No , not because I hung it too low . The old (freebie) fan in our living room decided to start squeaking , so I ordered a replacement - and 2 more for other rooms since we wanted the same unit throughout the house and these were a good buy . Nice factory refurb Hunter 52" 5 blades , 4 speed though the sales literature says 3 . The first 2 went on the short downrods included , but the 3rd needed a longer rod since the ceiling is vaulted . And it's the only one that didn't run perfectly balanced out of the box . So here's the thing - it runs rock steady at all but one speed (2nd slowest) where it has a very slight maybe 1/4" or less wobble . I did check blade alignment before balancing , all within
1/16" . It's not enough wobble to be annoying , you don't even notice it unless you're looking for it . I'm just puzzled why it only occurs at the one speed .
Ceiling fan head scratcher (2025 Update)
Jan 29, 2019
Last reply: 8 months ago
7 Replies
For the same reason out of balance tires typically only show up at certain speeds. They have certain speeds where the characteristics of the system allow it to resonate. Kind of like a tuning fork will resonate at a certain frequency. You can fix it by placing small weights, like maybe one or more dimes, on one of the blades by trial and error. There should be instructions for doing that for that fan or if not, follow instructions for a similar fan.
I agree that it is somewhat out of ballance. I had a car that a front tire became out of ballance. At any speed except from about 55 to 60 mph it was fine as soon as I got in that speed range the stering wheel would shake so bad I could hardly hold it.
It could also be one of the blades is not in alignment with the others.
Balance it again at the speed that's a problem. Also, I think you said it was a refurb, maybe you found out why it was returned. But I would think balancing it at the problem speed could work.
so with the fan off, give it a sideways push to get it rocking.
See the speed it rocks by itself. That is the resonance speed.
Like a pendulum it takes only a ___tiny___ push to keep it rocking if the push comes at the same speed as the resonance.
So you probably have a slight imbalance that is not an issue expect that the resonance happens to be close to that next to slowest fan speed.
You other option is to change the resonance by making the hanging pipe a little longer or shorter.
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Because that’s the frequency that the long rod resonates at.
It ain't going to rock at all ... used to be the mounts were a ball , these are more trilobed instead of round . I think you've hit on the cause though . And that rod ain't gonna get modified , too damn much work for a minuscule gain . I guess I could go thru the balancing procedure again with it set at this speed ... nah , unless my wife says it bothers her I'm not going to mess with it . And I doubt it will , I had to point it out before she noticed it .
Or heavier.
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