Extractor attractor

This article investigates a malfunctioning bathroom extractor fan that produces an irregular grinding noise. The author records the sound, analyzes the waveform and spectrogram, and extracts the timing of noises using Fourier transforms and peak detection. The inter-noise intervals show quasi-periodicity around 1 second with occasional longer gaps, suggesting a control system retrying every second. The behavior is compared to the Rulkov model, a chaotic map used for neuron bursting, highlighting similarities in fast-slow dynamics. The article combines practical troubleshooting with technical analysis of signal processing and nonlinear dynamics.