An Innovative Way to Balance a Ceiling Fan

Wondering what to do when you have a ceiling fan that wobbles? We recently experienced an out-of-balance ceiling fan that "ticked" with every rotation, almost driving us crazy. Fortunately, a little trick I learned for balancing fans solved the problem. Using centrifugal force, I was able to balance the fan and stop the ticking. Give this a try next time you're faced with an unbalanced fan.
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Thanks for watching! I'm Terry Peterman, the Internet Electrician, and welcome to my channel. On this channel I teach DIYers how to safely and competently work on simple electrical projects around the home. I will teach you how to do it right, do it safely, and save money by doing it yourself.
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[@terryhock6791]

It worked great for my fan! I wasted significant time, adding weights to the blades, moving them in and out, different blades, but no luck. This took me less than 5 minutes to do and now I have a balanced fan! Many thanks!!!!

[@theinternetelectrician]

Sometimes it works, other times, not. Happy yours worked out!

[@vince6829]

Never thought about trying that approach. Thanks for sharing.

[@radumari]

It really worked, fixed within max 5 minutes. Thank you for this very useful tip.

[@1976sweep]

Thanks for the video!! It worked out great for me!

[@franciscozapata9164]

Very, smart, and helpful. 👍👍

[@kevaleva]

I’ll try this next weekend when my wife isn’t around telling me EXACTLY how to do everything

[@theinternetelectrician]

Too funny! Now just hope something goes horribly wrong and she gets to use the "I told you so" line!

[@BrianCanVideo]

u alright bro?

[@kevaleva]

@@BrianCanVideo no, I’m not alright. Thanks for asking bro

[@christinevanzandbergen3797]

Simple method. I'm renting a two bedroom home in Mexico and every ceiling in this house was out of balance and making noise. Used your method and voila! all fixed. Super Thanks!

[@theinternetelectrician]

Happy to help out! Glad it worked for you. My Sister and Bro-in-law stayed in a place where the ceiling fan was hanging by just the wires. When it started up it would twist them up, and then release with incredible speed as the wires unwound!

[@brianherman503]

pure genius! this is so helpful!

[@theinternetelectrician]

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!

[@user-we6bv9bu5l]

WORKED LIKE A CHAMP!!!!!! Thanks so much for the tip.

[@tubokuper3557]

Great idea. Thanks

[@theinternetelectrician]

Thanks Tubo! I hope that you gave the video a 'like', and that you have subscribed to my channel? And don't forget to click the notifications bell so you'll know when I release a new video! You might find a video in the future covering the installation of receptacles in shop using a PVC conduit system!

[@sylvestermark6987]

Thanks peterman your my inspiration...am an electrical technician from Kenya I like what your doing

[@theinternetelectrician]

Hello Kenya! Thanks for watching!

[@johnroberts1509]

Terry thanks for the video I will definitely try it next time I install a ceiling fan.

[@theinternetelectrician]

Sounds good, and thanks for watching!!!

[@Petesworkshop2225]

That's today for me.

[@ScottSlooper]

Just FYI what is happening with this technique is every blade is simply being re-tightened at its furthermost point from the hub. Centrifugal force is pulling all 3 blades as far away from the hub as possible, given the friction and tolerances on the mounting bolts and their holes. No blade will ever move toward the hub using this technique and thereby balance the fan. No blade will move part way out and then stop in a perfect spot for balance. If moving all your blades to the outermost point is what is needed to balance your fan, this will work. If something needs to be moved to any other point, it won't.

[@ramyhuber8392]

Thanks much for this clear explanation. I've got a wobbly/noisy fan that I need to work on today.

[@kevinwinkle8091]

would pulling out on the blades while re-tightening do the same thing?

[@stephanieabreu3721]

would this work with intermittent rubbing?

[@jayjudd6518]

❤ stupid thanks 😂 I’ll try it tomorrow.😊

[@MrBlueice07]

You know what! It worked.God bless you and may all your dreams come true.

[@theinternetelectrician]

Happy to help out! Thanks for watching!

[@ramjirrajan]

Can you please add in link for this fan

[@henrychapman3798]

May the swartz be with you😂 dude it worked awsome thank you.

[@NathanBell-te5fd]

I untightened the screws, turned it on high, let it run, and no clicking. I was so happy!!! So I climbed back up and tightened the screws while being sure I didn't bump anything. Turned it back on and its clicking again. what do you think I am doing wrong?

[@ToddWilliams91360]

Since my blade screws have rubber grommets around them, and my bracket screws seem to be countersunk, I was skeptical, but it seems to have worked! But I don't think this would always work - imagine if one blade had two-inch-long slots for the screw holes - that would cause that blade to stick out 2" farther than the others, which would certainly not be in balance. When the components are precise and just not installed in a precise way, this seems like a cool trick to try!

[@trudyandgeorge]

What a ripper tip.

[@TerryCone]

Interesting. I have a problem fan which I tried the stupid weights on. Didn’t work. Will try it again your way!

[@danishbhai2636]

Urdu me tranlete

[@djmeltdown65]

your fan is still wobbling bro...

[@theinternetelectrician]

That was the camera wobbling!

[@ChuckP25.]

Terry - Centrifugal Force is an apparent force. It's not real. Centripetal Force is the main driver.

[@theinternetelectrician]

Given that loosening the blades in an effort to move the blades out away from the center of the radius to find the balanced equilibrium, maybe centrifugal is the correct term? But I gotta give you credit for getting me to research the 2 terms, and the difference between them! Thanks for watching!

[@ToddWilliams91360]

Let me take you for a ride around the racetrack and then you can tell me that centrifugal force isn't real. :-) Centrifugal force is a "pseudo" inertial force which is necessary to counteract the "real" centripetal force so that everything stays in equilibrium. But that's not what's happening here. The centrifugal force (Latin for "fleeing" from the center) acts on the blades, which want to get away from the hub. The centripetal (Latin for "seeking" the center) force is exerted by the screws that hold on to the blades. Who wins? In this case the centrifugal force wins by letting the blades move away from the center a bit ("accelerate"), until equilibrium is reached and then the net force acting on the blades becomes zero.

[@janamanu3437]

When the body rotates in circular motion, if the body has weight then there should be a centrifugal force acting on that body and that force is acts away from the centre of rotation.

[@jimcarter4929]

Sorry to say no luck with this.

[@danny2131]

Complete bs

[@TheInternetElectrician-bd3vg]

OK, thanks for your input. 🙂