My fan has been working fine for ten years now and suddenly if I’m barefoot and touch the metal pull chain it lightly shocks me, but does not if I have shoes on.
Does this mean I need a new fan or is it some electrical issue in my ceiling?
Electrical – Why has the 10 year old ceiling fan suddenly started shocking me through the fan pull chain
ceiling-fanelectricalsafety
Related Solutions
If the chain is broken inside the housing where you can't see it, you will have to disassemble the lower light cover on the fan if so equipped(usually 3 small screws). Definitely turn off the power to the fixture and always double check with a voltage tester to confirm power is off. It is not uncommon for the chain to break or actually pull out of the switch assembly. Until you determine the extent of the problem, you can't plan the fix. If the chain is broken at a ball link, a simple snap link my solve your problem. If it is pulled completely out of the pull switch, then you will have to remove the wire nuts and switch and get a replacement, usually available at any hardware store. Reassemble, carefully tighten the new wire nuts, a safety wrap of electrical tape around the wire nuts and put cover back on. It is actually a very simple fix if you have any experience with electrical repairs. CAVEAT. Be sure power is off before working with any wires. Good luck.
As far as I can find, having taken the fan down, there is no way to add a pull chain to this fan. There is also no remote receiver in any user serviceable area of the fan. The light housing connects to the fan body via a six pin Molex connector and contains a wattage limiter of some kind (per the Hampton Bay specs for similar fans).
I am unable to buy a replacement remote with a reverse button, nor have I been able to get the fan to reverse or speed up. The Home Depot staff were also unsure how to fix the problem, and the service personnel at the 1-800 number included with the fan remote were also unsure how to fix the problem.
The fan appears to be worth at most $70, so I am just going to replace it in its entirety. Lesson learned: avoid Hampton Bay remote controlled fans.
Edit: A look inside showed that the light housing was fubar (partially melted, probably killed the receiver). I replaced it with an aftermarket kit and voila:
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Best Answer
DANGER!!!
This sounds like a ground fault. They are particularly dangerous if you get wet, which is why Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters have been required for many years in kitchens and bathrooms, among other places.
If you have shoes on, you are insulated from the floor. Without shoes, a little bit of electricity makes its way from the fan through you to the floor. A little bit of electricity can be fatal if it passes through your heart, so this is a serious problem.
Why would a fan suddenly have this problem? Hard to say for sure, but anything with moving parts can have a small problem - e.g., a moving part of the motor rubbing on insulation - eventually become a big problem.
As much as we all like to have things last "forever", the reality is that many appliances, small and large, typically last in the range of 10 - 15 years. Sometimes, as with televisions and other electronics, they become obsolete. But with many other devices they simply wear out.
While the problem may be repairable, unless this is a high-end fan I don't think it is worth the effort and the risk of not quite fixing it correctly. This is particularly the case since fans are normally hardwired but not on GFCI, so there is no easy "early warning system" as there would be if you simply plugged it into a GFCI receptacle.