A Handyman With Electrical Knowledge Can Perform This Installation
A ceiling fan may not seem to be that difficult to install, but we have received several calls from people who tried to perform this type of work themselves only to quickly realize they had gotten in over their heads.
However, if you consider yourself pretty handy around the house, have some electrical knowledge, and can understand the basics of how a ceiling fan works, then you might be able to handle this installation.
Don’t try to do it alone, though. Have these instructions close by and you should be golden:
- First make sure the power is off in the room you are working in to avoid any electrical accidents. If you are putting in the ceiling fan in place of an old light fixture, you first need to take the light down. Remove the glass shade from the old light fixture and unscrew the retaining nuts/screws that hold it into the ceiling. Lower the fixture and disconnect the wires.
- Because the electrical box for a light fixture won’t hold the weight of a ceiling fan, you have to remove the old electrical box. To do this, just pry it free with a flat bar. Hold a 1/2-inch thick pancake box against the ceiling and trace around it with a pencil. Cut along the line with a drywall saw.
- Feed the electrical cable coming from the ceiling through the knockout hole in the pancake box. You want to make sure there’s a cable connector attached to the knockout hole. Set the box into the hole cut through the ceiling and press it tight against the underside of the joist. Attach the box to the joist with the screws provided. Wrap the cable’s bare copper wire around the grounding screw inside the box and let the wire hang down.
- Apply some urethane-based adhesive to the back of the ceiling medallion and pass the wires through it. Center the medallion on the pancake box and fasten it with four finishing nails. Set the nailheads and fill with caulk.
- Hold the fan’s metal ceiling plate up to the pancake box and pull the wires through the center hole. Attach the ceiling plate to the box with two screws.
- With the fan on the floor, feed the wires coming from the motor through the center of the canopy. Then, set the canopy on top of the motor and pass the wires through the hollow down-rod pipe. Thread the down-rod pipe into the top of the motor and tighten the locking screw with a wrench.
- Hook one side of the canopy onto the ceiling plate. Using the twist-on wire connectors, join the two green wires to the bare copper wire coming from the cable. Then, join the two white wires and connect the two black wires. Put the fan up into position against the medallion and secure it with two canopy screws.
- And what’s a ceiling fan without blades and lights? Attach each fan blade to a blade iron. Then, fasten the blade irons to the motor. Plug the fan’s light-fixture housing into the wire hanging from the underside of the fan’s motor. Install the shades and lightbulbs, and screw in the plastic holder for the remote control to the wall next to the wall switch.
If you have any questions during your do-it-yourself installation, or if you would rather have a professional come out and do it, call Raynor Services today!
