Ceiling Fan Repair

Ron · 09-21-2005, 01:12 PM

What I have is a fan that suddenly started doing wierd things. This fan switch normally uses 4 positions(Off,High,Medium,Low), and has another switch tied in line to control direction(Up or down Draft). Now, when you turn it on(High) it seems to actually be running in the mediun range. Pull the switch again and it acts like it's shutting off, but you can still hear a faint Hummm. When it gets to where you think it has stopped, suuddenly it starts going in the reverse direction.One more pull turns it off again.When I took it apart to get part numbers etc., i found the capacitor which is tied in circuit with the switch. This cap. looks like it could be bad (Has a big Bulge in the side of it). I don't know who the dist. is for this fan, only the manufacturer had a label. Manufac. is S.M.C. (Shell Elec. MFg.) which is Chinese and has no help on their web site.The switch has 4 wires, the Cap. has 3 wires. I can post a complete schematic of the harness and components,if necessary, but I'm wondering if trying to repair this is possible? The parts seem rather hard to find (Especially since I can't find out who the Distributor is).Any way to test the Cap.?? I probably could find a replacement for the switch, but I don't know about that cap. Thanks for any help/suggestions

Scott_K · 09-21-2005, 04:37 PM

I'd take the easy road on this one and buy a new fan. I recently installed a few ceiling fans and light fixtures I picked up from home depot. They make things a little to easy these days.
I know a little bit about household electricity. Not enough to be playing around with internals of one of these things though....that's why I'd buy a new one.

ceilingfanrepair · 02-27-2006, 07:07 PM

It's a bad capacitor and an easy fix. You will need to know the value(s) of the capacitor and they should be marked on the side. Something like, 7+2.5uf 250vAC. Once you know the values you buy a replacement and wire it in. www.ceilingfanparts.com sells replacements.

For more information about ceiling fan troubleshooting:

http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/c...ng-and-FAQ.php