PetrosA
Senior Member
- Location
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
:lol:
Today was a real first for me. I went back to a rental property where I had been on a service call before the holidays to check the fan remotes throughout the unit. The unit was empty because the police had raided the previous tenant looking for a drug stash. While checking a fan in an upstairs bedroom, I saw that the ~12" canopy had been attached to a round piece of plywood, and screwed from the top. The owner asked me to come back at some point and take care of the jerry rig. I went back today and got up into the attic space. What I found is something I couldn't have predicted in 1000 years.
Electromagnet, power supply, charger circuit, 12V battery backup, remote (wireless) switch and rubber bungee.
I wasn't even sure how to remove the thing at first, but I got it figured out at last. The wiring was totally scary:
The magnet is a monster. It had to be, since I hadn't even felt the fan budge when I took it apart the first time. I can only wonder who designed this setup and what they must have spent on the parts.
The bungee was wrapped around a 2x4 and connected to two eye screws (the photo only shows it attached to one eye on the plate so I could lower it myself) which prevented the fan from falling when the magnet was disengaged, and allowed it to be pulled down enough to reach into the attic space "storage compartment." It takes a few seconds to charge up the magnet enough to hold the fan, but still, it must have been a pretty effective system. I would never expect a 52" fan to be removable...
Today was a real first for me. I went back to a rental property where I had been on a service call before the holidays to check the fan remotes throughout the unit. The unit was empty because the police had raided the previous tenant looking for a drug stash. While checking a fan in an upstairs bedroom, I saw that the ~12" canopy had been attached to a round piece of plywood, and screwed from the top. The owner asked me to come back at some point and take care of the jerry rig. I went back today and got up into the attic space. What I found is something I couldn't have predicted in 1000 years.
Electromagnet, power supply, charger circuit, 12V battery backup, remote (wireless) switch and rubber bungee.
I wasn't even sure how to remove the thing at first, but I got it figured out at last. The wiring was totally scary:
The magnet is a monster. It had to be, since I hadn't even felt the fan budge when I took it apart the first time. I can only wonder who designed this setup and what they must have spent on the parts.
The bungee was wrapped around a 2x4 and connected to two eye screws (the photo only shows it attached to one eye on the plate so I could lower it myself) which prevented the fan from falling when the magnet was disengaged, and allowed it to be pulled down enough to reach into the attic space "storage compartment." It takes a few seconds to charge up the magnet enough to hold the fan, but still, it must have been a pretty effective system. I would never expect a 52" fan to be removable...
