03 July 2018 - Engine Room Extractor Failed

Our second longer distance journey (45nm), cruising comfortably at 10.5kt / 1300 rpm. We noticed that the engine room temperature quickly reached 53 degrees C. It was a hot day (ie 29C outside air temp) indeed but still quite unusual for such a spike. Immediately went into the engine room and noticed that stbd side extractor fan was not working. Checked the breakers, timers, relays etc, all OK. We kept going keeping a close eye on the thermometer. Then we realized that after an hour or so, the extractor started working for another 10-15 minutes and then stopped again for an hour or so. This repeated until we reached our destination.
After a short investigation, we realized that the extractor was shutting down to protect its motor against overheating. Why stbd side extractor? Probably because during our passage we had winds from port side causing that side of the engine room to be cooler therefore not causing the port side extractor to "overheat"(?)
We found this issue quite ironic in a way as we believe extractors are there to cool down the engine room, however they needed to be cooled down in the first place!
Again, seems like another typical issue with northern designers. Somehow they do not realize how hot the Med could get in summer. The tiny extractors fitted in an engine room equipped with 1600hp diesel engines confirms our theory.
Status: Pending since 03Jul18

Screenshot from our wireless thermometer readings.
Outside Air Temp: 29C, Lazarette Temp: 36C, Engine Room Temp: approaching 53C. 

An hour later, Lazarette temp came close to 40C. Interesting is that all equipment installed in Lazarette was switched off (Generator, Inverters, Chargers) and the cooling fan was on. Yet the area reached 40C. Just wondering what would have happened if we happened to run the generator and chargers!

Above video shot underway, right after we noticed the spike on the engine room temperature. Stbd side extractor's blades are not moving.

Notice the plastic net fitted on both extractor intakes. Originally, they were fitted with highly restrictive stainless steel grill covers which blocked most of the aperture and caused a huge efficiency loss during extraction. We replaced them with a net to increase their efficiency.