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Wobbling Ceiling Fan

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:51 pm
by Huntwilliams
I have a 1972 Holly Park Home.
The prior owners put a ceiling fan in the front room. The electrical is exposed from the fan along the ceiling down the wall to the outlet that you plug it into.

You are correct, the fan is not connected to an electrical box.

There was a ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms that I removed. Upon removing the fan, I discovered the fan was only hanging from an eye hook screwed into the ceiling tile.

How may I replace the wobbling ceiling fan with a stable fan and not rip my ceiling apart?

RE: Wobbling Ceiling Fan

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:24 pm
by JD
The single hook deal is not as good as installing a box on a truss and that does not work too well either. A ceiling fan box will have 3 mounting screws and only 2 can fit on one truss.

On these older homes with the 1x2 and 2x2 trusses, I will make a mounting plate for the fan. I will cut a 19" square our of 3/4 AC plywood and screw that to two trusses. The ceiling fan outlet box can be mounted to the center of that. There are thin !/2" to 5/8" ceiling fan boxes that can be mounted directly to the plywood. Or you can use a deeper box by cutting a hole for it in the middle of the plywood. You can feed short pieces (2) of 2x4 through the hole and screw through the plywood, ceiling and into the 2x4 to be used to fasten the side of the box to. Either way works. The short box is easiest and there is plenty of room in the fans bell like base for the wiring.

Countersink all screws and fill the holes. Sand the whole piece down nice. Then install 3/4" quarter round or trim of your choice around the plywood and paint. I have done this many times and it looks OK. It definitely makes for a stable mount.

JD

RE: Wobbling Ceiling Fan

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:19 am
by RandyD

RE: Wobbling Ceiling Fan

Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 2:52 pm
by 70dart360
Also make sure the fan blades arent bent, all it takes is 1 a little out of whack to make it wobble like crazy.