Ceiling fan vibrates

I have a ceiling fan that vibrates.

It is not like a typical fan wobble. It is intermittent. It runs fine in slow speed, but vibrates on the highest speed. When it does, it is completely intermittent. It can run smooth for two minutes, then suddenly I hear this "ting ting" sound which is the glass light shade shaking a bit. Then another 10 seconds it goes back to normal.

I took the bottom part of the fan apart, and made sure everything is tight and secured. No loose screws. I checked the screws on all five fan blades, no issue. I didn't disassemble more than that. The vibration is still there after removing the glass light shade, just the sound is a bit different. When it does vibrates, it seems the speed of the fan slows a little.

Now if I flip the direction of the fan, instead of spinning clockwise to direct the air down, to reverse it. When I did that it does NOT vibrate, AT ALL. Why?

A bit more info. The fan was originally installed in a guest room. Rarely used. I don't remember seeing it vibrate. It was on two pull chains. One for light and one for fan.

Then last week I moved it to another bedroom, and at the same time, pulled one more conductor through the conduit so that I can use a light dimmer + fan speed control switch. I used a LSCLDC163PW Pass & Seymour TradeMaster® Single-Pole Preset Dimmer w/ Single-Pole 3-Speed De-Hummer Fan Control.

The fan is a Home Depot Hampton Bay fan.

Any idea what the issue may be?

Electrical box not secured to the framing?

Motor issue? If it's the motor wouldn't the reverse direction also vibrate?

Fan blade balance issue?

New switch compatibility issue - I had another fan some time ago by Hampton Bay and when I eliminated the pull chains and wired using a Lutron light and fan speed switch it "hums" and Hampton Bay said some fans are not "designed" to be wired with third party switches.

or is this just a crappy fan?

This fan is about two years old. Thank you for any advice or comment.

 

I've never had any luck repairing a fan, from a big box store. Once they start to vibrate, that's the end. Only once I've been able to stop a vibration due to a screw coming lose.

That could be part of the problem. The two main screws that are never included, with the fan when it's sold/bought because the manufacturer doesn't want to be held responsible, if the fan falls on your head, should be inspected too.

 

Is it mounted to a real fan rated box?

 

Excellent question! I forgot to mention that.

 

I have a 52" Hunter "ceiling hugger" fan that has its bracket lag bolted to a floor joist. It does the same exact thing yours does. It has done it since day one. I just make sure the glass chimney screws are kept snug.

 

It is mounted on an old metal octagon box, that box is screwed onto a piece of 2X6 that is attached on both sides to the joists. Also there are several EMT conduits connected to the box from the side KOs with set screw connectors. It feels rock solid. The octagon box is set high, so there is a 1.5" deep metal octagon extension ring to make it flushed with ceiling. The fan is then mounted on that.

Now the things is, if its not something in the fan itself, but things like box not sturdy, ceiling not level, loose mounting etc...why would reversing the fan spin direction make the problem go away?

 

Mine can run fine for an hour and just start to shake. It appears to actually resonate. The lamps shake and the motor slows down slightly. Could last 10-15 seconds and go right back to normal.

 

PJmax that is kind of what happened but not an hour but like 5, 10 minutes then it shakes a little slows a bit then back to normal.

Does your fan shake if you reverse the direction of spin?

 

I don't think so. My fan doesn't spin as fast in reverse so the vibration doesn't occur.

I'm pretty sure mine only has the problem when it spins in the forward direction (air down) and is on the high speed.

There is no set amount of time when it happens. It can happen a lot sometimes.

 

Well if you ever figured out how to fix it let me know.

Right now I am debating between taking the existing fan apart and remounting it and see if it makes a difference versus just getting another fan.