Unfortunately, I am very much a mechanically challenged person. I'm trying
to determine if my ceiling boxes are as solid as one should expect and use
with ceiling fans. Long description below to provide details.

My house was built in 1959 in WI, I am not the original owner, and really
don't know the origin of the ceiling fixtures. There were ceiling fans in
each of 3 bedrooms already. They are newer fans. They all have some wobble -
one terrible wobble. They all appear to be cheaper fans with a couple geared
towards kids - ie, the crayon multicolor fans. The crayon fans are ones I
want to replace as they aren't my style.

I wanted to investigate wobble so I deconstructed one fan but left it
mounted. I can just see the rim of the ceiling box. If I rock the fan back
and forth it moves considerably, but it appears its own mounting bracket is
loose and the ceiling fixture moves only very slightly. I would say that
roughly 99% of the movement is the fan itself and 1% is the ceiling box.
Before taking this one down further, I wanted to compare it to the other
crayon fixture. I removed the 2nd fan to the same point and it too, rocked
about the same with mostly the fixture moving and the box seemed solid. I
took this one down all the way. The ceiling box is round and metal. There
appears to be a round ring mounted to the face of the box and this is what
the fan was secured to. This round ring is screwed to the face of the
ceiling box from down up - meaning that its screw heads are under the
drywall ceiling and not accessible from
below. I suppose this means either the box was in before the drywall, the
drywall was redone, or the round ring was on the box then mounted - the
point is that one could not attach this ring once the box is mount because
you can't get to the screw heads. I see one screw in the center of the box
which appears to be securing a metal clip. I can see either a metal brace or
metal conduit through the holes in the box above it. The ceiling box is made
of metal and has three conduit runs coming into it with electrical. Pulling
on the box from below really doesn't give much movement. Pushing up on the
ring doesn't give much movement. Pushing up on the inside of the box gives a
little movement - maybe a couple 32nds of an inch.

It seems from looking at fan mounts and braces in stores that they would not
be completely solid either and one would expect to have a couple 32nds of an
inch of play in them. If its mounted to a metal brace and you push or pull
on the inside edge, there will be some movement in general it seems to me.
In general my existing ceiling boxes seem solid, no movement pulling down or
pushing up the center. Slight movement if I push up on the inside edge. The
boxes are metal and hefty so I'm just trying to ID if this slight movement
would have a large impact on wobble.
And since I am mechanically challenged, I was hoping someone might have
input on how solid a ceiling fixture or fan mount should or would be. Does
what I describe sound like a solid mounting that one would generally expect?

Thanks for any input

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Unfortunately, I am very much a mechanically challenged person. I'm trying
to determine if my ceiling boxes are as solid as one should expect and use
with ceiling fans. Long description below to provide details.

My house was built in 1959 in WI, I am not the original owner, and really
don't know the origin of the ceiling fixtures. There were ceiling fans in
each of 3 bedrooms already. They are newer fans. They all have some
wobble -
one terrible wobble. They all appear to be cheaper fans with a couple
geared
towards kids - ie, the crayon multicolor fans. The crayon fans are ones I
want to replace as they aren't my style.

I wanted to investigate wobble so I deconstructed one fan but left it
mounted. I can just see the rim of the ceiling box. If I rock the fan back
and forth it moves considerably, but it appears its own mounting bracket
is
loose and the ceiling fixture moves only very slightly. I would say that
roughly 99% of the movement is the fan itself and 1% is the ceiling box.
Before taking this one down further, I wanted to compare it to the other
crayon fixture. I removed the 2nd fan to the same point and it too, rocked
about the same with mostly the fixture moving and the box seemed solid. I
took this one down all the way. The ceiling box is round and metal. There
appears to be a round ring mounted to the face of the box and this is what
the fan was secured to. This round ring is screwed to the face of the
ceiling box from down up - meaning that its screw heads are under the
drywall ceiling and not accessible from
below. I suppose this means either the box was in before the drywall, the
drywall was redone, or the round ring was on the box then mounted - the
point is that one could not attach this ring once the box is mount because
you can't get to the screw heads. I see one screw in the center of the box
which appears to be securing a metal clip. I can see either a metal brace
or
metal conduit through the holes in the box above it. The ceiling box is
made
of metal and has three conduit runs coming into it with electrical.
Pulling
on the box from below really doesn't give much movement. Pushing up on the
ring doesn't give much movement. Pushing up on the inside of the box gives
a
little movement - maybe a couple 32nds of an inch.

It seems from looking at fan mounts and braces in stores that they would
not
be completely solid either and one would expect to have a couple 32nds of
an
inch of play in them. If its mounted to a metal brace and you push or pull
on the inside edge, there will be some movement in general it seems to me.
In general my existing ceiling boxes seem solid, no movement pulling down
or
pushing up the center. Slight movement if I push up on the inside edge.
The
boxes are metal and hefty so I'm just trying to ID if this slight movement
would have a large impact on wobble.
And since I am mechanically challenged, I was hoping someone might have
input on how solid a ceiling fixture or fan mount should or would be. Does
what I describe sound like a solid mounting that one would generally
expect?


1959. Not likely they are fan rated boxes. You may be able to get away
with it.

The box should have ZERO movement if you are serious about safety.

Another option is to buy one of the fans that has a mounting plate that
secures to the ceiling. I have installed these with 2-3 toggle bolts through
the drywall and had no problems over the years.

Colbyt

Thanks for the reply. Since I am mechanically challenged, I tend to go
overboard about things like this and want to make sure my expectations are
realistic.

My issue is that I tend to be obsessed. So, when I have these replaced if
the new arrangments have even a slight give/flex it will drive me up the
wall and I want my expectations to be realistic. My frame of reference is a
friends home where a professional installed thas metal beam fixures - I can
press on the inside edges of those boxes and get more movement than my
existing (1/16th of inch of flex). So fan rated/not fan rated isn't a
concern at this point yet, I am stuck on what level of solidness to expect
from a new, professionally installed box.

If I had the boxes replaced with the ones with the metal beam that stab into
studs, I should expect not even the slightest movement pushing the box with
my own strength? Zero movement to me means that I can push and pull on the
box with all my strength and it won't give or flex the slightest bit?

Same goes if the box is mounted to a 2x4 between beams - if I push or pull
on the box. I should expect absolutely no movement - whether its the 2x4
bending slightily or anything?

Do I have a realistic frame of reference?

"Colbyt" wrote in message

The box should have ZERO movement if you are serious about safety.

Another option is to buy one of the fans that has a mounting plate that
secures to the ceiling. I have installed these with 2-3 toggle bolts
through
the drywall and had no problems over the years.

Colbyt