On Aug 2, 3:42*pm, keith wrote:
On Aug 2, 2:25*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:





On Aug 2, 3:10*pm, Jules Richardson

wrote:
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:02:29 +0000, Steve.IA wrote:
My bedroom ceiling fan (cheapo) was always noisey and wobbley. I finally
removed 2 of the 4 blades. Now it is nearly silent, doesn't wobble,
moves just enough air @ middle speed and uses ~ 1/2 the electricity..

What are the motors normally like in these things? Ours seems reasonably
stable - but on the slowest speed it almost looks (and sounds) like it's
surging. I can't tell if it's just my imagination, or if these things
have a bazillion motor windings in them and maybe one of the ones in ours
has gone bad...

cheers

Jules

"I can't tell if it's just my imagination"

One tip I read suggested using different colored florescent paint dabs
on a piece of masking tape on each blade to see which one was out of
balance. However, it didn't say what to look for. (I tried 4 pieces of
different colored nylon tape but couldn't see any colors at all once
the fan was on)

Anyway, maybe if you put tape/paint on one blade it might make the
"surging" more apparent. Dunno.

Just measure the blades from the ceiling. *The low one is heavy, so
put a washer in the middle of the opposite blade and rerun test. *If
the same blade is still heavy, move washer half-way to the end of the
blade. *If the blade with the washer on it is now heavy, move the
washer half-way towards the center. *Repeat binary search until you're
happy with the balance.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm not sure who you are responding to.

Jules was talking about "surging motors", so it must not be him.

If it was me that you are responding to, *just* "measure the blades
and add weight" would be the incorrect answer.

With 20 loose screws "the low one is heavy" should read "the low one
was loosest." Before trying any actual balancing techniques, you
should make sure that all parts of the unit are tight and secure.

As I said in my OP, 90% of the massive wobble went away after I
tightened everything up.