Installing ceiling fan electrical box

There is no attic and the crawl space above the cieling is about 12 inches, in other words no access. I am trying to find the Saf-T-Brace but cannot find one.

Home Depot, Lowes, and even Dixieline do not have them in stock. Anyone know where I can find one? I may have to special order it. Also, I have the same problem with the light switch controlling the outlets in the room.

Did you have to destroy the drywall to re-wire the switch for the fan? I am going to attempt using fish tape to feed the cables through. Is there any quick fix to installing a ceiling fan to a Cathedral Ceiling that already has drywall? Quick Fix? Not really but you can use the saf-t-brace. Just use a stud finder to locate the centerline between to studs. Outline the juction box onto the cieling and cut out with a key hole saw.

If you need to run the power cable I Recommend using a fish tape, this is what I had to do because the is no over head access. Make sure your downrod for the fan takes the blades past the angled ceiling. If you cannot access a switch for the fan you can purchase remote for around 30 bucks.

If you have no idea what a dip switch is right now, it will be obvious once you purchase the remote. You can use the remote on the light as well. Just follow the instructions on the box if you need to. I use a remote in my living room, i can dim the light and even adjust the fan speed.

I highly recommend the remote but make sure it comes with a holder that can be mounted to the wall. If you have questions shoot this way. I bought a new fan with light. However, I think I may have found a solution for the slanted ceiling. But on amazon. I used a large vice to hold the cast plug while I wiggled the bar off it.

Just to be neat I used a grinding wheel to square up the end of the tube to take the burrs off the spiral screw. Then held the tube in the vice while I pounded the plug back in. I am wondering how to use the saf-t-brace system.. Im installing a new fan and want to use this type of box. Do the legs just get pushed up against each joist?

Or are u supposed to use screws aswell? Is so, how are you supposed to screw it? Do you bend the tabs out before u install the box or after?? I looked on the westinghouse site, I too have 12 inches between my joists. Is there another recommendation? If I leave it this way will it cause wobble??

The box is secure and rated for ceiling fan. It is wobbling and balancing the blades is proving difficult. Hold the brace flush with the ceiling and then tighten the screws evenly all the way up. If you still have problems getting a tight fit try smaller or longer screws for the brace. If all else fails you may need to re-aline your box. The balancing kit that comes with the fans are for minor adjustments only. If the wobble is noticable, normally, the kit will not help.

On a side note, make sure all of the blades are nice and tight and evenly spaced apart. If even one blade is loose you will have balance problems. Hope this helps. Our hanging light fixture in our kitchen let go last night. The previous owners had used a plastic box nailed to a joist and the plactic broke. The ceiling is vaulted and angled and I have no access from above and the nearest other joist is over 2.

How do I fix this so I again have light in my kitchen? Bryan, it would help if you sent a picture… you can do this through our forums look at the link above …. You may have to pull some drywall out, put in a new box, and patch the drywall. Are the two screws holding the entire weight of the fan? Or am I missing a piece? Seems like when I installed one years ago the box had a hook that the pin on the downrod of the fan went through to hold the weight and swung from that.

What is the thread pullout force on a screw if one were to fail during an earthquake load? Would the single remaining screw hold the fan at this point so it would not fall and injure someone? My box is not flush with the plasterboard. Are the two hex female stand-offs provided with the Saf-T-box for this purpose? If so, can you cut them to give the right spacing and then I assume the screws through the spacers and on into the threads of the box to hold the fan mounting bracket.

The fan comes with two short screws and washers. I see using the longer screws or even to replace them if longer ones are even needed. Just thought there used to be a hook in the box to pickup the horizontal pin in the fan verticle downrod. This would be the safest and make it bullet proof but then there is the wiring coming throught downrod which could rub and eventually short.

Thanks for any clarification you can provide. You would be tightening the hanger between the pieces of wood on the bottom. I have the same situation. There is no access from above so we are working from below and the joists are approx.

Do they make a 12 in backet? My solution was to shorten the unextended span of the bracket. I started by drilling out the spot welds on the nut at the end if the square tube. This let me separate the tube and the expansion screw. Using a hack saw I cut 5 inches from the tube and then the screw. I re-assembled the bracket. There was no need to worry about the welds to hold the parts together since the burrs from the sawing were enough to hold things in place.

Once the bracket was fully expanded in the welds were not an issue since they are not critical to the load bearing; the force of the screw against the joists takes care of that. Chris… I ended up removing the end piece and cut the tube using a reciprocating saw. I cut quite a bit off so that when you put it in place it will tighten to the right size. I have had it up for months now and it is completely fine.

Ian, what make of bracket did you have? Which end are you cutting? Chris… i took the end with the static foot off. Had to pull of the metal washer etc. It took about 5 secs to cut through the square tube. Once you do it you will realize how easy it is. Trick is you need the saw to do it. Hi Ian, thanks. Someone did it for me, however, they took the thread off where it screws together and put it back together. Installed on Friday and it worked like a champ!

Thanks for your input. I have an old house built in the 20s. I want to hang a ceiling fan in a bedroom. No access from ceiling. A handy man hung fans in our other bedrooms but I didnt watch him do it and I no longer have his number kick myself.

We have very old hardware from which a light currently hangs in this bedroom. The light fixture mounts on a center screw type black box. I looks like there is a stud behind the black box. I bought a Saf T box to use to hang the fan. Can the Saf T box go over it somehow? I am a resident of an old frame house built in We have the original lathe and plaster walls and ceilings Back in the twenties or thirties these old gas pipes were converted into conduit for running the electric wires.

The wires are the ancient cloth covered and there are no electrical boxes, just the round-ish black in color, natural gas type, boxes if you will you often hear about in old homes. In the front room, there is nothing and of course, this is where I want to install a fan. I have seen ceiling fans that have some sort of molding to cover the exposed exterior wiring that leads to a receptacle where a single switch to control the fan is usually installed. How is this type of mission accomplished? Where can I get all the information needed to do this successfully and inexpensively?

Can you kindly explain in detail the steps for me? I would gratefully appreciate it. I punched out the end cap with a screwdriver and hammer and put it back onto the cut square tube, screwed in the round screw part and it was good to go. Installed easily into my ceiling. I made sure to have 2 of the 3 hooks on each end lodge into the bottoms of the joists by rotating them accordingly before tightening the brace.

It ended up being very sturdy. No wobble when I installed the ceiling fans. Definitely use a power saw when cutting the pieces of the brace. There was some trickiness trying to install the safety cable of the fan.

Had to install the safety screw first then install the ceiling box onto the brace. And yes you do need to use a wrench or pliers to screw on the locking nuts to secure the ceiling box. My question is about mounting the electrical box for the fan. Should the box be flush with the ceiling surface, or recessed below the surface of the plaster? If so, how much should it be recessed? I am trying to install ceiling fan where there is no attic access. The new fan requires the bracket to be mounted to the building structure not the outlet box bracket is larger than the outlet box.

How can I get a piece of solid wood in the crawl space to mount the bracket to. I only have the hole from the outlet box to work with. Ceiling Fan installation, Is there a bracket that mounts on the outside of the sheetroct in the ceiling. How do I extend the box to make it flush with the ceiling or do I need to purchase a different box? When I removed the box I found an original metal brace, nailed into the bottom of the joist with a bend in it to allow the original light box to be flush with the plaster.

My question is, should I cut out the medallion centre wider so the fan canopy sits inside and flush with the ceiling or should I put the medallion on and put the fan bracket on screwed through it into the box? Gerry, I am sorry it took me so long to reply. Otherwise, it will be hard to get the medallion cut to look good with the fan base. The fan has a considerable wobble when running on high speed. I tried balancing the blades with the included weights but this did nothing to fix the problem.

Could the beam be the problem? Do you have any ideas on how I can resolve this issue? Does the whole fan shake? Would guess you need to re-mound the box maybe using the saf-t-brace or something like it so that it is mounted on two beams. Was the original box rated for a fan or just a regular light fixture? SO excited to have found you guys! Hoping Fred or someone here can help! And thanks for being so generous with the advice, by the way!

NONE worked. Others were thin heads, but too large in diameter. Like someone earlier, I do NOT want to take it all down and put spacers up in the box.

Max wattage of 15W each, and this is NOT enough light for the room, not by a long shot. Michael, thanks for joining in. Good article Fred, but could you link the article for rewiring the switch and running it up the wall for the ceiling fan electrical box? I am dealing with the same exact issues you had. Randy, I will update the article. There was a question on running a wire up the wall from the switch to the ceiling fan. I did that using fish tape.

Remember that the switch will only have hot for the fan motor and switched hot for the light , and the green wire ground. The neutral will have to picked up from a near-by outlet.

I had to enlarge the hole for the wire going into the attic so I could hit it with the fish tape. But I got it done with normal fish tape. You can also get an electronic box that will allow independent control of the fan and lights with only two wire. You should run all of the current carrying conductors and neutral wires in the same romex to be code-compliant. Our fans came with an attachment to reduce the noise the blades make. Definitely true. This is the solution when attic access is restricted.

On a preexisting 4 ceiling light installation, the lights are gradually failing. When I replace the bulb, the lights fail to come on. Tom, this sounds like the fixture is going bad to me… Obviously it could be an electrical short up the chain somewhere. Is it possible to screw my existing light box to the ceiling joist from inside the box of an older house???

I am trying to get by without installing a safe t bracket if possible. The existing box is nailed from the hidden side of the joist into the box. We are trying to install a ceiling fan. Problem is when we try to put in the screws to mount the canopy there isnt enough room to get them in, an yes we tried spacers but that leaves too much space from the medallion to the canopy but any closer and we cant get the screws in eeerrrrrgggggghhhhhh, what is your suggestion?

Lauren, this is one of those cases where a picture might be helpful. I want to install a ceiling fan with light kit where there is currently a ceiling light fixture. Any suggestions? Attic access is out of the question as that is already finished. I am installing a brace for a heavy chandelier. I hand tightened the brace and suddenly the outer sleeve of the brace lost resistance. On the visible end there are threads visible and the prongs are engaged into the joists with good stability but the outer aluminum sleeve feels loose.

Not sure it will even unscrew now. Is this common? Can I proceed with the chandelier? I can pretty much hang on the brace without movement. Ross, hard to picture what you mean, but if it will support your weight, my guess is that it is OK.

It could be that the outer aluminium sheath is a cover for what really holds the bracket to the joists, which is a screwn-type mechanism beneath.

Good luck. The unit I live in has in its ceiling, small plates covering the area to install a ceiling fan. I removed it today to install a ceiling fan I purchased, but I found that the already installed box that is in the ceiling of my unit is smaller than the bracket that came with my fan, thus I can not hang my ceiling fan. What can I do about this? Do I need to purchase another box or fan? Could you let me know please, Thanks Chris. I am installing a hunter ceiling fan in a new construction condo, the electrical box is already installed.

When i try and mount the fan hardware to the box, the screws do not go in. Replacing a ceiling box is a messy job. Work carefully to avoid cutting through wires hidden in the ceiling. We'll show you how to do it all in our careful steps below.

Use a knife not a saw to cut through the drywall or plaster around the old box. The box is probably attached to a joist with screws or two horizontally driven nails. Force the box loose by hammering a 2X4 into it. Insert a flat pry bar between the box and the joist. Pry the box away from the joist. You may need to pry out a staple anchoring the cable to the joist.

Work carefully to avoid unnecessary damage to the ceiling. Pry out the box's mounting nails and pull the box down from the ceiling. Disconnect the cable from the box. The box shown has a slot that the cable slides through; pry the tab and pull the cable out. If the box has a cable clamp, remove the locknut. To install a braced box, slip the brace through the hole. Summary: How to Install a Ceiling Fan Box and the Support with Photos: The example shows the flat ceiling fan box, a spanner bracket box the box marker for drilling the hole for the ceiling fan box, installing the wire and attic wiring, wiring to the ceiling fan box, measure for the ceiling fan box support, installing the ceiling fan support brace, the electrical wiring to the ceiling fan box, and installing the brace for the box for the ceiling fan.

Helping You to Wire It Right! See the Electrical Wiring Video 2 Below:. Ceiling Fan Installing Box This is a hole saw that is the same diameter as the metal ceiling fan box which fits in my cordless drill. Ceiling Fan Box Marker The homeowner used blue tape to mark where the ceiling fan should be located. Drilling Hole for the Ceiling Fan Box The hole is drilled carefully while supporting the drill motor to avoid binding between the hole saw and the sheet rock.

The Drilled Hole for the Ceiling Fan Box A nice clean hole is made which reveals the attic insulation which is between the ceiling joists. Take your time and be very careful. Installing the Wire to the Ceiling Fan Box The cable was installed from the existing wall switch and brought to the ceiling fan box location.

Attic Electrical Wiring for the Ceiling Fan A view from inside the attic reveals good working space for installing the required cross support or block of wood. Wiring to the Ceiling Fan Box The opening in the ceiling is revealed and we see no further obstructions.

Measure for the Ceiling Fan Box Support A measurement is made between the two ceiling joists so I can cut the cross support piece block of wood. Install Attic Electrical Wiring for the Ceiling Fan The cable leading back to the switch was stapled to the truss for protection. Installing the Ceiling Fan Electrical Box and Support Brace The cross support is fit snugly into place and ready to be fastened into position.

Electrical Wiring to the Ceiling Fan Box Insulation is moved out of the way to allow me to secure the cross support between the ceiling joists. Installing a Ceiling Fan Part 2 ». Wiring for Ceiling Fans How do I connect a new ceiling fan to the existing wiring and wall switch? The Non-Contact Electrical Tester. Simply insert the end of the tester into an outlet, lamp socket, or hold the end of the tester against the wire you wish to test.

Very handy and easy to use. The Plug-In Outlet Tester. This is great to troubleshoot a problem with outlet circuit wiring, is also used by most inspectors to test for power and check the polarity of circuit wiring. It detects probable improper wiring conditions in standard VAC outlets Provides 6 probable wiring conditions that are quick and easy to read for ultimate efficiency Lights indicate if wiring is correct and indicator light chart is included Tests standard 3-wire outlets UL Listed Light indicates if wiring is incorrect, Very handy and easy to use.

The Wire Stripper and Wire Cutter. A wire stripping tool used to safely strip electrical wires. This handy tool has multiple uses: The wire gauges are shown on the side of the tool so you know which slot to use for stripping insulation.

The end of the tool can be used to grip and bend wire which is handy for attaching wire onto the screw terminals of switches and outlets. Recent Testimonials I think your site offers the the clearest and best electrical information for homeowners I have ever seen on the net.

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