How to Balance a Ceiling Fan
First you want to make sure that the fan blades are clean on both the top and bottom. Once you have cleaned all the blades, check to see if any are loose. It only takes one loose fan blade to throw the fan out of balance. Check the screws on the fan blades and the screws that attach the blades to the ceiling fan.
Next check the mounting plate that attaches the fan to the ceiling. Make sure that it is not loose.
Now that you have eliminated all loose issues, let’s look at the fan blades themselves to make sure they are not warped. A bent blade can be caused by improper installation, damage caused by striking something or just from room humidity or time.
Okay, so you have tightened all the screws and corrected any warped blades and the fan still wobbles. Now you want to pick up a fan balancing kit. This can be found at most hardware stores and only cost a few dollars. Most kits consist of clip(s) and a number of different weights that will match the gram weight of the clip(s).
You first need to balance the fan while it is going in one direction. Set the ceiling fan to blow down, (counter clockwise). Clip a clothes pin half way out on the lower edge of one of the blades. Turn the fan on and see if this helps or hurts the wobble. If the wobble starts getting worse, turn the ceiling fan off and move the clip to the blade on the right and repeat. As you do this you will eventually notice that adding the clip to one blade will make the fan wobble less.
Once you determine which blade needs balancing, try moving the clip up and down the blade until the fan runs smooth. You may need to put 2 or 3 clips together to level out the fan. Once you have a level fan you now know where your weights need to go. Follow the balancing kits directions for fixing the weights to the fan blade.
You can also balance a fan blade using sticky tape and some washers. The process is the same as using the balancing kit. The only difference is that if you can see the fan from above, then you will want to use the kit.
Always make sure that the fan blade surfaces are clean before attaching weights to the fan blades.
