I am helping my 90 year old dad with some projects around his house. It is a two story house and he would like to install a ceiling fan in one downstairs room. What I am unsure about is the electrical box in the celing of the room being strong enough to support the fan.

The house is somewhere around 125 to 150 years old but I believe it had an extensive remodeling in the early 1960's. The exterior walls have 4x4 (real 4x4s, not the smaller stuff of today) as studs in the walls. So a lot of the house is really overbuilt.

I have removed the light fixture from the center of the celing so I could get a look at the box up in there. I see a threaded center stud with a large cotter pin through it in the center top of the box. I have taken a photo of this.

I think this does not look like a standard electrical box since it has this large threaded stud extending down from the top of the box but I have never seen something like this before. There is a lot of plaster work covering a lot of the box so the remaining opening is only about three inches across. I can see some sort of plate attached to the lower edge of the box and there were two light machine screws threaded into this lower plate that was holding up the original light fixture.

The instructions for the ceiling fan he has says the electrical box should be rated to support 50lbs.

Anyine have any ideas? I can also post a larger resolution version of this photo as well.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/v...pseyiplsgq.jpg

 

Welcome to the forums! It is difficult to tell from your picture, but those type boxes are not "fan rated" boxes, mainly because of the attachment of the fan brace to the "ears" and not to the main part of the box itself and using larger 10-24 screws. Below are a couple of examples of fan rated boxes showing what makes them such. Removal of the box and brace would be in order. Then you can see what you have above the ceiling in order to decide if you need a spanner type brace between the joists or if you are close enough to a joist to use a direct install.

 

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As moderators you two seem to be recycling the same replies to posts asking about hanging ceiling fans. Same photos and I bet if I checked it probably is the same wording.

This is not really terribly original or helpful.

 

Yes, because the question has been asked and answered. You need to change the box. Not sure what else to say but we will be glad to answer any specific questions you have on your situation.

 

Sorry you feel the only and correct way recommended is not the way for you. Maybe it would be better for you to pay someone, altho they will not do it any differently.