Ceiling fan won't turn

I have a ceiling fan & light in my family room, which I run using a remote receiver. Everything was working fine until just recently the fan stopped working. The remote receiver is a somewhat cheap one so I figured that's where the problem was. I switched it out for a new one but the fan still doesn't work. While I was testing it, I noticed that I faintly hear the motor running when I turn on the fan. I went to manually turn the blades and it seems tight - I would think you could gently spin it & it would go easily. So I'm thinking maybe something is jamming up the mechanism so the motor is unable to turn the blades. Realizing that nobody is seeing what I'm looking at, does anyone have any thoughts on what the cause might be? It's obviously also possible that the motor has just died (the fan is at least 12 years old). But before I start taking apart the whole thing, I want to make sure I'm not on the wrong track or missing something. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Just a few thoughts in random order.
1. Wall switch - if it has one - turned on.
2. Fresh batteries in remote.
3. Forward / reverse switch on fan housing firmly in one position or the other.
4. With the fan turned off, do the blades then swing freely and easily?
5. Does the fan also have lights? If so, do they work properly?
6. If the fan still has it's pull chain(s), does it work when using them.

 

Thanks for the reply, Goldstar. I did think of all those things (the "easy" ones I typically forget & then find out after a repairman charges me $100). The light does work, the switch is on, the chain is pulled, the battery is fresh, and the direction switch is in the right position.

However the blades do not turn easily when the fan is turned off. That's what leads me to believe there's some physical blockage. After eliminating all the possibilities you mentioned, plus knowing it's not the remote receiver (unless I replaced a broken one with another, brand-new, broken one), the only other possibility would be the motor being burned out. But my thought is that if the motor was burned out, the blades would still spin easily when the fan is off & I manually spin them. So it has to be a blockage, right?

I guess I was just wondering how a random blockage could develop in a fan 7-8 feet above the floor? Is this something that people have commonly seen happen?

 

You did remove all of the shipping blocks? Maybe you missed one.

 

Thanks Ray. It's not a new fan, and it's been working for years, so I don't think that's it.

I'm becoming more convinced that a ceiling fan may not have a life of more than 12-15 years & I may need to replace it.

 

Age may well be a factor and it may be time for a replacement. Before you do, listen to to the fan sound as you turn it by hand. Do you hear a rubbing sound or maybe a metallic scrape sound. It doesn't take much to stop those motors. A wire or screw could have worked it's way into a bad spot, causing the binding. Part of the DIY fun is tearing into it and seeing how it works.

 

Thanks Goldstar, I'll check it out this week. I agree that's part of the DIY fun --- unfortunately my wife doesn't find it fun when I take things apart! I'll cash in on my Father's Day goodwill and give it a shot -- wish me luck. Thanks again for all the advice.