How to Fix a Wobbly Ceiling Fan

Publish date: 2022-06-24

Ceiling fans circulate the air in a room, helping keeping the temperature comfortable while keeping your cooling bills down. The longer the fan's blades, the more the air circulates and the cooler the room is. As with all machines that have moving parts, ceiling fans will suffer from wear and begin to get loose. If your ceiling fan wobbles, it's usually due to one of two reasons. Either it's not securely attached to the ceiling or the blades are unbalanced. Let's see what your problem is and how to fix it.

The fan is loose.

  • Disconnect the power to the fan.
  • Shake the fan gently while standing on a stepladder. If it moves easily, the screws that connect the fan to the junction box, which is mounted inside the ceiling, are loose.
  • Remove the screws from the canopy while somebody else (also on a stepladder) holds the fan.
  • Tighten the screws that hold the ceiling plate on top of the fan to the junction box.
  • Screw the canopy back on.
  • Turn the power back on.

    • [source: Ceiling Fan Wizard Site - 2011]

    The blades are unbalanced.

  • Clip a clothespin to the side of a blade, about halfway from the end of the blade to the center of the fan.
  • Turn the fan on a low speed and see if it still wobbles. If it doesn't, you've found the unbalanced blade. If the fan still wobbles, keep moving the clothespin from blade to blade until you find the culprit.
  • You can fix the unbalanced blade with some coins or a blade balancing kit. Glue some coins to the top of the unbalanced blade, or follow the directions that came with the kit. Adjust the weights or the number of coins until the wobbling stops.

    • [source: Fire How]

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