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Miscellaneous Ceiling Fan Q's & A's Wobbly | Installation | Fixing | Wiring Basics Can't find a solution to your problem? Post a question in our Forums. Wobbly Wobbly ceiling fan Was cleanin' ceiling fan for summer use, and now it wobbles. It hangs from a 17' ceiling with a 6' extension tube and the wobble is quite noticeable (enuff to make the chain of the lights to bounce back and forth between sconces). The extension moves freely and i don't notice any particular angle one way or the other, it looks level. What can I do to stop the wobble? Oh..it has sealed bearings..so oiling is not an option. No oiling isn't what you need. The fan wobbles because it is not balanced. Did you, by chance, knock a balancing weight off of it when you were cleaning it?? They sell balancing kits for these fans at lighting stores. Try there. You will need to add weight to one of the blades to smooth things out. Advertisement Contact me to place your ad here Balancing a ceiling fan Does any have some helpful tips for balancing a ceiling fan. I have one that is approximately a year old that I cannot get balanced. My ceiling fans came with clips and a small weight that you could attach to the top of the fan blade. I assume you have these. Place the weight on each fan blade, successively and spin the fan by hand. This way you should be able to tell which fan blade is in most out of balance. After you determine the fan blade to attach the weight, you adjust the weight along the blade (by trial and error) after allowing the fan blades to get up to operating speed (electrically). The further away from the motor housing, the greater effect, so start out with the weight close to the motor housing. Ceiling fan wobble We have vaulted ceilings and I was wondering if there is any way to stop our ceiling fan from wobbling. We bought one of the weight kits but one of the first things it tells you to do is check the distance between the ceiling and the blades. With a vaulted ceiling there's no way, it's going to be the same. What can I do? What you can try is a little trial and error. Start with small weights, add them to one blade, and see what effect it has. It will either improve or make it worse of course. In addition, you can see where to go next. You may find you need to add a little weight to more than one blade. However, always start small first. Installation Installing Ceiling Fans I want to install a ceiling fan in my bathroom but there is no Light Socket. I do have canister lighting in my bathroom. How hard is it to run electrical and add support beam? Well not too hard if you have done it before or are relatively so inclined. You not only need to run power to it (from the canister light) but down to the switch in the wall to control it. If you have access above (in the attic?) it makes the job much easier. As for the support beam, the new box can be bought with a metal bracket that easily mounts to the ceiling joists on either side of where you putting the fan. If you are doing his yourself and would like some more specific guidance, let me know.. Installing Ceiling Fan Recently had a screened in porch built with 3" insulated aluminum roof. I had the contractor pre-wire for ceiling fan and light. My question is how do I mount the fan to the aluminum ceiling and what type of hardware do I use? The wiring installed by the contractor should be in a box in the ceiling. You mount the fan to the box, not the ceiling, provided it is properly secured for the weight of the fan. This means that it either has metal straps securing it, or it might have a piece of wood across the top attached to the ceiling joists. All the hardware to mount the fan is included in the box the fan comes in. Based on your question, it sounds like you might have to cut the hole in the aluminum to access the box.

INSTALLING CEILING FANS

I've been trying to install a ceiling fan in my kitchen. Followed the instructions with no problems up until I had to connect the wires; last step. Figured out all the wiring except for the grounding wire, couldn't figure out what to connect it to. There was a clump of wires shoved way up in the ceiling not connected to any part of the old light fixture so I connected it the grounding wire. Needless to say I shorted the house. What do you connect the grounding wire to?

You mean the ground wire from the fan, right?
If your house has modern wiring there should be a bare copper wire in the box or perhaps several twisted together and finally if the box is a metal box connected to a ground screw on the box.
If there are no ground wires in your box, and this is possible if your house was wired before that became the code, there won't be a ground wire in the box. If the rest of your house has not been upgraded, you can tell this is your case if your outlets do not have that third hole centered above or below the two slots. In that case, you probably do have a metal box and can attach the ground wire to the box. (The box may or may not be grounded, but this is the best you can do for your circumstances)

Fixing

Ceiling fan stopped working

My ceiling fan suddenly stopped working. When I turn it on, there is a hum, but the blades do not move. It is about 13 years old. Is it worth it to try to fix it or should I just replace it? Please help its hot.

If you paid a tremendous amount of money for it, it may be worth it, otherwise just replace it. By the time you get it out, to a shop and get it back, you will probably have been hot for quite a few days. If you didn't pay that much for it, you will most likely pay the repairman the price of a new one to fix it. I consider most common fans "throw-aways".

Most newer ceiling fans are more efficient, safer and energy-wise, and their costs have come down. A thirteen year old fan is not worth fixing.

Wiring

How do you wire a new ceiling fan in an old house?

We're trying to wire a new ceiling fan in an old house. We can match white to white, black to black and so on but we're missing a set of wires. We can get it to come on when we turn the wall switch on, but you have to use the chains to cut the light and fan off. How can we wire it so that the switch will cut the whole rig off?

If you have only one set of wires protruding from the back of the fan, and you have wired them to the switch, and they both work, whether it's together or independently from each other, when you turn the wall switch to the "off"position with both functions on, they should both turn off. In other words, the one set of wires should control both switches on the assembly. At least, one set does on MY fan/light.

Basics

Operating Ceiling Fans

Weird question I guess...
Q : Why do ceiling fans rotate in two different directions?
Basically, besides the nice feeling of a breeze, what is the difference between it blowing down or pulling the air up? I seem to recall reading once about running it one way in winter, and the other in summer.

Not all that weird ! Your guess was fairly accurate. One is supposed to have the fans blow downward in warm weather, in order to enjoy the breeze beneath them, and upward in cool weather, So.'s to distribute the heat stuck at ceiling level throughout the room.

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