Help installing a new ceiling fan. Will this fan fit?
July 12, 2020 1:41 PM Subscribe
My wife (the handy person in our family) was going to try to install a new ceiling fan yesterday but we quickly ran into trouble with the mounting bracket seemingly not fitting into the old space. Is the new fan incompatible or are we doing something wrong? Pics included.
In the pictures I've highlighted how the slot where screws can be inserted through the bracket are a bit too wide in the newer bracket. As a result, when we place the bracket up against the ceiling and put screws through it, they don't line up/go up into the existing screw holes in the "box" (or whatever it's called) that's in the ceiling. Is this just a sort of fluke incompatibility in the width of the new mounting bracket? Is the box in our ceiling not actually meant for a fan, period? Do we need to just obtain some additional piece of hardware to make this work? Or should we just hire a handyman/electrician because this requires additional skills? Thanks!
In the pictures I've highlighted how the slot where screws can be inserted through the bracket are a bit too wide in the newer bracket. As a result, when we place the bracket up against the ceiling and put screws through it, they don't line up/go up into the existing screw holes in the "box" (or whatever it's called) that's in the ceiling. Is this just a sort of fluke incompatibility in the width of the new mounting bracket? Is the box in our ceiling not actually meant for a fan, period? Do we need to just obtain some additional piece of hardware to make this work? Or should we just hire a handyman/electrician because this requires additional skills? Thanks!
You might be able to use a crossbar to fit the new fan bracket to the existing ceiling fixture box. For example, an adjustable crossbar, offset swivel crossbar, offset crossbar, or standard crossbar might work — screw the appropriate crossbar into the ceiling fixture box, then screw the new fan bracket into the crossbar. You might also need to also pick up a pair of machine screws, nuts, and washers depending on how things line up.
posted by RichardP at 3:52 PM on July 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by RichardP at 3:52 PM on July 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Don't use the adapter crossbars. They aren't fan rated and won't securely support the fan long term.
Just about all round boxes are the same size. However there are 3" (instead of the regular 4") boxes out there. What is the spacing of the screws of your box?
Another concern is the material of the box. Is the box metal or is it bakelite? I wouldn't hang a ceiling fan off a bakelite box.
posted by Mitheral at 4:23 PM on July 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Just about all round boxes are the same size. However there are 3" (instead of the regular 4") boxes out there. What is the spacing of the screws of your box?
Another concern is the material of the box. Is the box metal or is it bakelite? I wouldn't hang a ceiling fan off a bakelite box.
posted by Mitheral at 4:23 PM on July 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
There is an answer to a similar question on stack exchange.
It has some additional options that might require less of a hole in the ceiling than those H21 mentioned.
It seems the smaller diameter junction box in your ceiling includes quite a few wiring junctions. In older buildings, the electrical feed was often to the overhead center of the room, then sprouted out to the side walls. So if you are replacing that junction box, be aware that there may be several connections to keep track of (and brittle insulation).
For minimal disturbance of the ceiling, I'd consider using a cover over this junction box and a short external wiring track to a new fan rated ceiling box fastened directly into the 2x4 in the ceiling. You can likely locate where the existing 2x4 runs by looking around the perimeter of the existing junction box.
The extra holes in the new hanger could take a couple of longer wood screws to fasten into the 2x4.
posted by tronec at 5:15 PM on July 12, 2020
It has some additional options that might require less of a hole in the ceiling than those H21 mentioned.
It seems the smaller diameter junction box in your ceiling includes quite a few wiring junctions. In older buildings, the electrical feed was often to the overhead center of the room, then sprouted out to the side walls. So if you are replacing that junction box, be aware that there may be several connections to keep track of (and brittle insulation).
For minimal disturbance of the ceiling, I'd consider using a cover over this junction box and a short external wiring track to a new fan rated ceiling box fastened directly into the 2x4 in the ceiling. You can likely locate where the existing 2x4 runs by looking around the perimeter of the existing junction box.
The extra holes in the new hanger could take a couple of longer wood screws to fasten into the 2x4.
posted by tronec at 5:15 PM on July 12, 2020
Hi! I designed your ceiling fan mounting bracket!
Does your ceiling box say “Suitable for fan support”? How long do you think it’s been there? How was the old fan attached?
The best solution is to buy a fan box and install it, and attach the fan to that.
The second-best solution is to figure out where the joist is, and attach the fan to the joist with the wood screws that were supplied with the fan. (There are instructions for this in the owner manual.) This is actually how Hunter told everybody to install fans up until about 2012, because ceiling fan rated boxes only came along in the late 1980’s and they didn’t want people to guess.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:30 PM on July 12, 2020 [19 favorites]
Does your ceiling box say “Suitable for fan support”? How long do you think it’s been there? How was the old fan attached?
The best solution is to buy a fan box and install it, and attach the fan to that.
The second-best solution is to figure out where the joist is, and attach the fan to the joist with the wood screws that were supplied with the fan. (There are instructions for this in the owner manual.) This is actually how Hunter told everybody to install fans up until about 2012, because ceiling fan rated boxes only came along in the late 1980’s and they didn’t want people to guess.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:30 PM on July 12, 2020 [19 favorites]
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You could replace the box. It's supposed to be a ceiling box something like this to support the greater weight of a ceiling fan.
You could use a rat tail file to lengthen the slots.
You could return the fan.
I suppose the new fan could be for use in some other country.
posted by H21 at 3:10 PM on July 12, 2020 [1 favorite]