Ceiling Fan Getting Noisy - Cure?

In My Humble Opinion
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The previous owner of my place installed cheap-ass Home Depot brand ceiling fans in most rooms. They’re basic, but they work adequately and so far I’ve avoided upgrading them because I suspect his “handiwork” is a big (read $$) can of code-compliance worms.

Until now.

I have one in the master bedroom that we run all night every night on low. That’s been 3 years now since we moved in and I think it was probably left on 24/7 for the several years before that since it was new. IOW, it’s well past its cheapo Chinese design lifespan.

It has recently started making a 60 hz hum. The hum seems to be real quiet when the fan is first turned on but gets worse over the hours. It’s now getting objectionably loud by morning. The fan turns easily and smoothly by hand with no sign of extra friction, grabbing, etc., whether it’s been running or not. The fan is controlled by an RF remote with the usual 3 speeds and reverse. All of which work fine. The motor housing doesn’t seem to be warm even after hours of use. The hum cuts off instantly when the power is switched off even though the fan is still spinning down. So I conclude the noise is electrical, not mechanical.

Any thoughts on what might be the cause? I suspect delamination of motor windings or the built-up rotor or stator.

Far more importantly, what might be a fix other than replacement?

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Over time, mounting screws may not have stayed tight or whatever dampening washers that it had may have compressed. This would allow vibrations to resonate. IOW maybe you have a screw loose?

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I definitely have a (few) screws loose. The fan however seems good with those. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the link. All their advice is about mechanical noise and this is (almost certainly) electrical noise. But I’ll dig into it; no harm in checking everything.