I have a Hunter ceiling fan. The motor burned up and now I am replacing/trying to replace the fan. Problem: canopy trim ring won't come off. I turned it counter clockwise, added a flat head screw driver to help pop it off during the process even. Then I tried to push on the areas above the grooved area of the ball on the trim cover to see if this would help release the cover as some manuals have stated, but this didn't work either. I need help before I rip it out of my ceiling. Thanks.

After an hour of squeezing, screwing and tugging I was unable to remove the canopy ring. I finally succeeded when I used my paint can lid opener to gently pry at one of the sides of the ring that had the tab. The lid opener gets inside the ring to to pry the tab away from the main body and while lightly pulling down it popped free of the blasted thing. Whew! I won.

Some Hunters are attached with screws while others twist on. Hunter Fan 5 minute install - YouTube