"Wiring box" may mean the electrical box in the ceiling. I have hung a ceiling fan with the extended dealie, any ceiling fan install is a pain in the a$$. I do not mean this to sound condescending or pedantic, but you may want to find a neighbor or friend who's more familiar with the electrical esp if the documentation is not very good.
Also don't put it on a dimmer switch unless you have the right kind.
There are heavy duty electical boxes made specifically for installing ceiling fans in old work. They are a metal box together with an expanding rod that goes between the 2 joists. It sounds like that might be what you already have? The whole thing can be grounded by attaching a wire from the ground on the wire entering the box to the box with a screw.
"And that would not be a "dimmer", but a special fan motor speed control. "
Right, and IMO, the best solution for most applications, especially old work, is to go with a remote. That way you don't need to run wire to a wall switch box at all. You just need 120 direct to the fan.
"No, what I have done is repositioned the wireing into an entirely second hole. The original hole was only for a light mount, and was screwed into the drywall. I didn't want the fan falling on me, so I moved this
over about a foot to a beam. I have 4' wires for extending the existing connections, which I attached with some wire nuts. I have to deal with
the old hole, but that's not a functional issue. "
Hope your aware that per electical code, the original ceiling box from which you ran the wire to the new box must remain accessible with a cover plate, ie, you can't drywall over it or leave a splice in the ceiling without access. That's one reason they make the expandable hanger bars, so that you can position them between the joists.
"The problem now is that I see something labelled "wiring box" on the diagram. I certainly don't have it, and it isn't a part of the things that came with the kit. From what I can see, I have the wires, a beam,
and something to mount into it. I figure I am set but I want to make sure I'm not missing something with that box. The only thing I can tell it helps with is distributing ground to the fan. That can be remedied easily enough by attaching ground to all the ungrounded spots. "
There is no other box, other than the electical box the fan hangs from. A wire secured to that box and connected to the incoming ground wire, plus connecting the incoming ground wire to the fan ground wire is all that is required.
"What I'm concerned about is if that box is supposed to provide some kind of stability or strength. "
The metal electrical box that you installed is all that's required to hold the fan. Be sure it's securely fastened to a joist, or cross 2X4.
I'm trying to install a ceiling fan in my bedroom. It's on the top floor of the house, and the ceiling angles up along the center of the room. A light fixture was placed on one side, and I'm running wires from that a foot over to a ceiling beam.
The problem is getting the angle correct. My fan can only handle a 12 degree angle at most, so I got a Hunter angle mount kit. I'm filling the directions for "angle ceiling mounting," and it mentions a "wiring box." It specifically doesn't mention it's not supplied--some of the other steps show things it clearly labels as not supplied. I can't see clearly how that is wired up. If anybody has done this before, do you have any ideas?
Can I proceed without it? It looks like the main thing is getting in the hanger bracker, inserting the pin with the 36" extender rod I have, and then pinning it in place. It also looks like I'm supposed to ground the rod, but it doesn't mention it other than having a squiggly line.
No, what I have done is repositioned the wireing into an entirely second hole. The original hole was only for a light mount, and was screwed into the drywall. I didn't want the fan falling on me, so I moved this over about a foot to a beam. I have 4' wires for extending the existing connections, which I attached with some wire nuts. I have to deal with the old hole, but that's not a functional issue.
The problem now is that I see something labelled "wiring box" on the diagram. I certainly don't have it, and it isn't a part of the things that came with the kit. From what I can see, I have the wires, a beam, and something to mount into it. I figure I am set but I want to make sure I'm not missing something with that box. The only thing I can tell it helps with is distributing ground to the fan. That can be remedied easily enough by attaching ground to all the ungrounded spots.
What I'm concerned about is if that box is supposed to provide some kind of stability or strength.
The instructions that come with your fan as well as the ones that come with your angle ceiling kit assume that you have a fan support outlet box in the ceiling already. You do not, so one must be installed. One post mentioned an expanding retrofit box, which is a perfect solution. Westinghouse and a number of other companies make such boxes and some are sold at HD. If you don't completely understand the installation of this equipment, get help. This thing is going to be spinning, vibrating and fairly heavy. If it's not secure, it may come down
The correct method of relocating your fan location would be to use the existing electrical box as a junction box. Run a 14/3 romex cable to your new location and install a box to contain the extended conductors and support your ceiling fan. For mounting directly onto a beam you would use a fan rated pancake box which is available at Home Depot. If you don't use a box, the spliced wires will be exposed to bare wood. If there was ever some arcing or overheating of those splices, the wood could burn. The 14/3 romex cable should enter the pancake box using a romex cable connector that is fastened into one of the knockouts in the back of the box. You may need to drill an 1 -1/4" hole to allow the connector to be recessed into the beam.
Get a white round blank canopy cover to cover up the existing electrical box which is now being used as a junction box. Home Depot has them, but the employees may not know what they are. There are two different screw spacings for these. Make sure that you get the one with the correct spacing for your box.
Hopefully your angle kit came with some long screws to mount to the fan rated pancake box.
You attach your bare ground wire to the fan rated pancake box using a 10/32 green screw and leave a tail extended to connect to the green ground wires of the fan using a twist on wire connector.
The fan normally has three wires coming out of it in addition to the green ground wires. The white is common, the black is for the fan, and the blue or other color is for the light kit. Twist clockwise the wires to be connected tightly using pliers to ensure a good connection and use wire connectors.
John Grabowski
On Sun 04 Sep 2005 11:32:43p, wrote in alt.home.repair:
And that would not be a "dimmer", but a special fan motor speed control.
It sounds like you attached the fan bracket to a beam and pulled the wires over to the fan but did not install another box is that correct? The danger in doing this is that the connections for the fan are no longer protected by a box. If their should be an issue with a bad connection instead of cooking itself safely inside the box the connection will cook itself next to a flammable wooden beam.
You can get a small box just for this situation. You use a hole saw to remove the sheetrock and mount the box to the wooden beam. Then your fan mounts to the box and your connections are protected. This isn't for grounding reasons but to prevent a fire in the event one of those connections fails.
I thought I'd update. I got the fan to work, but I have some serious cleaning up and adjusting to do. The 36" rod is too long and I barely fit under it standing upright (I'm 5'10"). The 24" rod is too close of a call, so I will likely have to cut this rod down and reconnect.
I ended up making a new mount about a foot over from the existing one. I don't recall why, but that mount that bridges across two beams wouldn't work. I think it was mainly because I don't have a crawl space from which to install that; I'd have to slide into the existing, tiny hole.
It turns out the old fixture is in a good spot. This fan came with a remote, and I think I will pop the receiver into that old hole. Normally, it would mount on the kit's fan mount, but I am using an angled one instead. Having nowhere else to put it, I'll try the old hole. So everything will have its place.
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