Balancing a Ceiling Fan

[mivey]

If you are a glutton for punishment and feel you must conquer the beast, remove the blades first and stack them against each other to see if they are warped.

If they are warped, the fan will not balance correctly. You can work at it and get the wobble to go away for one direction and one speed but it will wobble when either of those two change.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Step 1. Go to lighting store and personally pay $200 or more for a real fan.
Step 2. Remove customers wobbly fan and replace with good one.
Step 3. Thank customer, clean up and go to lunch, because even though you just spent $200 you saved your self much more in time, aggravation and lost labor.

Step 4 (If necessary) get out the BFH and whack it!

My guys just installed a $30 fan from Lowes and it works fine. Now for how long will it run that remains to be seen.

 

[Hv&Lv]

I had three of the exact same kind to put up in a porch ceiling. The HO had one of those fancy kitchen scales on the counter, so I weighed each blade and grouped them together by weight. I was surprised at the difference. Two are fine, the one that was left with the odd weight blades needed balancing. Didn't think far enough ahead to try and add weight before the blades were put on to get them all the same.

I have one in my house that is wobbly, and could probably try the weight thing here, but I hate to work on my own house.

 

[MAK]

Anyone know if Casablanca fans are still made, I have seen one in quit some time and wonder if they went out of business?

Yes.

I went thru installing a cheap home depot fan on a vaulted ceiling in my house (don't remember what model) and it wobbled badly:thumbsdown:.
I ended up buying a Casablanca fan and the thing does not wobble at all. No balancing needed but it was a lot heavier. Also I had to go with that manufacturer because the pitch on the ceiling was fairly steep and most of the manufacturer's of fans did not have a matching adapter that would work on the pitch of the ceiling. I could buy an aftermarket adapter but it would not remotely match the finish of the fans. Hence a Casablanca fan.:thumbsup:

 

[conmgt]

Before installing the fan and after mounting the blades, I position the fan on it's side (perpendicular to the floor) by clamping the downrod to my ladder and balance it like I would static balance a motorcycle wheel.
The heavy blade will point towards the floor and the weight goes on the blade pointing to the ceiling. After temp placing a weight, spin the heavy blade to the 3 o'clock position and see if it pulls towards the floor again. You can adjust the weight by it's size or by moving it either towards the center of the fan for less effect or towards the tip of the blade for greater effect.

 

[templdl]

Before installing the fan and after mounting the blades, I position the fan on it's side (perpendicular to the floor) by clamping the downrod to my ladder and balance it like I would static balance a motorcycle wheel.
The heavy blade will point towards the floor and the weight goes on the blade pointing to the ceiling. After temp placing a weight, spin the heavy blade to the 3 o'clock position and see if it pulls towards the floor again. You can adjust the weight by it's size or by moving it either towards the center of the fan for less effect or towards the tip of the blade for greater effect.

I had never given that way a thought. Good idea.