Yep, you just leave the strings pulled on all the time and use the remote
Yep, you just leave the strings pulled on all the time and use the remote
^Thanks. I had no idea such things existed.
Weather dont change that often so I dont change my fan speed that often, twice a year and once to shut it down to clean it, so not worth the added expense or wire and effort to change the controls.
In the states mostly my fans were just there to use the wasted juice when the batterys were full and the panels were making juice so the fans got the excess., nice to get full use from solar panels even if you do not need it.
thats what you said, not from my experience yadda yadda yadda..Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
I did state from my experience.. But anyway you are real funny tho,, kinda like a broken crutch..
Marmite Is Right
bout What??
I'm just confused by DrA's post. Is he taking the piss or not?
Damned if I know. pobly.
Where the hell you been for 2 days??
I love your creative spelling and grammar blackgang. At first glance it seems to be unintelligible, but if you get used to your unique dialect sense is discernible.
I don't know, but it's big and red, which must mean something....all I can think of is Clifford the big red dog.Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
I just thought I would throw that into the discussion
big and red can't be all bad
Jesus Christ standin on a corner, Nick get that finger outta your nose.
Or do ya do that because you have arthritis in it and you are keeping it warm?
Ok, back on track with this topic:
I since learned why my existing fan didn't do much. It has a switch to change the direction of the blades, meaning it was set to suck air up rather than blow it down.
However, all is not well. The new fan I bought wobbles. It could be because it's not attached to something concrete in the ceiling (second level floor), I don't know.
Sigh.. This building & home improvement thing can be pretty cruel eh.. Going from feeling super happy about yourself and your purchase to seeing your nice ideas all fall apart. I can't imagine what it would be like actually having a complete house built.. The rollercoaster ride would probably drive me mental.
No kidding....Originally Posted by WhiteLotusLane
I started having a look at some DIY guides yesterday...
Here's some video guides
Video: Introduction to Ceiling Fan Installation: It Really is Easy! from ExpertVillage
and a simple guide...
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
- An easy-to-install ceiling fan can make a real difference in your home's climate–both cooling and heating–at a far lower cost and operating expense than almost any other item.
- The installation begins with choosing where the fan should be located. In almost all homes, the fan is installed in the center of the room, replacing a central light fixture. This spot provides a smooth air flow to most of the room.
- Since a fan draws about the same power as a ceiling fixture, the electrical circuit shouldn't be overloaded. But if your fan includes lights, be sure the circuit it's on has enough extra capacity to handle the load. If not, you must run a new circuit with a new circuit breaker from the house main service panel or sub-panel to the fan.
- If there is no central light fixture, you'll have to create a place to hang the ceiling fan. Then, you'll need to bring electrical power to it. You can tap into an existing circuit to do this.
MOUNTING THE CEILING FAN
- Start your installation by turning off the power to the light's circuit breaker or fuse. Only then should you remove the light fixture.
- If there is no central light fixture, snap diagonal chalk lines from opposite corners of the room to find its center. Determine whether the lines cross exactly below a ceiling joist. If they do, move aside just far enough between joists to let you fasten the side of the fan's new junction box directly to the joist.
- Cut a hole large enough for the junction box to be slipped in. If it's next to the joist, drill holes in its side and screw it to the joist.
- Installation between joists is OK, too. Fasten the box to a 2x4 header nailed between the joists. Sometimes, you can insert a 2x4 header through the junction box's hole, nailing it to each joist. If not, you may need to open a larger access hole. Then, patch the hole to close it again.
- You may choose to use a patented fan support unit designed to be inserted through the normal junction box hole to save you from opening a hole in the ceiling.
- Use only a metal junction box to support a ceiling fan–never hang the fan from a plastic box. Depending on the brand, style, and size of your ceiling fan–and your electrical code – you may use a 4" or 3" octagonal junction box. (Some local codes don't permit the use of 3" boxes.)
- The heaviest fan that should be supported by an outlet box is 35 lbs.. If it weighs more, the building structure must support it.
- Whatever you do, make sure the junction box is supported well enough to hold at least 50 lbs. That's the weight of an average ceiling fan. Also, your mounting must be able to withstand vibration while the fan is running. Even a well-balanced fan creates some vibration when it runs.
- You'll use a special beam mount when mounting a fan to a beamed ceiling. Use one kind for a horizontal beam, another for a pitched beam (Fig. 3). You may need an extender to lower the fan to the proper level.
- Fan-mounting is particularly important because any failure to make things secure could allow your fan to fall from the ceiling.
Click on drawing above to view animation.
ASSEMBLY
- Fan assembly varies from brand to brand. Be sure to follow the specific instructions with the unit you buy. Regardless of the manufacturer's instructions, if the fan blades are less than a screwdriver's length away from the ceiling, it may be best to install the blades before hanging the fan.
- The hanger pipe is usually placed into its hole on top of the motor. The wires are drawn up in the center. A set screw is tightened securely to make sure the pipe stays in place after it is threaded down.
- Some fans have a separate motor hub into which the hanger pipe mounts. In this case, you'll place the actual motor housing over the hub.
- Other fans have a two-piece decorative ceiling cover to hide the hole in the ceiling. It is installed after the fan has been hung on the ceiling.
- Tighten the set screw well.
- Other models use a hook, with the hanger bracket designed to accept it.
- To attach the fan blades, set the motor unit down where it will be stable. Often, the styrene foam packing for the motor housing makes an excellent stabilizer on your worktable.
- Most fan blades have a two-pronged attachment, using screws that come through holes in the blades and into the flanges. These need to be drawn up securely, but not so tightly that the threads are damaged or the laminated blade material is crushed. On many fans you'll find the flanges, or prongs, also need to be mounted to the motor housing. If this is the case, mount them before the flanges are mounted to the blades themselves.
HEIGHT BENEATH BLADES
- Now, check the floor-to-ceiling height of the fan blades. You can do this by measuring the floor-to-ceiling distance and subtracting for the part of the fan that will extend below the ceiling down to the lower blade surface. An absolute minimum height of 7' is recommended. This may be reinforced by building codes in your area.
- If the floor-to-ceiling distance is too little, check into a low-ceiling mount for your fan. With some models, the fan blade height can be increased by as much as 10". Remember, though, that you need at least 12" between the ceiling and the tops of the fan blades for proper airflow. Having 18" is better if the space is available.
MOUNTING THE FAN TO THE BOX
- Install the hanger bracket on the box with screws and lock washers. If no lock washers are supplied, get some–they prevent fan vibration from loosening the screws over time.
- The hanger bracket may accept either a half-ball hanger or a hook-type hanger, depending on which kind your fan uses. Either way, the hanger is carefully slipped into the bracket.
- Next, the unit is wired, and the ceiling cover is slipped up to its full height and tightened in place.
- Be sure to connect the black house wires to the black fan wires, and the white house wires to the white fan wires.
- The fan should be electrically grounded to both the metal box and the fan. The grounding wires will be either green or bare copper. A green grounding pigtail attached to the box by a bonding screw will make your work easier. Wire-nut the ground wires from the box, the fan and the power supply together.
- If the fan wobbles when it runs, its blades may be unbalanced. To correct this, try interchanging two adjacent blades. If that doesn't work, take all the blades off and weigh each one on a food or postal scale. If any is underweight, tape a soft object such as a pencil eraser or modeling clay to the top center of the blade, making its weight the same as the others. Fan balancing kits with detailed instructions are also available. Reinstall the blades and the fan should run smoothly.
PROBLEM HANGING
- When nothing else works for fan mounting, use a piece of good-looking hardwood plywood as a fan-mount. It should be large enough to extend over two joists. The size may be 18" x 18" or 26" x 26", or any variant that does the job.
- Use brass screws in pilot-drilled holes to attach the plywood to the ceiling joists. The screw length will vary, depending on the thickness of the plywood and plaster or plasterboard ceiling below the joists. Use one screw every 6".
- The plywood will have an access hole of proper size cut in its center, and will serve as the main mounting member for the junction box above it.
- Finish the plywood with an outside corner molding, mitered at the corners for a neat appearance.
- Or, you can get a surface-mounting fixture box along with a surface conduit wiring system that meets electrical codes. This allows you to do the wiring installation on the ceiling and wall, rather than behind it.
- You may wish to wire your new ceiling fan through a fan speed control. This lets you set its operating speed smoothly and easily.
OK, I don't know what fan you have, but the ones I bought have 2 thumbscrews where the fan comes thru the mount on the ceiling, after the fan is mounted make sure that you let the fan hang straight down and tighten those screws and it stops the wobble and also with the fan was a package of sticky back weights that can be used if the blades are out of balance..
If you think about it a moment it's all about physics and very easy to do. Sort of the same way they used to balance wheels before they got computers to help. Think "level".Originally Posted by DrAndy
thinking "level".....
I wonder how they did it before computers?
as for a fan, yes, level would be good if that is the reason for the wobble
The same way carpenters did it before they got lasers. You mount the wheel on a spindle with a leveling indicator (glass dome with liquid and a bubble inside) and add weights to the rim until the bubble is centered. That's static balancing. If you spin the wheel while you're looking at the bubble, that's dynamic balancing.Originally Posted by DrAndy
OK thanks
I'm having a hard time believing you're either too young or too naive to recall how wheels were balanced a few decades ago....Originally Posted by DrAndy
Plus I have done it when rebuilding a dredge pump runner[impeller] they will be sometimes 2 feet from front to back and 6 to 10 feet in dia, have a slug to fit bore with a ball bearing stuck in the center, lay the runner on a steel plate so the ball will move easily, level it and then leave just an 1/8 of an inch between your braces and the runner so it will wobble a little. go opposite the low side, and a little weight, to much and it will fall fast, but fool with it a time and when you push it down in any spot it will stay.
But with the fan use a little piece of black plastic tape, put one of the weights on, tape it and try it,, better or worse?, not to hard to get it figured out , slow turning is better, you get a more pronounced wobble and easier to figure.
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