View Single Post
  #6   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
DerbyDad03 DerbyDad03 is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14,845
Default Balancing A Ceiling Fan

On Aug 2, 1:18*am, "Steve B" wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

...





This isn't a How-To? post...this is a victory story.


My son moved into an apartment in a really old house this weekend. The
ceiling fan in the dining room has a downrod of about 6" and wobbled
like crazy. When it got dark and we turned the fan and light on, it
made us dizzy as the light caused the shadows to dance around.


I took the job of trying to balance it. Having never balanced a
ceiling fan before, and having never dealt with a downrod style, I
decided to Google around for some tips. I knew about balancing kits
and taped-on pennies, etc. but had never actually had to balance one
and assumed that there were other tips/tricks available. I was right.


So, the first thing I did was measure the distance of each blade tip
from the ceiling. 11.5, 11.5, 11.5, 12. Well, there's one issue.


Next I checked all the screws. All eight screws that held the blade
brackets to the motor housing *and* all 12 screws that held the blades
to the brackets were loose. OK, let's start there.


I tightened all the screws and remeasured. 11.25, 11.25, 11.25, 11.5.
A big difference and a big improvement. 90% less wobble.


I removed the bracket for the lowest blade, gave it a little tweak and
remounted it. 11.25 all the way around and even less wobble now.


OK, now let's try the penny trick. I took a penny and some tape, and
assuming this was going to be a trial and error exercise, I randomly
picked a blade and taped the penny to the top. Dead nuts solid!
Absolutely no wobble at all, first try.


I climbed off the ladder and treated myself to another slice of pizza
before moving on to fixing a few other "old house" issues.


THIS worked for me. *I got one of those large pieces of chalk that the kids
use for writing on the sidewalk. *I figured the heaviest blade would swing
the fartherest out. *I turned on the fan, and CAREFULLY brought in the chalk
until it just ticked the end of the whirling blade(s). *Shut the fan off.
Next, I got two of those metal clamps that you use to hold papers together
that weighed as close to the same as a penny/nickel/quarter. *I put them on
the two blades across from the heavy one with the chalk mark on it, starting
close to center. *Turned the fan on and off, and moved the clamps outward
until stability was found. *If stability is not established, go back to
chalk marker, and put weights across from that one. *Eventually stability
will be achieved, and you can tape the coins on top of the blades where the
clamps are, or use a small spot of adhesive so as to add only a tiny bit of
weight. *Clean the blade good to get it to stick. *Of course, remove the
clamps. *Fans are a royal PITA, and I have a big one right now in my living
room that has to be done, and it's up there about ten or eleven feet. *Up,
down, up, down, up, down.

Enough to drive you nuts.

Steve

visit my blog athttp://cabgbypasssurgery.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


"Up, down, up, down, up, down."

No pull chain?

I was lucky enough to be able to stay on the ladder during my testing.