The blades on my ceiling fan were loose. When I tightened them, the fan would not turn. I tried loosening them again to their previous position, but no luck. When I remove the blades, the assemble runs at full speed. When the blades are reattached, it does not run or runs very slowly. I have tried switching the blade position, trying weight distribution (taping quarters to blades), and nothing is working. What went wrong?

What make/model is the fan? Can you take a picture of it?

I could not find a make or model # on the assembly at all. I no longer have the book, since the fan is about 10 years old. Attached is a photo. Hope it helps.

Assuming it's not frictional losses and it does the same thing in both directions, I'm inclined to think that the capacitor(s) has failed. Low ESR (Effective Series Resistance) will reduce torque and capacitors have a limited lifetime.

CeilingFanParts.com - Switchco Products - Capacitors

Is there a wall speed control for this fan?
Possibly someone pulled the chain to low speed and now the speed control cannot start the fan?

Thanks all for responding. There is no wall speed control, only the chain. It still does have 3 distinctive speeds. As I mentioned, when I take the blades off, the motor assembly runs just fine. It just seems like adding the weight of the blades just slows it to almost a standstill. It's just weird because it was running just fine before I simply tightened the blades.

Does the motor spin freely by hand, and coast when spun, whether blades are attached or not?

Yes, the assembly will spin freely. It will just not keep up to speed when the blades are attached.

But it did before you tightened the blades?

With the blades removed, operate the reverse switch to see if it will run in both directions. Then, when it is running in one direction, spin it by hand the opposite direction. Does it then start running in that direction, or does it correct itself and continue running in the original direction?

Yes, it runs in both directions. Yes, when I ran the motor and reversed it by hand, it ran in that direction and did not correct itself. Does this mean my motor is shot? If so, why did it happen all of a sudden when I simply tightened the blades, where it was previously working fine?

The capacitor is bad.

It could be coincidence or it could be that the angle of the loose blades created less friction for the fan.

Example picture the blades perfectly flat. The edge of the blade would encounter little air and thus little resistance. As you tilt the blade, the air would create more and more resistance to the motor turning. I'm using "resistance" in the frictional or effort sense and not an electrical term.

Replace the capacitor, and it will be fine.

Either the capacitor is bad, the reverse switch is bad, a connection thereof is bad, or one of the motor windings is open.

Check all connections, check the reverse switch, try replacing the capacitor. Keep in mind this is a cheap fan that is not worth investing a ton of money into.

This website has some wiring diagrams of ceiling fans. The switch legends I don't like.

Ceiling Fand wiring Diagrams

Diagram #1 is probably the most common.

Bad winding: NO, it rotates, no smell
Bad reverse switch: Not likely, it does cause a change in direction.
Loose connection: NO It's not intermittant
Poor connections: Possible, but I doubt it.
Bad Cap: The most likely cause.


The cap causes a phase shift which causes the blades to rotate. As I said before, I'll bet that the effective series resistance of the capacitor has degraded.

It can also be one open contact on or pertaining to the reverse switch, thereby taking the capacitor out of the circuit.

I've encountered almost everything before.

I don't really care for those diagrams above.