DIYbanter - View Single Post - Ceiling fan repair -- bad capacitor

Bill[_37_]

Art Todesco wrote:
On 8/17/2012 4:36 PM, Bill wrote:
zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:22:28 -0400, Bill wrote:

zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:15:41 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Thanks for the follow up report. I'm pleased it all worked out.

Ceiling fans are very rough on bulbs -- they may need "rough
service" bulbs.

If the blades are properly balanced, they're not too hard on bulbs.
In four
years, the only ceiling fan bulbs I've lost were the ones on the
back porch,
in a fan that's never used. Three of the four went.

Forgot to mention, that the outside fan was one of six in the house with
lights. None of the other lights has failed in that four years.

When I used 100W bulbs in my ceiling fan which has a globe, I was going
through them practically monthly. When I switched to 60W, I got more
normal bulb-lifetimes.

What was the rating on the fixture?

The rating of the part that held the bulb was/is quite high (I don't
recall the number, but it is greater than 100W). However, it surely did
not take the globe into account. Evidently, it was the heat in the globe
that was giving the bulbs a short lifespan. I am sticking with the 60w
bulbs for reasons of safety. I inherited the lamp as a home-buyer, so I
don't know what it said "on the box" of the fan.

My fan uses max. 60 watt bulbs and there is (now was) a 190 watt
limiter. When 1st installed, the lights were connected to a wall switch
and not to the dimmer/wireless remote control. I put in 3 60 watt
equiv CFLs. They would blink out in anywhere from 1 minute to 1 hour,
due to the wattage limiter. So, I put in 3 60 incandescent lamps and
reconnected the lights to the wireless remote. Worked good, but because
the fan is very high, it would be nice to have larger lamps. Finally,
the remote control receiver bit the dust, so I replaced it with one that
was CFL friendly, i.e. only on and off. I also put in 100 watt equiv
CFL as they are now available with the mini candelabra base. They
blinked like crazy ... due to the wattage limiter. So, I said, no
problem, I'll remove it ... ah, were is it? ... it's not in the light
kit. After bringing down the fan from 20 some feet up, we found it in
the motor housing. Bypassed it. We now seem to have sufficient light
with the 100 watt equiv CFLs. I do need to adjust the glass bowl as it
is just touching the lamps. So, when you 1st turn the fan on, you can
hear a slight glass to glass noise, but it's hardly noticeable ... but I
still want to fix it right.

Technically that probably the right thing to do (since loose bulbs are a
fire-hazard). At least you got an interesting story out of it!

Bill Whig