Hello I was cleaning my bathroom fan today and I noticed some black residue like a smoke stain near the PCB. Also the side of the fan body where the PCB is feels warm. Is this a sign that the fan should be replaced? Or is it just normal from the resistor on the PCB heating up? The fan in question is pretty old.
I wouldn't have thought so, its probably that big grey resistor getting a bit warm, its probably the power supply for the chip below and is very inefficiently powering it losing most of the energy as heat.
Thanks! I just hadn't noticed it before (although I honestly can't remember when I last cleaned the fan!) This fan has lasted many years and still does its job very well so I'm glad it doesn't need replacing just yet.
Thanks again. In that case I will probably replace it eventually but as long as it's not urgent it will be more convenient to wait until I redecorate the bathroom.