Odd Ceiling Fan Problem

I've had an on-off problems with two of my ceiling fans (different makers, one hunter and one minka). Wired differently too, the minka one is controlled by a wall remote control, and the hunter one by two wired wall switches).



Every now and then, for no reason, the fan will stop working. It may stop working for a day, a week, whatever.. then start working again for a month or even a year. When this happens, the light kit on both fans still works (on the minka, the light kit and fan are on the same line, separated in the fan by the remote control receiver. On the hunter, it's two different wires going into the fan.).



It stumps me.. I'll just turn the fan on one day, it will spin a little bit, then stop. Nothing gets it to work. I can hear a small hum in its motor, like it's getting power, but it won't spin. Then a week later I may accidentally turn it on again and it will run. Two and three years ago I had repeated on/off problems with both fans. Last year, both worked perfectly the entire year. This year one of them has started acting up again.



Any hints would be appreciated.
      


Similar Tutorials

How to Lay Sod - The Right Way!
   - Make sure the green side faces up! And, there are a few more steps if you want to ensure a nice looking lawn. Prepa ...
The Difference Between Volts, Amps, and Watts
   - This article explains the difference between Volts, Amps, and Watts in an easy-to-understand non-scientific way. T ...
Water is Leaking from the Toilet – What do I do? (How to replace the wax seal for a toilet.)
   - If there is water leaking from the toilet, you need to make sure that you know from where the water is leaking. Che ...


Similar Topics From Forums

I just bought a couple of Hunter Stratford II 44" ceiling fans from Home Depot, and I've run across a problem in the installation. The downrod screws into the motor housing, and the manual says it is normal for 2-3 threads to remain visible when done. Well, both of mine started off easy enough, but I ended up with more like 5-6 threads remaining visible. This means only 4-5 threads secure the downrod to the fan, which amounts to 1 cm or a little less. There is a set screw that comes in from the side, and while it will touch the downrod, by design it does not go through the downrod. There is a "coating" on the threads inside the motor housing which I guess is a thread-lock adhesive. I'm going to call Hunter tomorrow to ask if this is all OK, but I'm curious if this is SOP for ceiling fans. Does it sound safe and secure for a fan to mount to the downrod simply by screwing in 1 cm or a little less with some thread-lock adhesive, further secured by a set-screw that applies pressure to the downrod but doesn't go through it?
      
I am putting up two ceiling fans in my garage.  They come with wall mount controls and the instructions specifically say do not wire two fans to one switch so I am going to wire the fans to their own switches.  My question now is how to wire the two witches to one breaker.  I have room in my panel for two breakers but I don't think that's necessary.



Thanks!
      
i think our dishwashers control board is messed up. i think i heard i can test whether it is working with a multimeter or not. if so how can i? the cycles options a  pots/pans, normal wash, water miser, china gentle, and quick rinse. only the china gentle option works. the three other separate options a  high temp scrub, santi-rinse, and air dry. none of these work... also the delay hours options do not work either. and when i try to cancel or drain it, it will not stop unless u open it (but when u shut it, it starts until it finishes.) can all of this be fixed if i replace the control board? or do u think it will fix it if i change the fuses? or both? if not, what other problems could be causing this?
      
Well it's not really an outlet but just a junction box that has black, white and bare copper coming out.  I was told by someone before that this would be the end of the line for this circuit since the wires don't go any further from this box.   Its located in my attic just below the eve opening for an attic fan.  I checked the black and white wires a few years ago and measured 115 vac so I installed the attic fan and it was fine until this year.  No fan operation so I check for power and I'm measuring about 3 vac across the white and black wires now.  I disconnected the attic fan and measured the same 3 vac.  Test fan on another power sourch and it works.  Everything else on the circuit seems to be working.  Any ideas what might be happening here.  The attic fan really helps a lot and I'd like to get it working again.  If I need to provide more information please ask and I'll do my best.  Thanks for any help.
      
i have 3 switch sets in my house that are giving me absolute fits.



#1  kitchen switch, controls the light over the outside door




    Code:

   
3 sets of lines coming in,

line from the breaker panel (power)

line to the ceiling lights

line to the outside porch light.


i cannot get this 3 line to work without tripping the breaker every time i turn the switch off



#2 bathroom switches




    Code:

   
power feed line

line to the light over the medicine cabinet

line to the second switch to control the exhaust fan.


same issue as the first set, flip the switch and trip the breaker (different breaker from the kitchen switch)



#3 living room switch and plug controlled via switch




    Code:

   
 power feed line

outside porch light line

line to wall switch to control the lower wall outlet


flip switch, trip breaker



the switches i have are "1 pole" am i using the wrong switches for this job?
      
Hey everyone - question about home wiring that was done when the house  was built about 20 years ago (which putting it delicately...is very  shoddy at best).  I'd like to think of myself as fairly knowledgeable in  basic home wiring...but this one has me baffled and I really hope  someone can help.



I am redoing a screened-in porch at the back of our house.  There is  currently a working outlet, and single-pole switch that turns on an  outside bug zapper, and a wire running coming into a second  switch...then leading into nothing in the ceiling (presumably for a  future ceiling fan / light install that was never completed).  I gutted  the entire porch and using one of those audible voltage testers,  discovered the wire than ran into the second switch / ceiling box did  NOT work. 



Not thinking much about it, I tried figuring out how the first switch  (to that outdoor bug zapper) was wired.  Most of the wiring for that  switch and the outlet I mentioned is behind the plywood sheathing of the  house...so it's near impossible to figure out where it goes.  Initially  it LOOKED like the power from the circuit panel came into the outlet  first...and then went out to the bug zapper switch.  (Why did I think  this?  The outlet had a B/W wire coming into it...and another B/W going  out back into the wall somewhere.  Tracing that wire along the basement  foundation best I could...it looked like it went right into the bug  zapper switch).  So wanting to completely eliminate the bug zapper  switch, I disconnected all of the wires that were connected to the  outlet to figure out which set was leading to it.



Here's where I got confused.  When I did this and re-tested voltage at  the outlet, one set of wires was live...and the other set was dead.  And  that makes perfect sense.  Yet the bug zapper switch STILL worked.  OK -  so my conclusion: the power for this bug zapper switch isn't coming  from the outlet.  No problem.  But just because I was near it, I decided  to also check that 2nd switch / ceiling wire combo...and what do you know - it was LIVE!



I got super excited it was working but then super baffled because I  didn't do anything to that ceiling wire at all.  In fact - all I did was  DISconnect 2 sets of wires at a nearby outlet. 



Confused but happy, I was ready to pack it in for the evening and  re-connected the incoming / outgoing wires back to the power outlet.   Flipped the circuit breaker on.  No issues.  BUT - now all of a sudden  the 2nd switch / ceiling wire that magically started working was NO  longer working - just like it hadn't been since I started this whole  process. 



Logic is telling me it's obviously got something to do with the outlet  wiring...since that's the only thing I messed with.  But why would the  ceiling wire all of a sudden become LIVE when the wires going into the  outlet were all disconnected?  It's certainly a first for me.  Can anyone help me figure this mystery out?  Thanks gang!
      
On my second floor with a High / Low switch and a timer hooked up to it.  The fan works fine on high and the timer works - but if I try to put it on low it stalls out.  I can hear it try to work - it sounds kind of like trying to get a car to turn over.  It starts up, spins for a second and stops and repeats that cycle until I turn it off or set it to high.  The fan was installed when I bought the house so I have no idea how old it is or its brand / model.



Does anyone know what might be causing the problems on low, is it still OK to run it on high, even with the issues on low and is this something that can be fixed easily or does it require special services - electrician or otherwise?
      
I would like to know which way do you run your ceiling fan in the winter and in the summer?  What time of the year do you put it on forward and what time of the year do you put in in reverse?  I am told so many different stories that I would just like to have the real facts.  I am trusting you guys so would appreciate the correct answer.  Thanks for your time!!!!
      
I am working on fixing an issue with the wiring in one of the bedrooms in my older mountain home. Though I was not present for the cause of the problem, here is what was told to me by the tennant.  he claimed that he went to turn on the light in the closet, (a 3 lamp track bar light, wired to a switch) he heard a loud pop from the light in the closet and lost power to to the room. The room has 6 recessed ceiling lights on 2 separate switches, presently only half of the lights work.There are no breakers tripped, no obvious shorts at outlets. I have opened the drywall following the wires around hoping to find a short but I have found nothing. I decided to try something, and I bridged the working switch to a dead outlet and everything turned on. I am waiting til the daytime to follow the wires outside to the breaker box, but so far no breaks or anything.. curious if anyone has any pointers.. could the pop he heard from the track lighting have killed a breaker? its about the only thing left.
      
I installed 3 ceiling fans today, with the help of an electrician friend.  Two are Hampton Bay and one is westinghouse.  I am also using Lutron Maestro dimmer wall switches.  One of the Hampton Bay and the Westinghouse have developed apulsing hum when the fan is on.  Interestingly, one HB does not.



In the instruction manuals for both brands, it says that it takes 24 hours for most noises to go away.  However, it also says that I should not have used a solid state variable speed control.



I really hate the thought of having to take these down.  Any advice?