Extra long spring clips for bathroom fan grill?


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Old 09-13-16, 10:36 AM
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Extra long spring clips for bathroom fan grill?

I just finished replacing the motor in my bathroom fan, and I've found that the new grill I bought is slightly more recessed than my old one, which means that I can't manage to attach it with the spring clips that were provided. There's not even enough room for me to squeeze needle-nose pliers into the gap, let alone my fingers.

Anyone have any tricks for how to attach vent grills like that?

Or is it possible to buy longer spring clips? I tried an online search but it seems there are dozens of different kinds of "spring clips" and I couldn't find anything that matched.
 
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Old 09-13-16, 10:57 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

I'm having a hard time picturing which clips you have.
Is it possible to shoot and post a picture for us ? http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html
 
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Old 09-13-16, 11:26 AM
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This is not my exact model, but you can see the kind of clips I'm talking about in these images. You need to be able to squeeze them together to insert them up into the fan chassis, but there's no room for me to get either fingers or pliers in mine.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]70829[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]70830[/ATTACH]
 
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Old 09-13-16, 03:48 PM
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Yeah.... not a great picture as those are the normal clips you get with any grill which is why I'm confused as to why yours are so short.

The clips are removable..... can you reuse the clips from the old grill ?
 
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Old 09-13-16, 05:50 PM
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The problem is that the new fan grill I've got is a bit deeper than the old grill, but the spring clips are the same length as the old ones. My fan appears to be higher up into the ceiling than others I've seen too, so with these two issues combined there's not enough room for me to get my fingers in to pinch the clips shut. There's only a half-inch gap or so.

The clips I've got are 3.75" long when squeezed shut. Does anyone make longer clips like these, and if so, how would I find them?

Or, barring that, does anyone know any tricks for dealing with spring clips when there isn't enough room to pinch them?
 

Last edited by Eric Pommer; 09-13-16 at 06:07 PM.
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