Noisy NuTone Bathroom Exhause Fan

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My Nutone QT 110 CFM Fan is making a lot of noise. It sound like a bad car muffler. It makes too much noise to use, so we don't turn it on, which isn't good for moisture/mold in the summer. I purchased my current fan only 2.5 years ago and had a handyman install it. It vents into the attic space. The new Nutone QTRN110 is larger, so I can not just replace the fan unit within the current housing.

I have taken the fan down and cleaned it, but I don't see anyplace to oil. The shaft seems to move freely.

Any ideas on how I can fix the fan myself? Or should I just replace it?

mr500

Are the blades hitting anywhere on the housing? Have you tried to run it when its not mounted in the ceiling? I mean take it down and hold it then turn it on to see if it still makes the noise? Make sure its not binding anywhere. Last option, may be time for new fan

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comp1911

Does it have duct work tied to a vent outside or just venting into the attic space? If it's just into the attic space you could create some bad problems.

Eagle2

When you are in the market for a new fan, take a look at this,

http://www.waveplumbing.com/store/in...oducts_id=3004

The Fantech has the motor that can be mounted in the attic space instead of direct above the ceiling of the bathroom. This installation might be quieter.

I would vent the moisture outside of the house.

BigJimmy

I thought that the fans were supposed to be loud, to mask all of the, er, um, you know!

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jrclen

I installed a large exhaust fan for bathrooms in a commercial job. That fan sounded like a airplane. All I had to do was loosen the mounting screws in the ceiling joists. All the noise went away and now it can barely be heard. It was vibrating the ceiling joists.

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handyman78

Make sure you are getting a good output from the fan at the exhaust- I have seen a few situations where the damper in the exhaust port was binding having very little airflow.

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Thanks for all the great responses! I didn't realize that people around the country would join in this conversation.

I plugged the fan into an extension cord and the same loud noise still occurred. I believe that this ruled out mounting noise and binding/housing noise. The fan was mounted on only one stud, but I don't think that was causing the problem, since it still made the sound when it was out of the ceiling.

The handyman that did the instillation vented the fan to the attic (no external venting). Several posts have suggested that this was not a good idea. However, it was vented to the attic for 15 years before fan #2 was installed, so it seems like it would still be OK. I went up to the attic 3 years ago and saw no problems. What are the risks of not venting outside of the house? How expensive would external venting be?

Are there any NuTone 110 DIY oiling/repairs that I could do? Any instructions? This would be ideal, if feasible.

If I need to replace the fan, how much should I expect to pay? I would pick up the new fan/mounting kit and have them mounted. How can I find someone qualified to this this right at a fair price? I don't want to revisit this for 15+ years. Any other suggestions?

dobbsj

We just purchased a new home with QTRN080 fans. Some have lights and some do not. Three of the fans are so noisy we do not use. Some of the same model number Nutone fans in other parts of our hoe are very, very quiet. So I know that it is possible to have a quiet fan.

Today I discovered that the motor shaft was slightly bent on two of the fans causing the rotor to vibrate and make this noise. This appeared on two of the fans.

It will be interesting if Nutone honors their warranty. I hope so. I would like to just remove the motor and rotor without removing the housing. This would be more difficult.

It does seem that the design could be better. The motor shaft seems to be small relative to its speed. I doubt if the plastic rotor is mechanically balanced. So the mass of the shaft has to be larger.

It our case it was not the vent piping. A 1.0 sone fan should be very quiet. Nutone should probably replace your fan also. I bet they have thousands of defective fans out there.