Ceiling Fan Motor Repair
Fix Yourself or a Licensed Electrician

Ceiling fan motor repair may not a time consuming job that requires a professional. Most problems are easy to fix and require minimal electrical skill.

While some problems may cost you replacing the entire motor unit – usually when it’s just completely worn out – many of the small day to day situations can be fixed on your own.

No matter what you do, or who you call, make sure that you turn off all the power to the area in which you are working before you begin troubleshooting. The last thing anyone needs is to be electrocuted while trying to fix their ceiling fan.

How Does A Ceiling Fan Motor Work?

The motors that power your ceiling fan are electric motors. It uses electricity to produce mechanical energy. This energy is then built inside the motor housing until it produces torque.

Torque is the force that pushes the rotor in side the motor housing and as more torque is built, the more the rotor spins. As the rotor spins, it begins to turn the fan blades of your ceiling fan.

These motors can have sealed and lubricated ball bearings, or bearings that rotate in an oil bath mixture. Sealed motors need little to no maintenance while those in the oil mixture will occasionally need to be serviced, usually entailing no more than adding oil.

Common Ceiling Fan Motor Repair

If your ceiling fan has stopped working, there may very well be something wrong with the motor. It could be something as simple as the breaker of fuse tripped. Check that first by going to the breaker or fuse box and seeing if anything is out of place. Replace the fuse or trip the breaker back and see if that solves the problem.

Check the switch

If it does not, and you know the fan is receiving power, check the switch. To do this, you would carefully remove the switch from its housing, disconnect it from the fan, and screw a wire nut onto the two bare wires.

Return power to the unit. If the fan starts turning, then you need to replace the switch. If the fan does not come back on, you have a bigger problem and should call an electrician.

Loose wires

Another possibility is that a wire may have come loose from its housing. Once again, turn the power off and lower the entire fan canopy or housing form the ceiling. Make sure all of the wires are connected.

If your fan has a light and it is working, check to see if the black wire – the wire that supplies power to the motor – is connected. If it is, check the switch housing once again to see if maybe one of the wires there came loose.

Blades moving easily?

If all the wires are connected, check to see if the blades are moving easily. If they are, then you need to call an electrician. If they are not, you may have stuck bearings, a broken flywheel, or something caught in the motor or blades.

Experienced Ceiling Fan Electrician

If you know basic electric and feel confident in your ability to fix your ceiling fan motor, then you will save yourself both time and money by doing it yourself. Some motors simply require you to unplug the old and plug in the new, making life infinitely easier.

If you are not inclined to fix it yourself, make sure you call a licensed electrician with ceiling fan experiences. They will come and hunt down the problem, fix it, and save you the worry over electrical hazards you could have caused had you done it yourself.

So, consider whether you do the ceiling fan motor repair yourself or call an electrician.

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