ceiling fan suddenly louder

Jul 15, 2022 Last reply: 4 years ago 4 Replies

Have a 15 year old ceiling fan in my room that has suddenly become louder. It makes a sound almost like something is rubbing. If I turn it off completely and turn the blades slowly, I hear almost a rubbing sound at one point while I manually turn the blades. Fan has been trouble free all of these years, any idea what could be causing it?


Good chance the motor bearings are wearing out. You don't put the same load spinning them by hand so you'd not hear it.

15 years is a pretty good run. Time for a new one.

Probably worn bearings.

Have you tried reversing the direction and seeing what happens? Slim chance it'll help, but maybe a some crud (rust?) or something has built up inside the unit. Just one of those simple tests that can't hurt.

Also,ceiling fan blades collect dust, which can come off when the fan is reversed. I had a friend who said it looked like caterpillars falling off.

Could this be the issue?

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