Spinning Fan Of Death!!!

This past weekend I turned on the ceiling fan in our family room and it started to sway back and forth. Now when I say sway I do not mean the fan was unbalanced (which it was). I mean watch out below the fan is coming off the ceiling. So I turned it off and started to remove the canopy screws (the canopy covers the hole in the ceiling). Uh oh, I ended up on a step ladder holding a very heavy fan over my head with the wires still connected. I kindly asked Jen for some assistance (note the sarcasm) and she immediately ended her phone conversation. I had her run downstairs and start flipping breakers to turn off the fan. Eventually after the house was half turned off the correct breaker was shut off. Now Jen helped hold the fan while I disconnected the wiring. Phew!!! Now that that was over and after I regained feeling in my arms I was able to determine the reason for the Spinning fan of Death. The ceiling mount completely broke into two pieces leaving it hanging by the canopy. Later after closer examination of the bracket it completely disintegrated in my hands after I squeezed it a little.

I bought the replacement bracket at Home Depot and as I was installing it I determined that someone who didn't know what they were doing mounted the fan improperly. The electric box that the bracket connects to is not fastened to anything. Lucky for me I get to crawl into my attic space with temperatures outside at 90. This means it will probably be in the range of a slightly warmer 110-120 while I am trying to mount the electric box correctly.

Anyhow it is a good learning experience. Make sure your fan is mounted securely to the ceiling or it too may turn into the

SPINNING FAN OF DEATH!!!!!