Ceiling fan wobble (2025 Update)

Yep see it before.

Are you sure your not missing a screw on that blade? There are usually two screws that hold the blade assembly to the motor housing.

I got the manufacture of the fan to cough up a set of "irons" the metal pieces that attach to the fan and the blades attach to the "iron".

The box stores sell then in sets in brass finish. Be damned sure you bring an old one with you. There hundreds of slight variations to the "irons". Ok maybe not hundreds but there are a bunch.

you may want to check the alignment of the fan shaft bolt holes.

holes that were not level would cause this type of problem.

Also, instead of going through a lot of things that may not take care of the problem, just get some coins and tape them to the blade you suspect as being light. Move them in and out along the blade until the wobble stops. Mine have been like that for 15 yrs now. Bout time to check on the tape though. B

eliminating

Go to Home Depot and buy a balance kit and that should solve it. That's assuming that something isn't loose or bent........good luck....Ross

The blades must be level , same pitch and protrusion as the others, New fan, return it, old fan remount and shim the blades.

HD and Lowes sell fan balancing kits. They are cheap and I hear they do work well once you figure out the trail and error process.

hth,

tom @

When you are balancing it, use washers instead of coins and tape a screw with the washers till you get it right, then screw the washers in place.

Hey! I like that idea even better! B

i spent hours trying to balance a 4 blade, 3 speed ceiling fan for my parents using coins. never could balance "high" speed. i even swapped blade positions. (motor with no blades was in perfect balance)

out of desperation, i measured the length and the weight of all 4 blades, all were identical. when i realized that different speeds was the issue, it became obvious that pitch was causing the problem. a few minutes later, with a protractor and string i found one blade bracket had a 5 degree error to the other 3 blades. a quick "twist" to the bracket to get it to the same angle as the rest was all it needed. the fan now runs true at high speed (or any speed).

a trick to avoid the protractor- if the blades are gloss finish, put a small light bulb a little higher or lower and behind the fan so you can see it's reflection on the blades as they rotate. "twist" any errant blade bracket, so that the bulb reflection is at exactly the same place on all the blades. (spin by hand)

eye blade light bulb

Smart!!!!!!!

Good catch! B