Chapter 2 begins just one week after the previous failure.
Arriving promptly at 9:30 the obligatory cup of tea and chat began and it was after 10am before any work began.
Through the week I had been in contact with the client regarding a method of cutting the plastic pipe in-situ and a credible solution had been found, a small abrasive cutting disc mounted on a 10mm screw locked in place with a nut. It seemed as though it would work.
Starting in the first bathroom, the one with the light tunnel, I removed the old fan and set about cutting the pipe. With the disc mounted on the cordless drill it cut easily through the plastic with not too much vibration or snagging. The pipe was soon cut back. Unfortunately, so was the conduit and cables enclosed therein. When the cut section of pipe was removed we found that the conduit had been taped to the tube just about where the cut was made and, although it was impossible to know this, it was embarrassing. Note to self: I should have removed the cables first!
Fortunately the flexible conduit was easily positioned to reach the fan opening and the cables, though shorter, also reached with no problem so I simply removed the cables, cut back the conduit a little more and no-one knows about the third schoolboy error.
Next was the task of mating up the fan, sleeving and existing tubing. The sleeve was a perfect fit over the fan and by using the foam tape supplied we created a good seal at the other end of the sleeve. With a little careful alignment the three parts were fitted together perfectly. Finally, some true success.
Pulling the cable set through the corrugated conduit proved quite difficult, it is obvious that there is a sharp bend in the run somewhere inside the wall near to the junction box but, with some effort, the cables were installed and the final connections made. Now for the moment of truth.
Power restored to the circuit, the lights came on when the switch was thrown but not the fan it seemed - no fan noise. It was a crushing disappointment, but when I looked at the fan it was actually working, the thing was so quiet it was almost silent. The specs. for the unit specified 22dB which is whisper quiet, even 35dB or so is quiet, these are excellent.
First one done, two more to go.
The next room allowed some access to the inside of the ceiling by removing one of the recessed LED lamps. By feeling around inside the space it appeared that the fan had also been given it's own conduit from the junction box, not as we often find in UK where the fan supply is taken from the nearest light fitting. Also, I noted that the conduit was not attached to the exhaust tube which meant it could be cut without risking the conduit and cables. The tube was cut and the new fan fitted in the same way as the first one. In this instance, because the conduit was a smooth tube and appeared to have a fairly straight run I attempted to feed the draw line through with the existing cables installed, it worked and so the new cable could be quickly installed. Now things were really moving along. The second unit was completed in even less time.
The third bathroom was likely to be more problematic. The fan was located above the bathtub which restricted my access, the lighting was on a two way switch and, because the room was fully tiled, there was no evidence of a junction box above the switch(es) where it would be expected. Opening the first switch showed that it was indeed the one with the power in/out, this is clearly where we needed to get the permanent live cable installed but how?, where was the junction box?, surely not hidden behind a ceramic tile? Looking inside the bedroom next door there was a junction box on the wall in the place where we would expect it, just on the other side of the wall. Also, there was no switch below that box in the bedroom. Lady luck smiles again and that junction box was serving the bathroom lights and the fan.
Now that the wiring had been identified it was possible to remove the existing fan and pull out the cables. With the cables removed it was safer to cut the exhaust tubing because I could not determine if the conduit was attached to the tube as in the first bathroom. The tube was cut without damaging the conduit and the new fan unit fitted with a little less ease than the previous two. Pulling four cables through the conduit with the draw line was not too difficult and the last fan was almost done. The terminations at the fan end were simple but when it came to connect to the switch I realised that there was not a spare terminal port, the strappers for two way switching had used up all the holes. The electrical accessories here have push-in terminal connectors which will not accept more than one cable. I was considering simply splitting the live conductor and installing a single connector block when I realised that there was actually a spare point on the connector in the junction box. It was as if the original installer had planned for an extra live cable to be needed but that was all I needed to make the job as neat as possible.
Everything was now complete, my first proper electrical work performed here in Portugal. It is surely to the same quality of work that was already in that installation and I have learned a number of things about the way electrical systems are constructed here.
I promised the client that I could do the job and, although there some obstacles placed in our way, the promise was fulfilled.