2

I have a 20-year-old ceiling fan that recently got watered (a leak from the even older roof; separate problem) and then dried out. I managed to get it working again, except it used to have six speeds and a working “winter” mode, and now has three speeds with a mostly-broken “winter” mode.

This links to a 20-second movie I took of what happens when using the wall remote to go from lowest speed setting to highest speed setting: https://meyerweb.com/eric/diy/IMG_7759.MOV (20MB; QuickTime format). Hopefully you can see it as well as hear, but the audio should be enough, I hope.

Either way, each “bee-BEEP” is the receiver acknowledging a command to go to the next-higher speed. So the bottom three speed settings cause a brief burst then stop, and the top three settings allow spinning. The “spin briefly then stop” behavior also happens when the fan is first turned on and already set to a lower speed. The top three speed settings appear to be the normal “slow, medium, fast” one would expect from a three-speed fan.

The way “winter” mode is supposed to work is the blades turn slowly for about ten minutes, and then there’s a short burst of speed before settling back down to the slow spin. What happens now is the blades don’t turn at all for about ten minutes, get a spin burst for a few seconds, then slow to a stop for the next ten-or-so minutes.

The pull chains for the fan motor appear to do nothing: neither reverse the direction nor change the fan speeds, even at higher settings when the fan is actually turning under power. I have WD-40ed both the pull chain switches and the fan motor itself, with no change of behavior other than the pull chain switches don’t stick quite as much.

The lights on the fan do work, responding to both the pull chain switch and remote commands, if that makes a difference.

Any ideas as to what would cause this particular set of behaviors, and how to fix it? My searches of the web turned up precious little that seemed to apply to this situation.

Improve this question
4
  • Corrosion on switch contacts? Corrosion can prevent electrical contacts from working.
    – crip659
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 16:53
  • do you think that water came in the fan
    – DIY75
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 18:53
  • @Ruskes I’m pretty sure water coming from the ceiling ran through the fan. (It could have run around the outside, I suppose, but I very much doubt it.) Nevertheless, after disassembly, drying, and reassembly, it is still working — somewhat. I’m just trying to figure out if there’s a component that might have failed which I could replace to get it working fully once more.
    – Eric A. Meyer
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 19:33
  • it might have penetrated the controller true the dip switches. Use heat gun and keep drying it
    – DIY75
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 19:36

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

This fan got it's parts wet by your description. The water did damage. You tell us it is 20 years old. It would be common to be worn out without the water intrusion. Get a new fan.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    That’s less than helpful, and furthermore does not answer the question.
    – Eric A. Meyer
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 17:03
  • 1
    It can be helpful in saving you time in attempting to solve and repair an otherwise irreparable issue. Not to mention repairing may cost more than a new fan.
    – RMDman
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 17:05
  • 1
    @EricA.Meyer It might be the best answer. Would need to take the fan down and open it up to check. Some contacts might be impossible to get at to clean. If there is corrosion it can also cause resistance which causes heat. It might be a fire hazard.
    – crip659
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 17:38
2

If this is a normal 120 Volt fan, you could unhook the wiring from the transmitter in the canopy of the fan and hook the black wire from the ceiling to the black wire and blue wire from the fan. Hook the white wire from the ceiling to the white wire from the fan. The fan might work with the pull chains. If it does, then your remote and transmitter are the problem. Even though you get the BEEPS from the unit, it doesn't mean that the internal switches in the transmitter are operating correctly. If the fan doesn't work, then the problem is either the fan switch, fan capacitor or the fan motor.

Improve this answer
3
  • Could the fan capacitor being fried explain the observed behavior? Or would the fan just not work at all if the capacitor was fried?
    – Eric A. Meyer
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 19:34
  • 1
    Old transmitters use to have resistance blocks in them that would vary the speed without the use of the pull chains. If the fan worked at all with the remote, I'd be ruling out the fan capacitor.
    – JACK
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 19:44
  • That’s a help, Jack; thanks! Sounds like maybe the receiver has a bit of a glitch in it at this point, which is frustrating but not surprising. I’ll look around to see if I can find a good replacement for it.
    – Eric A. Meyer
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 21:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.