It’s a hot summer day, and those electricity bills constantly nail you. So, you decide to save a little money and switch on that ceiling fan instead of the air conditioner.
You get up to that chain, pull it down, only to hear the crack of the chain as it disconnects from the fan and jumps down head first! It is also possible that it is just stuck. Let’s get this fixed!
In some instances, a lubricant such as WD-40 can get things moving again. In other cases, we will have to remove the chain and install a new one. The motor of the fan can be lubricated as well.
Now you can no longer use your fan because of the broken chain. Luckily, you don’t need to hire someone or have mechanical expertise to fix that. So instead, we’ll show you how to fix ceiling fan chain on your own.
Keep in mind that you can do every step in this guide by yourself. However, the process will be much easier if you have someone to help you.
That being said, let’s get started.
Remove the Metal Housing
The first thing you need to do is to expose the broken switch. To do that, you need to remove the metal housing of the fan.
Keep in mind that housing may contain a few light bulbs. They will come out along with the housing but if you fear breaking them, remove them before you do anything else.
We recommend not bothering with them as the only thing they do is increase the weight of the housing a little bit. Just don’t drop the housing after you remove it.
To remove the housing itself, follow these steps:
Turn off the Electricity
When handling electricity, it’s always best to turn off the switch and cut the electricity from whatever you’re fixing. Safety always comes first.
Unscrew the Nails
Using a screwdriver, unscrew the nails of the metal housing. Support the lower part with your hands to avoid dropping the metal housing. This is when a second person can really make the process easier.
Detach the Metal Housing
Once the last screw is removed, detaching the metal housing will be easy. However, don’t just grab it down immediately, as there will be a couple of cables or wires connected to it.
You’ll need to detach those cables first to free the lower part of the metal housing. Then, place that metal housing with the screws inside on a table to avoid losing them.
Remove the Broken Switch
The chain container is often a colorful-looking oddly-shaped box. We’ll call it the switch for convenience.
This switch is actually visible before you open the fan. You can see protrusion that goes through the metal housing and extends the chain downward for you to pull it.
When the chain breaks, this switch is often to blame, so you’ll need to take it out. The switch is made from two compartments, a black one and a typically blue or red one.
You may remove the whole thing in one go. However, since there are a few wires connected to it, you may end up re-arranging them in the wrong order later on.
For that, we recommend taking off only the blue/red part of it. We’ll show you how to correctly re-arrange the wires in the next step.
Replace the Broken Switch
When the chain is broken, the switch is often beyond repair as well. Because of that, you’ll mostly need to purchase a new one online or from your local store.
Keep in mind that there are different models of the switch. Make sure that the switch you buy fits the fan model you have. The switch we suggested above is somewhat universal, but it still won’t work with every fan.
Once you have the new switch in hand, you’ll need to take it up to the fan to replace the old one.
The black compartment that you left in the fan will have a few wires connected to it. You’ll need to align the new switch with the old one so you can take each wire from its old spot to the new corresponding spot.
Simply push each wire inside, and you’re good to go. There’s no need to screw or unscrew anything here.
Test the Fan
At this point, you should have the new switch in place of the old one, with a small chain hanging from it. Turn on the electricity switch and test if your fan is working well.
Just pull the chain down. Typically, it should work without any problems. Should it not, you may need to trace your steps back to see what you did wrong.
Put Back the Metal Housing
Before you place the metal housing back, you’ll need to remove the cap of the switch’s neck. This will allow the switch to pass through its dedicated hole in the metal housing.
Simply pass the chain through the hole and place the neck of the switch in there as well. Now get that cap you removed a few seconds ago and palace it over the neck again to hold the switch in place.
Now you’ll have to bring the metal housing with its lights and place it back in place. Don’t forget to connect the two cables you disconnected when you started. Those cables won’t affect the fan, but if you forget them, your lights won’t work.
Once you place the housing back in place, simply place the screws back and tie the old chain extender to the new chain hanging from the new switch.
Have a look at this video so you can see the whole process yourself.
Final Words
To sum things up on how to fix a ceiling fan chain, you’ll need to start by removing the metal housing and the old switch.
You may attempt to fix the old switch, but it’s often broken beyond repair, so just get yourself a new one.
Make sure that the wires from the old switch go precisely in the corresponding place of the new switch.
Once you’re done with that, test the fan, and it should be working. Afterward, just place the housing back and connect the chain.
We have discussed if a kitchen ceiling fan is worth it here.
