Friday, August 24, 2007

Fan Innovation

Have you ever had a ceiling fan that made lots of noise, wobbling back and forth, especially when on high? The problem was probably an unbalanced fan. There are many ways to combat an unbalanced fan, but I will tell you what we did.

First, I tested the fan to see if the fan blades were unbalanced (one might be higher than the others, etc). I clipped a clothespin to one fan blade at a time, turned the fan on high, and watched for changes. Most times, the fan wobbled even worse. Only on one blade did the wobbling seem to get a little better. So I tried two clothespins on that blade, only to see that it made it worse. Evidently the blades were not the problem.

Next, Jon took the fan down from the ceiling. This isn't the most fun task in the world, and make sure you have someone nearby to hold screws and be of general help. He tightened the metal mounting into the ceiling. It was loose, so we presumed it to be the problem. However, even then, he could still rock the mounting back and forth. Hm...

So, Jon took a couple of small blocks of foam and stuffed them in the areas where the mounting was rocking on the ceiling (picture a see-saw, only upside-down with the ceiling as the ground). That did the trick! Once the fan was reassembled, we cranked it up and enjoyed a much more pleasant sound: air whooshing around the fan blades and onto our faces. No more banging and fear that the entire contraption might fall off and attack me in the night. Hooray!

So, sometimes Google searches are all you need to get the job done; other times, you gotta add in a little ingenuity and innovation.

5 comments:

  1. I left a comment anonymously earlier today b/c I forgot to login but it evidentally save. So, this one is not quite as clever but I'm glad you found us in the blogosphere. We should have a face to face (I need to meet Margie too)sometime soon but for now I will be content with reading. I'm putting a link to your blog on mine so I can check back often. See you soon.

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  2. Lydia! I enjoyed reading your mom's random thoughts and thought you might like to see some of the pics I posted after reading your comments on your mom's blog...

    (I really do think that your dad's car was orange.)

    Cheryl
    http://www.cturkett.blogspot.com

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  3. Glad you don't have to live in fear of the ceiling fan anymore! Kudos once again to your family's ingenuity.

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  4. To Cheryl -- Loved seeing the pictures of Lyd's parents. And amazlingly I can see that Lydia didn't get all of her goofyness from her dad! What great pics. Just think Lyd - we can bust out our pics for our kids too one day! =)

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  5. Yes, you and Jon are very handy! I know about that fan... I could even hear it in the living room when I stayed with you.

    The pics on your mom's friend's site are awesome! It almost inspires me to get to work on my parents' anniversary album. The only spread I've done is the "dating" spread, and it's too stinkin' cute.

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