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Replacing ceiling fan bracket

Home Improvement Asked by Michael Turnwall on May 29, 2021

I’m replacing an old ceiling fan. The old one wobbled a lot even after tightening the blades and trying to balance it. Right now the electrical box is just a plastic one that appears to be screwed into the ceiling joist. Will replacing the box with a brace like this one help with the wobbling?

Here is a picture of what the old fan was attached to. I haven’t taken off the old fan bracket yet.

I’m not sure what happened to the ceiling where the fan touched it. It looks like it melted or they installed the fan when the paint was still wet.

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Edit

So when I took the metal piece off the electrical box fell down. Looks like there is already a brace there.

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3 Answers

Assuming that this box isn't tied directly to a joist, then yes, a replacement bracket like you've shown could help. Either way, you should take off the shiny bracket and confirm how this box is mounted, and check if it is sturdy or not.

However, most "wobbles" are caused by blade imbalances, not from the mounting box. The faster they run, the more susceptible they are to wobbling. They do have balancing kits for sale at local places usually. They use peel and stick weights, and a slide-on clip, to help figure out where the peel-and-stick weights go on (on the side towards the ceiling of course.)

The paint "melting" look is from a previous fan being in place, and years of repainting around it got it stuck to the old escutcheon/cover plate....

Answered by Bee Kay on May 29, 2021

The box should not wiggle, loose things just get looser. Confirm it is actually a ceiling fan box. Confirm it's actually mounted to the joist. Make sure the correct fasteners were used to fasten it to the joist. Replace or tighten the fasteners. If there's not a joist there then the bracket you posted is a good option.

Answered by Platinum Goose on May 29, 2021

In my experience with Hunter fans the ceiling fan hanging bracket does not depend on the plastic box for support. Two long, special, wood screws come as part of the fan hardware; they are used to secure the fan hanging bracket through HOLES in the plastic box into a ceiling joist or a 2x4 or a 2x6 cross member going between two joists.

I have never seen a bracket with this metal strip. Perhaps, that steel strip is strongly attached to a secure member and you can attach the fan hanging bracket to the steel with suitable bolts. Or that strip may have been part of the hardware of the original fan and not be needed for the new one.

You don't have to remove the box to determine whether you have a suitable wooden support. With a screwdriver or a wire feel around between the outer edge of the box and the sheetrock to see what you have. If the new screws don't tighten hard, then you could insert anchors (but this might require drilling out the holes to fit the anchors).

Answered by Jim Stewart on May 29, 2021

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