OT Any tech based way to balance a ceiling fan?

[gellfex]

I've got a ceiling fan that I can't seem to balance the prescribed way, trial and error with the weight clip. Nothing I do with it seems to reduce the wobble. Is there any other approach? I've not found one online searching. The one thing I tried without success was holding a marker out at the edge of the blades so the one pulling out would hit it. Got results, but when I tried the weight opposite the 2 blades that hit it I got no improvement.

[johnd]

I've had the same problem and suspect it's not just location of weight, but also "how much" weight one is using. I've had better luck swapping blades around by trial & error and see what happens. One could maybe try weighing outer end of each blade on an accurate postal scale and see if something is out of whack, maybe drill some holes in a heavy one. I've put up half a dozen and some run dead smooth, the wobbly ones never do improve to perfection.

[CCWKen]

Could be not enough weight added. Have you tried mounting the long blades opposite each other? Do you have a way to weigh the blades accurately?

Also, remove the blades and see if the imbalance is still there. The problem could be in the motor itself.

[elf]

Mount it on a wall instead of the ceiling. Heaviest blade will be down.

[reggie_obe]

Could be not enough weight added. Have you tried mounting the long blades opposite each other? Do you have a way to weigh the blades accurately?

Also, remove the blades and see if the imbalance is still there. The problem could be in the motor itself.

Could be a cracked blade or a blade mounted slightly different in the blade iron.

http://www.wikihow.com/Balance-a-Wobbly-Ceiling-Fan

[A.K. Boomer]

yeah check to see if they are all the same pitch, all the weight balancing in the world won't correct that problem...

[darryl]

I think you also need to see that the blades are in the same plane. If you notice one blade higher or lower at the tip than others, rectify that first.

[danlb]

Tech based? Hmmm.

Use a digital food or postage scale to ensure that all blades are the same weight.

Set a high power IR laser under the blade 1/4 inch from the tip. Turn it on and run the fan till the burning stops. Your blades are now the same length.

Use a digital angle finder to ensure each blade has the same slant.

Of course, you can do all of the above with low tech scales, band saws, etc, but what's the fun in that?

Dan

[old mart]

How about a bit of Blue-tac stuck on each blade in turn using the suck it and see method.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

If you have 4 blades, you'll need for 4 different colors of tape...

Put an equal amount of colored tape on the end of each fan blade. Each fan blade should have a different color.

Turn the fan on and from the side, look to see what colors you see... If you see Yellow is higher than blue, then you need to weigh down yellow. If you see green higher, add add weight to the green blade until it tracks with the others. It should be good when all of the blades track the same and you don't see any colors above/below other colors when watching from the side as the blades turn.

[kitno455]

Just switch two of the blades, mounting arm and all.

allan

[CalM]

Just switch two of the blades, mounting arm and all.

allan

I had trouble balancing a "matched pair" of ceiling fans in our front room. (cathedral ceiling)

I could make improvement, but not get the fans to run smoothly. The rubber "isolators" were shot. The fans being old. (and hence "good" and worth saving;-)

New rubber ring isolators, and the fans balanced via the "high blade is the light blade" technology. I use stick on wheel weight.

[chipmaker4130]

I think you also need to see that the blades are in the same plane. If you notice one blade higher or lower at the tip than others, rectify that first.

Darryl's got it. People put all the emphasis on balancing weight, when tracking is of equal or greater importance. Even if you get that right too, it will change with relative humidity unless you have composite blades.

[gellfex]

I've checked the height, there's no big anomaly there. Oddly, I left it on overnight and it seems better than it was. Not perfect, but better.

[Hal]

Funniest blade balancing story I heard.
A guy said his brother was waiting for a phone call (before cell phones) and the ceiling fan was wobbling.
He taped a ball point pen to the blade and turned the fan back on.
As the fan came up to speed it squirted a stream of ink in a line around the room.
His wife was not impressed.