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Ceiling Fan Repair Tips
A shaking ceiling fan can be noisy and dangerous.
Repair Steps
1. Check the blades to make sure all the small screws are tight. If any are loose, tighten them up with a screw driver.
2. Are there any loose connections between the rod and the actual fan body? Again, check this and tighten everything up if necessary.
3. Is the ceiling mounting secure? If not, tighten it down. Your fan must be solidly attached to an electrical box which is solidly attached to your ceiling and all screws must be tight.
If all those areas are tight then you will need to progress to the next step.
The causes of that wobble can be narrowed down to four different problem areas.
1. All the blades need to be on the same plane. If one is out of plane this will need to be corrected. The way to detect this is by measuring the distance of the blades from the ceiling. Hold a yard stick with one end on the ceiling. Measure the blades as you manually push the fan blades around. Please dont turn it on! If one of the blades turns out to be a different distance, then it is not in the same plane as the other blades.
FIX - You will have to bend the out-of-plane blade to the correct distance from the ceiling. You will need another set of hands to remedy this! Be careful when you are bending the blades of the fan. The blade arms can break and you may have to buy a new set of blade arms.
2. Do all the blades have the same pitch? Measure the distance from the ceiling to the front of each blade. If there is a variance you will want to correct it.
FIX - Twist the out of pitch blade or blades to match the others.
3. The blades are not separated by the same angles. Measure between the blade tips. Are the distances equal?
FIX - Push the problem blade into the correct position. Again, this may require a few extra hands!
4. One of the blades may be out of weight. To detect this you would have to remove the blades and weigh them. You may just want to try to balance them and forget about weighing them.
FIX - Set the fan to blow down(counter clockwise) Stick weights to the blades. You will have to try different positions on different blades, and even different amounts of weight. It is a trial and error procedure(kind of like getting your eyes tested) until you hit upon the correct placement of a weight. You can buy a balancing kit at the store, but I would suggest trying everything I already mentioned before trying to use weights.
If you would like to forego the balancing kit try using washers and clothespins.
Clip clothespin onto the blades in various test spots. Turn the fan on high and repeat this procedure until you find the right combination. When you do, use good, strong tape and tape the washers on the side of the blade nearest to the ceiling. Be sure the blades are clean and dry or the weights wont stick, and this could be dangerous!
Give you some tips on repairing a shaking ceiling fan.
Keywords
Ceiling Fan
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