodge 

[Pocster]

38 minutes ago, Blooda said:

 

Depends where you are draining to, if you are draining to foul drain, then a waterless valve [commonly known by the trade name of the leading brand Hep_vO, or more colloquially known as a <Censored> Trap] is to be used.  This is because a U Trap can dry out and let smells up into your MVHR, and by nature of design distribute those smells throughout the house.

 

The current Hepvo goes straight into a discharge pipe and outside ( not into drain ) . Think I’ll just install another water less trap on the other outlet and connect them together .

Edited November 22 by Pocster

[Pocster]

35+10 ( postage ) for another comparable valve! - rip off!

 

Tempted to swap this syphon trap to the side where the water seems to pool and stick a bottle trap on the other and link them together. That seem ok??

Edited November 22 by Pocster

[Stones]

On 19/11/2024 at 22:07, Roundtuit said:

The only time I've had dripping and funny noises is when the condensate drain was blocked with biofilm snot and water built up to the fan blades. Now temperatures have dropped condensate levels will have increased. Have you checked inside the unit to make sure condensate is flowing away OK?

 

Same here, on the extract side, condensate drain blocked with biosnot, water built up until the fan started churning it.

 

I

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, Stones said:

 

Same here, on the extract side, condensate drain blocked with biosnot, water built up until the fan started churning it.

 

I

No blockage for me 

[Chanmenie]

13 hours ago, Pocster said:

What confuses me is you can configure left or right - but how does the water know which side to run too ! ? 🤣

Theoretically it should only condensate or get rain water from the atmosphere side, which is the side you configure it to.

mine I’d also configured for left side

[Stones]

14 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

Theoretically it should only condensate or get rain water from the atmosphere side, which is the side you configure it to.

mine I’d also configured for left side

 

Have to agree with this - I wonder if condensate has  formed in the heat exchanger as it's pulling air from outside inside - if the extract air was cooler than the incoming air, and the incoming warm air was moisture laden, it would potentially condense on the intake side of the exchanger fins, then run down through the fins and collect where it has.