Ceiling Fan/Light Pops When Powered Off

DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

It's not the lights portion that is "popping" apparently.

Take it down/apart and look for where the arcing has left marks--they'll be there somewhere.

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Remove the fixture and check for loose wires, arcing, dust. Blow out motor with compressor. It's amazing how much dust and grime accumulate over time. Keeping the motor dust free will let it run cooler.

Are the lights on a dimmer or timer or remote control built into the fan unit?

It does sound like something is not right in the motor or motor switch area, probably conductive tracking from 20 years of grime or vaporized switch contacts accumulating where it can cause trouble.

I'd recon that there may be a little current flowing through the motor windings even when the motor switch is OFF, and when the wall switch opens and breaks that current the inductive kick from the stored energy in the motor windings makes something arc enough to cause the noise the OP's hearing.

If two or more light bulbs are switched ON they will provide a damping load across the motor inductance and the "kick" won't reach a high enough voltage to make the arc occur.

Sounds like it's time for a teardown and inspection. The proximate fault may just be in the motor speed control switch itself, and not in the motor.

Jeff

sounds like some info is bad though. turning off a circuit only causes a pop when the circuit was NOT passing current. Stopping soething that is not going should not do anything. I think he needs more investiation.

CL