balancing a ceiling fan ?

[just-some-guy]

my dining room ceiling fan is a bit wobbly, and it makes a little noise.
when mounting it, i made it as solid a mount as i could with what was in the box.
this pretty much eliminated all the rubber bushings. but the metal is so thin that it still wobbles.

i searched, but the only think i found were to measure and use coins.
i tried this for a lil while. i think it "may" work, if i invest 6-8 hours of trial & LOTS of error.

i'm figuring that some of you guys have had to deal with this. perhaps with some success.


thanx

 

[highfigh]

my dining room ceiling fan is a bit wobbly, and it makes a little noise.
when mounting it, i made it as solid a mount as i could with what was in the box.
this pretty much eliminated all the rubber bushings. but the metal is so thin that it still wobbles.

i searched, but the only think i found were to measure and use coins.
i tried this for a lil while. i think it "may" work, if i invest 6-8 hours of trial & LOTS of error.

i'm figuring that some of you guys have had to deal with this. perhaps with some success.


thanx

Start with one blade and mount the opposite blade next, finding the one that balances best. Then, add the other two. Use the rubber bumpers to keep vibrations from being transferred to the ceiling.

 

[itschris]

my dining room ceiling fan is a bit wobbly, and it makes a little noise.
when mounting it, i made it as solid a mount as i could with what was in the box.
this pretty much eliminated all the rubber bushings. but the metal is so thin that it still wobbles.

i searched, but the only think i found were to measure and use coins.
i tried this for a lil while. i think it "may" work, if i invest 6-8 hours of trial & LOTS of error.

i'm figuring that some of you guys have had to deal with this. perhaps with some success.


thanx

This really should not be a huge deal. Run you fan at it's highest speed then shut it off. This will ensure the motor housing is not tilted if you have it hanging from a rod. Get your ladder and get a ruler or yardstick and place it at the very tip of the blade and touch one end to the ceiling. Not the exact measurement. lightly rotate the blades and find the offending one... A 1/2 inch can really cause a fan to wobble at high speed. You'll likely find that all of them are off a little. Find the most off one and market with a piece of tape so you know which one it is. Grab the motor housing and the tip of the bland and give it a little nudge up or down as needed to get it into place. Turn the fan on high and see if it worked. If not, shut it down and check that blade first and measure the distance. Just adjust the blade accordingly with gentle pressure to get it's position where you need it to be. You may have to do it a couple of times to a couple of different blades, but it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so... 20 if you're drinking beer.

 

[T2T]

but it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so... 20 if you're drinking beer.

I didn't think ladders and beer mixed?

I guess there's a first time for everything.

 

[j_garcia]

The first thing to try is to make sure each and every blade is properly tightened down. If even one screw on one blade is loose, it will cause an imbalance.

 

[gkaste]

You can get clip on weights to balance fan blades. They may not be the most asthetically pleasing, but you will quickly be able to figure out which blade to add weight to, then you can glue on your pennies.

 

[j_garcia]

Pennies are probably too heavy in most cases. You might just try some cardboard strips taped on the TOP side of the blades so they aren't visible.

 

[Shock]

Buy some strip magnets. I worked in a retail store where I was in charge of the electronics/lighting department. I had to balance hundreds of fans over those years. Magnets was the easiest thing to use.

 

[just-some-guy]

Start with one blade and mount the opposite blade next, finding the one that balances best. Then, add the other two. Use the rubber bumpers to keep vibrations from being transferred to the ceiling.

i don't think that would work. as the unit is solid mounted

This really should not be a huge deal. Run you fan at it's highest speed then shut it off. This will ensure the motor housing is not tilted if you have it hanging from a rod. Get your ladder and get a ruler or yardstick and place it at the very tip of the blade and touch one end to the ceiling. Not the exact measurement. lightly rotate the blades and find the offending one... A 1/2 inch can really cause a fan to wobble at high speed. You'll likely find that all of them are off a little. Find the most off one and market with a piece of tape so you know which one it is. Grab the motor housing and the tip of the bland and give it a little nudge up or down as needed to get it into place. Turn the fan on high and see if it worked. If not, shut it down and check that blade first and measure the distance. Just adjust the blade accordingly with gentle pressure to get it's position where you need it to be. You may have to do it a couple of times to a couple of different blades, but it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so... 20 if you're drinking beer.

i did measure. they were all different, and random. but i didn't try bending. i will try that.



all the screws are tight. i used pennies, nickles and quarters. none seemed to make any difference. and i couldn't tell if they where too much weight, or not enough.


thanx. i will try these suggestions. if, for whatever reason, they don't work.
i will take it down and use some real metal to bolt that bish down.
btw, it is mounted to a flexi-core ceiling = SOLID.

 

[Omega Supreme]

Your fan should have come with a balancing kit. If not you can get one at Lowes or HD (maybe even Wal-Mart). All it is, is a plastic clip and a few self-adhesive weights (which weigh the same as the plastic clip). The first thing you do is put the clip on the center of one of the fan blades. You then turn the fan on high and see if it wobbles. Turn the fan off and move the clip to the next blade. Do this for all the blades to determine the best result. After you have determined the blade that needs balancing attach the clip to that blade and move it in or out on the blade for fine tuning. Once you have the best location take the weight that comes with the kit and stick it to the center of the back of the blade at the same location of the clip. I did this with a couple of fans in my house a couple of weeks ago and it fixed 95% of the problem.

 

[DaveHo]

I didn't see this mentioned. What kind of electrical box is it mounted to? You do know a regular box is not meant to have a ceiling fan hung from it, right? Most balance issues occur because the wrong electrical box is used or it's not mounted securely.

-Dave

 

[njedpx3]

balancing kit

I didn't see this mentioned. What kind of electrical box is it mounted to? You do know a regular box is not meant to have a ceiling fan hung from it, right? Most balance issues occur because the wrong electrical box is used or it's not mounted securely.

-Dave

Actually, I have never had a problem installing a ceiling fan in a existing electrical box and i have installed quite a number of ceiling fans over the years.

Usually the blades are pretty much uniform so changing blades doesn't really work. Mkaing sure that all the grommets and screws are in place and snug ( not over tightened , use a scredriver with a torque setting).

The next thing if the fan wobbles is to get a fan balanacing kit ( most fans come with them ) such as http://www.amazon.com/American-De-Rosa-Ceiling-Balancing/dp/B00061NMYE for $4.30

How to fan balance: http://www.ronhazelton.com/archives/tips/Ceiling_Fan_Balancing_Kit.shtm

Note: you might have to put a second,third or even a fourth weight

Good Luck to a balanced fan

Forest Man

 

[Jacksmyname]

Your fan should have come with a balancing kit. If not you can get one at Lowes or HD (maybe even Wal-Mart). All it is, is a plastic clip and a few self-adhesive weights (which weigh the same as the plastic clip). The first thing you do is put the clip on the center of one of the fan blades. You then turn the fan on high and see if it wobbles. Turn the fan off and move the clip to the next blade. Do this for all the blades to determine the best result. After you have determined the blade that needs balancing attach the clip to that blade and move it in or out on the blade for fine tuning. Once you have the best location take the weight that comes with the kit and stick it to the center of the back of the blade at the same location of the clip. I did this with a couple of fans in my house a couple of weeks ago and it fixed 95% of the problem.

Yep, this is the way to do it.
My fans came with the balancing kits.
The weights were small pieces of adhesive backed lead, about an inch square.
My fans are Casablanca, 6 speed. Even at the highest speed, they're rock steady.

 

[just-some-guy]

thanx guys. i will be messin with it this weekend. i will report back.

 

[just-some-guy]

ok. i messed with it yesterday. i found/used my balancing kit, and some extra weight. nothing worked. it either made it a little worse, or no effect at all.
the only thing that did help, was i took the globe off.

i cannot bend the blades. at least without serious risk of breaking them off.
so i am going to take it apart. and make whatever is needed to SOLID mount it.

my old fan worked great. i only replaced it because of a remodel. the newer stuff seems like junk compared to my old fan.


anyway....

btw. get a load of that HP lol.