New ceiling fan making 'humming' noise

We recently had a new Minka Aire ceiling fan installed in our master bedroom. While the fan is great and seems to work just fine, it's noticeably loud. It's not rickety or anything like that, it's more of a humming sound, as if the motor is working too hard or is trying to spin faster but can't.

I have a much, much older (and less expensive) fan downstairs in my house that is whisper quiet. But for some reason this 'fancier' and more expensive Minka Aire is loud.

Any thoughts as to what it could be? Could there not be enough power going to it, possibly causing it to work extra hard? I'm totally making that up as I don't know much about electricity.

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

Was there a fan there previously? If so, was it quiet?

I've had fans that were silent over the years and some that did hum, hard to know exactly what it sounds like from your description but it could be an actual problem with the fan.

 

You don't have a dimmer on the fan motor do you?

 

There was no previous fan, just a ceiling light.

I don't have a dimmer on the fan motor. I'm using the supplied wall switch which has 3 fan speeds and a dimmer for the light (but no dimmer for the fan).

 

If you didn't change to a fan rated box there maybe vibration contributing to the noise.

 

The new fan could be slightly out of balance. Can you tell if the blades are running dead level? Or, if it has pull chains, are they hanging absolutely still - no visible movement at all, even on high speed?

One other thought related to pull chains is that the built-in switch for the motor must be set on high for the fan to work properly with any external control.

 

"The new fan could be slightly out of balance. Can you tell if the blades are running dead level? Or, if it has pull chains, are they hanging absolutely still - no visible movement at all, even on high speed?

One other thought related to pull chains is that the built-in switch for the motor must be set on high for the fan to work properly with any external control."

There are no chains and everything looks to be running smoothly, no unevenness.


"If you didn't change to a fan rated box there maybe vibration contributing to the noise"

The electrician who installed it said there was an existing fan rated box (or at least whatever box was there for the old light fixture he said was appropriate for the fan.

Also, it's really not a vibration (I don't think), it's more of a humming. It's almost like if you were driving down the highway at 55 in 3rd gear. It works, and you move, but it's loud and needs a gear change... This is just a description of course to try and better explain what it sounds like.


I also forgot to mention in my original post, that when the fan is on, and you change speeds, there is a slight 'pause' where it's almost like power is cut, and then the new speed kicks in (this is just the way the fan works for whatever reason). However, in that split second, the fan is of course still spinning, but it goes absolutely dead silent. Then as the new speed kicks in it goes right back to humming.

Similarly, as soon as I turn the power off it goes dead silent. Again, it's of course still spinning, but there's no sound at all.

I don't know if this means that it is clearly the motor, or if it could still be that the motor is causing something else to vibrate (though I really don't think it's a vibration anywhere).

For reference, this is the fan:

Minka-Aire F594-PW Tradition Concept 52 Inch Pewter Ceiling Fan

and this is the manual: http://www.delmarfans.com/prodimg/pd...concept-52.pdf

 

It might be time to request a replacement fan under the warranty.