So I got a service call before the holidays to check why a 52" ceiling fan in my customer's rental property stopped working with the remote control. The last tenant had been given new living accommodations and a nice new uniform a few weeks before when the police raided the house looking for drugs and now the owner wants to get it ready for new tenants.
When I took down the fan housing the first time (This is where the receiver module gets mounted) I saw that the fan had been installed in a very unusual manner (bolted from above) and that I would have to go into the attic to investigate further. Since it was late in the afternoon and the customer decided he wanted me to just rewire the fan so he could get rid of the remote control, I scheduled to come back another day.
So today I go back. I crawl up into the attic and find this:
There's a 1200 lb rated electromagnet, a 12V battery, a charging circuit, a wireless remote switch, a power supply and a rubber bungee cord. This was the STASH!!! ;)
They obviously had a remote control downstairs. When they turned the electromagnet off, the whole 52" fan would drop down a few inches on the bungee, which also allowed them to pull it down far enough that they could get their hand into the space above the drywall. Then they'd turn the electromagnet back on and, once it ramped up, the fan would get pulled back up flush with the ceiling. Pure genius!
In these pics, I used the bungee to lower the fan down from above. In normal use it would only have dropped down maybe an inch or so with the way they had the bungee attached.
When I took down the fan housing the first time (This is where the receiver module gets mounted) I saw that the fan had been installed in a very unusual manner (bolted from above) and that I would have to go into the attic to investigate further. Since it was late in the afternoon and the customer decided he wanted me to just rewire the fan so he could get rid of the remote control, I scheduled to come back another day.
So today I go back. I crawl up into the attic and find this:
There's a 1200 lb rated electromagnet, a 12V battery, a charging circuit, a wireless remote switch, a power supply and a rubber bungee cord. This was the STASH!!! ;)
They obviously had a remote control downstairs. When they turned the electromagnet off, the whole 52" fan would drop down a few inches on the bungee, which also allowed them to pull it down far enough that they could get their hand into the space above the drywall. Then they'd turn the electromagnet back on and, once it ramped up, the fan would get pulled back up flush with the ceiling. Pure genius!
In these pics, I used the bungee to lower the fan down from above. In normal use it would only have dropped down maybe an inch or so with the way they had the bungee attached.
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