When we moved, the house we moved into did not have forced air circulation or heating, so in order to circulate the warm air from the single wall heater into the various rooms, we installed 4 ceiling fans about 8 years ago, one in each room, and one in the central hallway, which is closest to the wall heater. One of the issues we’ve encountered over the years with these 3-speed reversible ceiling fans is the fact they have speed-control capacitors that occasionally burn out. So far, it has always been one of the two in control of the lowest speed circuit, which uses the least power when it’s working properly, and it’s also the speed that the fan is operating on most of the time it’s on. The factory module is an integrated three-in-one unit, molded into a single, insulated plastic housing, with five wires. These fans are now about 7- or 8-years old.
While on our monthly grocery shopping trip, we stopped by the store where we purchased the fans. They either no longer carried these replacement capacitors, or never carried them in the first place.
The home center, sometimes referred to as a mega-store, did have wall-mount speed controls, and had I desired to cut a hole in the wall, install an electrical box, the necessary wiring to the fan, patch the drywall and paint, as well as spend the additional time to accomplish all of that, then perhaps those types of speed controls could be retrofitted into the existing system, but I just wanted a replacement module for the burned out capacitor so the repair was quick and simple, nor involved replacing the rest of the perfectly fine ceiling fan.
At the mega-store, after looking for replacements on the shelf and not being able to locate them, I then spoke to the employee in the fan department, who said, “No, we don’t carry them,” but added that he’d been trying to get management to stock them and hadn’t had any luck.
I went to the customer service desk, and looked through their supply book for some period of time, checking multiple cross-references in its index. Nope, there were no in-the-fan-housing capacitor modules to be found.
Later that evening after we got back home and unpacked the groceries, I searched the Internet, and found several online suppliers.
Replacement ceiling fan capacitors supplier site 1.
Replacement ceiling fan capacitors supplier site 2.
In studying those two sites above, it is apparent from the latter one that even though the modules are rated by the two, three, or four capacitors they contain, the schematics and internal wiring also have several variations. This would affect installation of a replacement. Since the type we need has two wires internally connected to one side of all three capacitors according to the on-the-module schematic, some of the four-wire type that don’t appear to match should work provided I wire them into the rest of the fan’s wiring in such a way to simulate that internal connection.
It appears that a number of differently rated modules could be installed. The exact same values as the failed unit are probably best provided those values are printed on the outside of the bad module. In our case they were: 5-wire, 4uf + 4uf + 5uf; the second fan is 4uf + 5uf + 5uf; “uf” means micro farad, a value of capacitance. No module replacements seem to match those values exactly in 5-wire, and it’s cautioned that the capacitance value can only vary by +/- 1uf. The repair question morphs again, complicating matters: do we want a slightly slower fan speed, or slightly faster, and which farad value, either an increase or a decrease, achieves each?
For a slightly slower speed it appears we’ll need a lower capacitance value: for a higher speed, a higher capacitance value. Apparently, a shorted or solid wire approaches infinite capacitance (MS word doc).
This is confirmed by the schematic logic in the links below. Perhaps it would be better to just replace the single one that has blown:
- Single ceiling fan capacitors supplier site 3.
This is an interesting repair option, and in our fan’s case of a factory three-in-one module, it would likely and initially require installation of three single capacitors due to the fan-case space limitation of keeping the old module in addition to the replacement: the bad one can’t singly be removed. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, these “single capacitors” may not have the correct rating, their catalog is using an “m” (milli) instead of a “u” (micro). This is possibly a typo related to the computer age’s typical use of ASCII, the actual, old-fashioned character for micro is “µ”.
- Ceiling Fan Capacitor supplier site 4.
Another question arises: is there enough room in the fan’s case, or, what physical size are these single capacitors? One attraction of these is that once the three-in-one module is replaced with three single ones, and properly wired into the rest of the fan, should any ever blow again in the future, only the single blown ones will require replacement. One downside of this is that they are not available in fractional microfarad values, should one of those be desired for any reason. Another downside is that the supplier only has values of 1-5 “m”fd, no 6 or 7, so this will not work for one of the fans which I want to very slightly increase the hi speed, and increase the low and medium speed, unless an extra one is added in parallel: then there would be additional housing-space requirements.
For those who may need additional ceiling-fan repair instruction:
General ceiling fan repair with photos, repair information, and wiring schematic.
Schematic diagram of reversible 3-speed ceiling-fans. (editor’s note, the above link was someone’s homepage that was at some point discontinued. The link was replaced with one from The Wayback Machine, but they do not archive images, so there aren’t any schematics )
While I won’t be installing a variable speed controller, it is nice to know one could be built from scratch, if desired:
Some online sources claim the variable type of speed controller sometimes cause humming or buzzing while the fan is in operation.
Perhaps it goes without saying, but I spent several hours online learning more about ceiling fan capacitors than I ever wanted to know! I’ve actually created a spreadsheet and, assuming the generic schematic (scroll down, two different ones on page) that may match our fan, attempted to mathematically simulate the capacitance difference between the two motor inductance coils, since there are so many possible capacitance value combinations possible that feed these coils.
While it’s always nice to learn something new, if you have the time, these blown speed-control modules should have been a simple-to-replace item, but it’s become slightly more complicated than simple!
This has become a two-part topic, the next post is a continuation: Ceiling Fan Capacitor Solutions.
I’m sure there are a lot of other sources of ceiling-fan capacitors, and if I didn’t find yours: so sorry.
General electronic references:
Capacitors in series and parallel.
Schematic Symbols site 1.
Schematic Symbols site 2.
Capacitors.
Electronic Abbreviations site 1.
Electronic Abbreviations site 2.
Ceiling fan capacitor manufacturer information:
PDF – NTE ceiling fan capacitors
Trackback submitted 12/28/2007 at 10:30 pm
Conscious Junkyard says:
Ceiling Fan Capacitor Solutions
Repairing some ceiling fans’ capacitors and slowing down the speeds by altering the capacitors’ values. …
Comment submitted 1/29/2008 at 10:44 pm
Tim Warnoch says:
Electrical items in the home often tend to give problems. Getting spares for them may also be an issue at times. But if you could get them and adjust them according to our needs then its fun! What a Great story!
Comment submitted 1/30/2008 at 11:05 am
Ken says:
Thank you for pointing that out Tim.
Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in the puzzle or complication, which requires a particular mindset to unravel, and another mindset to record or write down, that we may forget we are having fun, forget to note that we are experiencing joy!
Comment submitted 2/3/2008 at 12:27 pm
Ken says:
I ran across this blog entry about ceiling fans. With the exception of some spam that has been published in the comments section, it’s nevertheless, IMO, a cute story, with a quite-true underlying theme of various construction issues related to ceiling fan installation.
Comment submitted 3/9/2008 at 8:24 pm
Russell Renovator Freeman says:
“They either no longer carried these replacement capacitors, or never carried them in the first place.” – When buying household items we need to find if the spares are available for them or else we may have tough time finding them.
Comment submitted 6/13/2008 at 2:51 pm
Maw says:
I found the capicitor that I needed for my Harbor Breeze fan (which I had purchased from Lowe’s) by calling my Lowe’s and asking them for a 1-800 number for Harbor Breeze. It is made by the Litex company. The number I called was: 1-800-527-1292 and I told the operator that I was looking for replacement parts for my Harbor Breeze fan. Whille I was on hold,they said they will ask for the model number which is located on top of the motor, then they took my name, address and phone number and the model number of my Harbor Breeze fan and said they would have a capacitor to me within 7 to 10 working days, at no charge to me. I had run myself ragged looking at Lowes, Home Depot, Sutherlands and several of my local hardware stores. Hopes this helps someone.
Comment submitted 6/19/2008 at 10:10 am
Discount ceiling fans says:
I agree with the idea that it is very hard to find parts for fans. Whenever a fan breats down it seems to be the end of it. It also depends on the manufacturer of the fan. It seems that the more expensive the ceiling fan or every other fan it becomes easier to get parts.
Comment submitted 7/28/2008 at 7:38 am
Eric says:
Hopes this helps someone.(Quoting Maw)
I just wanted to post to let “Maw” (Post #6) know that “her” information was quite valuable to me. My Harbar Breeze fan started smoking one night all of the sudden. While replacing the fan, I noticed that the capacitor was what failed. During an internet search on capacitors I found this web site which had “Maw’s” post. I called the number she posted for Litex and they are sending me a replacement free of charge in 7 to 10 days. The only additional information they required beside the model number was an “E” number that was also listed on the fan motor.
Thanks Maw!
Comment submitted 7/28/2008 at 7:14 pm
Anonymous says:
Many thanks indeed for your information on the ceiling fan capacitors. Lowes and Home Depot were not able to help us. They simply said we don’t carry them and cannot help!!!!! It seems supplier site 1 is good but expensive it may cost upto 32 dollars for a single capacitor!!!!!!!
Comment submitted 8/14/2008 at 11:05 am
Ken says:
Only the two-wire capacitors at supplier site #1 appear as single capacitors, others they list are “single modules” that are essentially a bank of several capacitors, some are two capacitors, others three capacitors, and some with four capacitors. It’s nice to have the option to replace the entire module, rather than the somewhat obscure method I used which required some rewiring, as it makes for a much easier repair. If the factory is willing to send replacement modules for free as some posters have said, perhaps because of some kind of warranty, then that’s probably the lowest-cost method.
Comment submitted 9/20/2008 at 7:39 pm
Bill says:
The ceiling fan in my kitchen is running very slow on the fastest setting. It’s a three speed fan. Came across your site in my search for a fix. Nice post. Now I’m wondering if a capacitor is my problem…
Comment submitted 12/5/2008 at 9:03 am
dave bedard says:
fan 3 speed switches are not all the same. single pole triple throw switches connect the L terminal to only one additional contact at the same time. this connection goes like this: L NO CONTACT= OFF POSITION L TO TERMINAL 1 L TO TERMINAL 2 L TO TERMINAL 3 THIS IS KNOWN AS A SINGLE POLE (CONNECTION TO L TERMINAL) SINGLE THROW (TERMINAL 1, THEN AFTER PULLING CHAIN TO TERMINAL 2 THEN AFTER PULLING CHAIN TO TERMINAL 3). AT NO POINT IN THE SEQUENCE OF PULLING THE CHAIN DOES THIS TYPE SWITCH CONNECT MORE THAN 2 POSITIONS ON THE SWITCH.
THE PULL CHAIN SWITCHES BEING SOLD AT MOST STORES ARE OF THIS TYPE. BUT THIS TYPE SWITCH IS NOT THE ONLY TYPE USED IN CEILING FANS.
A SECOND TYPE SWITCH CONNECTS MORE THAN TWO OUTPUT TERMINALS AS YOU PULL THE CHAIN. IN OTHER WORDS YOUR FAN AINT WORKING BECAUSE THE CONNECTIONS AREN’T BEING MADE BY THE ABOVE DETAILED PULL CHAIN SWITCH. YOU NEED THIS SECOND TYPE OF PULL CHAIN SWITCH. yOU CAN’T GET IT AT MOST STORES. YOU CAN FIND IT ON LINE.
SINGLE POLE MULTIPLE THROW SWITCH. IT CONNECTS ONE INPUT TERMINAL TO MULTIPLE OUTPUT TERMINALS AT A TIME.
Comment submitted 12/5/2008 at 9:59 am
dave bedard says:
Mc Gill electrical products group Mcgillelectrical.com (THIS IS THE COMPANY i FOUND THE SWITCH AT)
ADJUSTABLE FAN SPEED SWITCH 3A, 250VAC, 6A, 125VAC 3/8″ DIAMETER 1/4 INCH LONG 1003-0004 PART NUMBER
This switch apparently is not the typical single pole single throw switch sold at most stores as a replacement switch for multi speed fans. SINGLE POLE SINGLE THROW L NONE L TO TERMINAL 1 L TO TERMINAL 2 L TO TERMINAL 3
THE SWITCH PART NUMBER 1003-0004 DOES THIS INSTEAD
OFF L TO TERMINALS 1 AND 2 HIGH L TO TERMINALS 1 AND 2 AND 3 MEDIUM L TO TERMINALS 2 AND 3 LOW L TO TERMINALS 1 AND 3
THIS IS A SINGLE POLE MULTIPLE THROW SWITCH
CAN YOU VERIFY THIS INFORMATION . i HAVE NOTICED MANY PEOPLE ONLINE HAVE BEEN REPLACING THE PULL CHAIN SWITCH IN THEIR FAN ASSY AS THEY GO BAD WITH THE INCORRECT TYPE SWITCH.
THEY SEEM TO BE REMOVING THE SINGLE POLE MULTIPLE THROW SWITCH AND TRYING TO REPLACE IT WITH THE WRONG TYPE SINGLE POLE SINGLE THROW SWITCH WHICH OBVIOUSLY WON’T WORK!
ANY CHANCE YOU COULD ADD THIS INFORMATION ON IT ? JUST A THOUGHT. i SEE A BIG NEED FOR THE INFORMATION AND FOR THE PART!!
THANK YOU. DAVID BEDARD
Comment submitted 3/31/2009 at 11:22 am
William Fortner says:
Thanks MAW for the info on the Harbor Breeze (Litex) tel number. I was able to get a new capacitor on the way at no charge. It is a shame that the big box stores just want you to rip the old fan off the ceiling and buy another. I always repair to the point of 50 per cent of a new one. Thanks again
Comment submitted 4/8/2009 at 4:34 am
Anonymous says:
Great work…thanks
Pingback submitted 7/20/2009 at 7:35 am
Ceiling fan 3 speed control switch. says:
[...] While your waiting……… Ceiling fan pull chain replacement and repair – Ceiling Fans N More Ceiling fan capactors – troubleshooting and resources – Ceiling Fans N More Shows different wiring for 5wire CeilingFanParts.com – Switchco Products – 5-Wire Capacitors Interesting, there’s a mention of a five wire cap Ceiling Fan Capacitor Woes Conscious Junkyard [...]
Comment submitted 7/22/2009 at 2:09 pm
heri says:
great article.., this article will be more informative if you add some images in your post..
thank you
Comment submitted 7/22/2009 at 2:38 pm
Ken L. Klaser says:
Heri, Thanks for stopping by, I like your site, maybe some folks younger than me, or with more time than I have, will want to build some of those circuits!
By the way, I happened across a Capacitor Manufacturer’s site the other day. While my guess from looking at their site is that they don’t sell retail, I could be wrong; in either case it’s a lead for finding certain hard to find capacitors.
Comment submitted 7/31/2009 at 5:03 am
frank says:
I’m very impressed with your site, Ken. I’m trying to repair a Hunter fan and have been searching for information on caps etc. I didn’t find 1/2 the stuff you did!
Someone pulled the rug out from under some of your links! Doesn’t hurt your site; just FYI:
re ’site 3′: ‘MFD’ means microfarad. Yes, it’s inconsistent. I’ve never seen ‘millifarad’ used for caps.
The link from ‘2. Schematic diagram of reversible 3-speed…’ took me to an apology page on Earthlink. “page not available” or something like that.
re ’supplier site 4′, “Error finding category. An error occurred while trying to find the specified category’.
frank
Comment submitted 7/31/2009 at 1:35 pm
Ken L. Klaser says:
Thanks frank! I updated two of those links, it looks like one just changed their site’s URL structure, but the one with the schematic is gone and The WayBack Machine doesn’t have the images archived, though the text is still there. Regarding having trouble finding things, who knows. The Internet keeps changing.
I was reminded of this fan project recently when working on my bread baking project. I need to decrease the seed yeast amount to better fit a culture time, and I’m probably going to take the easy way out and attempt to adjust the yeast amounts without mathematically modeling their growth curves simply by making a best guess and noting the response. In other words, projects that seem like they should be fast and simple often end up taking us in unexpected and circuitous directions that consume a lot more time than we first think they should.
Good luck with your fan!
Comment submitted 8/12/2009 at 2:14 am
Anonymous says:
Dear Sir/ Madam, Have a nice day. How are you? How goes your business? Hope every thing is well. This is Mr. Palash From Zen Ltd, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Zen Ltd is a largest trading house in our country; we have since engage last 15 years. We import Building materials and furniture and some electrical items from China, Malaysia, Italy, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. We have 10 big showrooms and so many agents. Now we are interested to import Fan Capacitor and trading our local market, every year more and less 100 billion only fan capacitor import our country, so understand our market. Our requirements were as below: Size: 2.5 UF ( Round ) 3.5 UF (Round ) Weight: 30 km Top side welding (no repite), Color Gray, you write on the capacitor Thailand standard.
We have need the best price & sample. If your price and Quality is ok then you will continue business with us.
Your prompt reply make a big business benefit both of us.
Thanks and best regards
Palash Manager (Commercial Dept) Zen Ltd. H-78/10, New Airport road, Chairman Bari, Mohakali, Dhaka. Tel: 88-02-8853045, 8811459 Fax: 88-02-8827689 Email: zentexltd@dtechltd.com Palash988@yahoo.com
Comment submitted 8/12/2009 at 7:59 am
Ken L. Klaser says:
Palash Manager, your voltage and physical-size requirements seem to be missing.
Also, please be advised this is a personal, non-commercial weblog, dotcom address notwithstanding. I’m personally interested in non-formal educational pursuits, and sharing what I’ve learned with others.
Have a nice day!
Comment submitted 8/27/2009 at 12:22 am
Anonymous says:
Surely ceiling fans are a problem. Normally electronic items in our houses a pain. There can be lot of repairs and sometimes you cant even repair them.
Comment submitted 11/13/2009 at 2:48 pm
MARK WILLIAMS says:
I HAD GREAT FORTUNE NOT ONLY FINDING THE PART FOR MY FAN……BUT ALSO FINDING OUT WHY I HAD THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE MANAGER AT DANS FAN CITY EXPLAINED THAT THE CAUSE OF THE BLOWN CAPICATOR WAS HAVING THE PULL CHAIN SET TO MED. OR LOW SPEED….THEN USING THE ON OFF SWITCH AT THE WALL TO OPERATE THE FAN. “THERE IS A REASON FANS START ON HIGH SPEED WITH THE PULL CHAIN SWITCH, THE ENTIRE MOTOR IS INVOLVED IN STARTING THE FAN FROM A STATIC STOP”. HE COMPAIRED IT TO STARTING A MANUAL TRANSMISSION CAR IN 4TH OR 5TH GEAR….SOMETHING IS GOING TO GIVE AND IN CEILING FANS ITS THE CAPICATOR. WE BOUGHT ALL OUR FANS THERE AND THEY STOCK PARTS FOR ALL THE FANS..I THINK THEIR CALLED GULF COAST FANS.REALLY ENJOYED YOUR ARTICLE..
Comment submitted 1/18/2010 at 8:00 am
Juan says:
Hi Mr Ken. I’ve been trying to repair my ceiling fan 36″ and I need to know how can I test for the coils. The fan “died” 15 minutes after been connected; the switch that controlled the light is a dimmer so my sister put the dimmer at medium level and a rare sound was heard and passed 15 minutes the fan died. I’ve disassembled it and found a burn capacitor, almost exploted (it’s a double capacitor 1.5uF and 2.5uF branch arrengement). The next step is to verifying if the coils are good or are burned: I measured resistance and the values are 122 ohm and 200 ohm but I don’t know what’s the stator and what’s the rotor. i have some pictures to send to you if it’s necessary.
For your time and any help you can give thanks.
Comment submitted 1/18/2010 at 8:55 am
Ken L. Klaser says:
Hi Juan, you’d probably have some of the questions answered by the schematics and disassembly found here. There is one two-capacitor schematic on those pages, though it may not be the same as yours. Those pictures identify the rotor versus the stator, and give a generalized idea as to a possible coil layout. If you look at the differences between the schematic and the pictures, you’ll probably realize the schematic is idealized.
I have seen no specifications for ceiling fans regarding run and/or auxiliary winding resistances. I’m loathe to speculate, though it’s generally known that resistance increases as wire length increases, or as wire size (diameter of cross section) decreases.
Comment submitted 1/18/2010 at 9:09 am
Juan says:
Thanks Ken for your answer. I have another question: what is the inductance value or approximated inductance value for the stator’s windings on the pictures you sent me? it’s important to me in order to measuring and find out if the coils are OK. If I put a new capacitor and the winding is burned what could happen?
Thanks again.
Comment submitted 1/21/2010 at 9:51 am
Ken L. Klaser says:
Juan:
Determining the resonant frequency, or some harmonic of it, is far beyond my expertise level (another similar circuit called a series resonant circuit). However, your questions and project once again show the need for more specifications to be disclosed in the owner’s manual.
Going back to coil resistance, it may be a good idea to also check resistances or non-continuity of the coils to to the case or ground.
Since I believe you said this was a relatively new fan, only operated for 15 minutes or so, perhaps you should simply return it for a replacement, presuming it’s covered under any guarantee that may exist.
Comment submitted 2/4/2010 at 4:10 am
John says:
Wanted to thank Ken for this terrific article. Just wish I found it before I tore my fan apart trying to find out why it wasn’t working. Fortunately I was able to reasseble our fan and now just waiting to get our new capacitor.
Thanks Ken!