No-hum Multi-fan Speed Control? Does It EXIST?

woodchuck2

X2, well said. This is what i have done in the past and it works well. I have never had any of the remotes hum either. I have had receivers go bad but they are easy to replace. Some of these units you can buy also have a reverse option as well as lighting control too.

If this route is taken do not use the fan control in the wall either, swap it back out for a toggle or the resistance from the fan control will burn out the receiver. Been there, done that.

ruger9

Let me make sure I understand...

I get rid of the wall switch- I just wire the leads together in the wall box so the fans have power & are controlled by theur pullchains. (Note: I already have a seperate LIGHT switch that turns the fan lights on/off at the wall box. I would only want to replace the FAN control with the remote, not the light kit swiotch.)

I buy 2 remotes, put the receivers in the canopies, and because each remote is only controlling 1 fan, the standard amperage rating is fine?

MALCO.New.York

Keep a conventional wall switch but install a canopy mounted remote receiver. You can place MULTIPLE Remotes around the room if you see fit.

I personally would NEVER circumvent a conventional wall switch when using and Integrated Circuit Remote Receiver. Electronics tend to be more apt to failure than a Mechanical Switch. If and when the failure occurs I do believe that you would not wish to drag out the ladder to turn off the fan.


POST SCRIPT: One receiver should be enough to control the 2 fans. Amperage has been discussed in the prior posts. The other neat thing about these type of remote systems is the fact that they are R/F based and do not require Line-Of-Site to operate. This means you can often control them from another room via remote!

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Tinstaafl

Substitute "receiver" for "remote," and you've got it.

Your choice as to whether you want to use a single control, or two. Otherwise, as much as it kills me to do so, I agree with Malco on the wall switch.

MALCO.New.York

.Butt Knut!.

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ruger9

OK, so the wall switch would be ON all the time, and just there in case the batteries fail in the remote & I can't turn the fans off, right?

This sounds like a pretty good solution. I wasn't looking for a remote, but it's either that way or leave the fan motor pullchains on, which I'd rather not do... it's a poorly-designed pullchain system, goes at an angle, and the fan/fixture actually MOVES when you pull it.

Tinstaafl

480sparky

If the remote's battery fails, you just turn the switch off.

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MALCO.New.York

The number one cause of "Shaky Fan Syndrome" is a loose hanger ball. There is a set screw as well as the hanger pin. This screw is, in nearly all fans, not tightened down well.

As for the remote gig.........You have been given volumes of information. Enough for you to execute the task at hand quite efficiently.

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Tinstaafl

Podden me son, you're off base with that one. That ball is intended by design to be movable. Shakes and wobbles are due to imbalance in the motor/fan blade ass'y. Period. No other reason.

Just when you had me agreeing with you. Tsk, tsk.

MALCO.New.York

Test my theory. REALLY.

99 percent of the time, the black half-ball's (sounds so wrong) set screw, has not been tightened properly.

99% of fans are PRETTY DAMN well balanced out of the box. (pending PROPER assembly)


Next time you are up against this situation, pull the canopy and check the ball.

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
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Tinstaafl

REALLY, I have. Dozens of times. While you might have a screw loose , that only speaks to the safety of the assembly, not its balance. You could hang a well-balanced fan from a string, and the only wobble would be from coriolis effect.

480sparky

I have yet to see the instructions of a ceiling fan tell me to check the screw at the ball to correct a wobbling fan. Every one tells me to fix it with a balancing kit. Some fans come with them, some don't.


In order for a fan to wobble, there must be an imbalance of mass in the rotating parts. Once the motor & blades start to turn, that difference in mass creates the wobble. Tightening the screw on the half-ball simply cannot eliminate the wobble as the entire ball can swivel freely in the socket that is attached to the ceiling.

If a fan wobbles, and there's loose screws, tightening some screws may reduce the wobble, but the imbalance of mass in the rotating parts is still present, and exerts the same amount of force it did before. Tightening the screw simply supressed some of the effect of that imbalanced mass's movement, for the same reason that leaning against an out-of-balance clothes washer reduces the movement. Therefore, the only way to eliminate wobble is to eliminate the imbalance of mass.

If your truck tires are out of balance, you don't tighten the lug nuts, do you? No, you add weights to the rims at stretigic points to balance them out. The same principle as the blade balancing kits shown above will do.

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MALCO.New.York

The cause of the wobble is, of course, a misplacement of weight in relation to the rotational axis.

The simplest "fix", is, in my VAST fan experience, a simple turn of the screw.


Leave Gustsve out of this!!!

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Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
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480sparky

I would love to take a couple hundred ceiling fans, make sure they're balanced, then loosen the screw at the ball and see if they start to wobble, but it just wouldn't be worth my time.

If you want to talk about 'vast experience', I've installed ceiling fans that probably number in the thousands. I know you'll find that claim impossible, but there are things such as apartment buildings, condos, and townhomes. One project alone I installed 415 fans.

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ampman

blade pitch being off will make a fan wobble

woodchuck2

I agree with everyone that it is the mechanical issues that make the fan out of balance and i personally have had little luck with using the kits to get them balanced. But i also agree with Malco, leave those set screws loose and the wobble is highly exagerated. I prefer to hang the fan loose, let the ball find its center and then tighten the set screws. 90% of the time there is no wobble on the 1st and 2nd speed with minimal wobble on the high speed.

ruger9

My fans are low-profile mounted. No ball. They do not shake at all when on. When you pull the motor chain, the fan pulls to that side, simply because the motor chain is on the SIDE of the motor, then is routed down thru the bottom "cover" on the light kit, which is much closer to the center, which puts the chain at an angle. It's just leverage. I still don't like it tho. Just poor design.

JohnJ0906

I disagree. Of thousands of ceiling fan installs, I have never seen the ball be a problem. Of the many electricians I have worked with, not one has ever mentioned a problem either.

Bent blade irons and imbalanced blades are the main non assembly related problem I have seen.

On existing fans, the wobble is usually caused by blade and iron screws working loose over time.

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All replies based on the 2008 NEC

Hidyusbeast

Just wondering if you resolved the fan hum issue. If the variable speed control was for a solid state motor and your fans had a non solid state motor, it might be permanently ruined. hope this is not the case though.