discuss.housetalk.net

[ned]

....There I was, laying peacefully in bed at the quaint bed and breakfast inn when my wife entered the room and flipped on the wall switch. My eyes snapped open only to be greeted with the sight of the ceiling fan churning and flopping back and forth wildly above my poor, aging, home inspector body. “Turn it off!”, I shouted, fully expecting that I would be sliced and diced by the fan as it acted like a giant Veg-O-Matic. Fortunately, my wife, the Marvellous Meggy, flipped the switch, and in so doing, spared my life!

Why would the fan behave in such a manner? In fact, why do ceiling fans wobble or even thump about? In the old days if you bought a vintage Hunter ceiling fan with wooden blades each blade was numbered so that they would be specifically located in just the right spot. The blades were actually balanced to match the blade opposite. If the blades were off balance then the fan would tend to wobble and the faster it went then the greater the centrifugal force making the fan operate unevenly. Every fan has a tendency to wobble which is why it is mounted to the ceiling with a metal sling and a ball which allows for movement. Without that freedom the fan would eventually pull the nails out of the mounting box allowing it to fall on the unsuspecting victim below!

Modern fans do not require careful blade balancing anymore. Perhaps it is due to the lighter plastic blades or more precise manufacture of the wooden blades. But fans can still become un-balanced (like my brain) and begin their gyrations simply because they are dirty. Anyone who has lived with a ceiling fan knows that dirt and lint will build up on the blades over time and when the dirt reaches a great enough level then the fan will begin to wobble. Simply clean the blades and you should be in good shape.

Then there is the issue of loose blades. As you know, the faster the fan is turning then the greater the force that is trying to rip the blades off the motor! Sooner or later the screws that fasten the blades to the motor will become loose. When this happens the blades will begin to move up and down (sort of flapping) until they let go slinging across the room through the screen of your new plasma TV or Rembrandt painting. At the very least, a loose blade will cause the fan to wobble and swing. The repair is simply, tighten the screws every so often and save the day, your body and your stuff.