13 replies to this topic

[ravenhecate]

This morning, just a few minutes ago, actually, my husband and I were sitting at the dinningroom table cleaning up a board game we had just finished playing when suddenly, the ceiling fan started spinning at it's top speed. The fan blades, just started from a dead stop to spining full force, no gearing up or anything. I looked at my husband, he looked at me, then he stood up, pulled the chain a few times until he turned the fan motor off. The thing is with this fan, it is hooked up to the light switch in the dinning room because the light attached is the only light we have in the dinning room, so it is usually on for a while every night, and never have I had this happen before. I've lived in this house for five years now and I have never used the fan before. I don't really care for ceiling fans, but as it is the only light in the dinning room, I use the light all the time. I had hoped to replace it with a chandelier or something but just haven't had the opportunity to.

I am sure this has a logical, mundane explanation, but would love any of the electricians out there to explain how this might happen

Thanks,

Raven Hecate

[CaveRat2]

Many of these fans use electronic controls for speed selection. These involve solid state latching circuits to select the desired speed. Voltage spikes / electronic noise can set these devices which can cause erratic operation. If it becomes repeated, possibly a filter or surge suppressor in the control is defective. No way of knowing for sure without actually troubleshooting, but unlikely paranormal in nature.

[Alan B]

I agree, if this is the first time it has happened, it more than likly is a electrical / wiring situation. Who put it to begin with. Most electrical outlets for fans / light combinations have different wiring than those for just a light.

[Kira]

Well, I've always had ceiling fans and NEVER did one just turn on by itself! The only thing I can think of is if it has a remote control, like for the TV and one of the cats or dogs stepped on it and turned it on by accident. Otherwise, I've never heard of that happening before.

[ravenhecate]

I don't have any remote control for the ceiling fan, Kira....I didn't even know you could get one of those!

I have no idea who hooked up the fan as it was in the house when I bought it five years ago. My husband had to pull the chain three times to get it to stop, so the setting had to be on the high position for it to start spinning so quickly. My husband swears he has not used the fan in the two years he has been here, and I have not used it in the five years I have lived here.

[ravenhecate]

CaveRat, on Apr 5 2009, 09:04 AM, said:

Many of these fans use electronic controls for speed selection. These involve solid state latching circuits to select the desired speed. Voltage spikes / electronic noise can set these devices which can cause erratic operation. If it becomes repeated, possibly a filter or surge suppressor in the control is defective. No way of knowing for sure without actually troubleshooting, but unlikely paranormal in nature.

I appreciate the info....this makes sense.

[mooboo]

Why would it be at top speed so suddenly?
Im not buying the electrical explanation.I would think if that were the case ,it might turn on and work its
way up to high speed,not start out that way.

Miss

[CaveRat2]

mooboo, on Apr 6 2009, 04:28 AM, said:

Why would it be at top speed so suddenly?
Im not buying the electrical explanation.I would think if that were the case ,it might turn on and work its
way up to high speed,not start out that way.

Miss

Quite the opposite. A surge could easily load the internal latches with the conditions to set any speed immediately as happened here. If it were something external (paranormal) it would operate the switches in thier normal manner, stepping though from low to high as the external switch has no way to go directly to high speed.

[mooboo]

CaveRat, on Apr 6 2009, 09:17 AM, said:

mooboo, on Apr 6 2009, 04:28 AM, said:

Why would it be at top speed so suddenly?
Im not buying the electrical explanation.I would think if that were the case ,it might turn on and work its
way up to high speed,not start out that way.

Miss

Quite the opposite. A surge could easily load the internal latches with the conditions to set any speed immediately as happened here. If it were something external (paranormal) it would operate the switches in thier normal manner, stepping though from low to high as the external switch has no way to go directly to high speed.

When my DVD player goes on by itself,it bypasses all the intro and trailers,which there is no way to do until the movie load to the MENU
and I know for sure ,its nothing to do with the external switches or electrical system.Its been looked at .Same for the microwave in another room completely.They found nothing.

I admit I know nothing about electrical systems,but that sounds a bit off the charts....but that's just my opinion.


Miss

[Kira]

I don't have remotes for my ceiling fans, but a lot of people who have very high or cathedral ceilings have them as it isn't exactly practical to pull the cord. LOL. I didn't think that was the reason anyway, just trying to be analytical, another LOL, as I don't like to be analytical.

Power surge does make sense to me, though I've never experienced one. What I have experienced is when the power goes off then comes back on, everything that was running turns back on all at the same time. Sometimes the power just goes off for a quick second. But that wouldn't be the case in your situation because the fan was not in the "on" position at the time.

It's a mystery!

[ravenhecate]

Kira, on Apr 7 2009, 07:10 PM, said:

I don't have remotes for my ceiling fans, but a lot of people who have very high or cathedral ceilings have them as it isn't exactly practical to pull the cord. LOL. I didn't think that was the reason anyway, just trying to be analytical, another LOL, as I don't like to be analytical.

Power surge does make sense to me, though I've never experienced one. What I have experienced is when the power goes off then comes back on, everything that was running turns back on all at the same time. Sometimes the power just goes off for a quick second. But that wouldn't be the case in your situation because the fan was not in the "on" position at the time.

It's a mystery!

I had thought power surge or something of the sort to begin with, but there was no flickering of the light, nothing else in the house was affected, and it just all of a sudden started spinning with no gearing up to high speed....meaning it just started spinning at full speed without slowly building up to it....I don't know. It hasn't happened again since...but this is also the room where a candle re-lit itself a couple of years ago.....about 12 hours after it had been blown out.

[wondering2]

Google brought me to this thread and I have something similar.

With the light switch off and the fan on my ceiling fan set to off. The fan comes on randomly and spins at a low speed.

After making love to my girl last night, I rolled onto my back and after kissing her I noticed the fan spinning in the back ground again.

This is in a home we just bought/moved into. And we had a home inspector who was anal about the slightest of things having issues.

[Seer]

I would get an electrician to check it out. Inspectors aren't going into the ceiling to see if it's connected properly or has a short in the wiring.

[Cryscat]

I am no expert but it sounds like something is going wrong within the fan's circuits. We have two ceiling fans, both in bedrooms, that we inherited when we bought our house. Both are older models and I have never seen that behavior out of either one, though the one in the bedroom I use does have a habit of switching from low to high speed, when it's on. Will have to replace it, eventually.

I would say, if you can afford it. replace the fan with the light fixture of your choice. If you can't afford it, then try living with it a while more until you can replace it.