So a couple of days ago, the light kit on the ceiling fan in the living room decides it wants to arc inside the casing and trip the breaker merely because I had the temerity to flip the sodding wall switch and actually desire the room to be illuminated. Not that it happens very often because I prefer the dark but if you’re going to be hanging ornaments on the tree that has made its first appearance in five years (more on that in a bit)…decent light does help!

Hang ceiling fans long enough and you’ll discover one of the nasty side-effects to time. It’s not at all symmetric! Take for example the fact that it only took about five minutes to drop the old fan from the ceiling and another five to disassemble it and dump it in the bin before the rubbish lorry turns up.

Replacing it would take slightly less than 90 minutes. This is the first Hunter I’ve hung and it’s a pretty brushed nickel fan housing with dark brown blades. I’ve hung quite a few Harbour Breeze fans which is what the predecessor fan was but it didn’t last anywhere near as long as previous ones so I figured I’d give their competition a try.

Let’s just say I was in love when I saw the instructions. They are about the most beautiful set of instructions I’ve ever seen and written by people with a masterful command of the English language. I’d imagine they’re pretty masterful with the Spanish as well but my Spanish sucks rocks so there you are. 🙂

I do have a couple of quibbles with the instructions, though. One of the steps involves pushing these rubber grommets through the holes in each fan blade. Imagine a squat rubber plug with a slightly larger diameter ring on each end. The instructions suggest having someone else do this whilst you’re preparing the fan motor assembly. I wholeheartedly agree…pushing those suckers through the very small holes was painful so the bit I’d add to their suggestion is “you might want to pick someone you hate because they’re going to hate you when they’re done with all fifteen of them!” One small hint to make your life much easier: push it as hard as you can on one side (or put a small screwdriver through the centre of the grommet and use it to push) and use your finger in a rubbing motion on the other side…that friction seemed to make it much easier to get that lip through the hole and properly seated. And having read that, it’s really not as salacious a process as it sounds. 😉

The parts are in separate bags with easily identifiable symbols (triangle, square, circle, etc) so there is no ambiguity as to what part goes where.

Ninety minutes later, it’s time to flip the breaker and see how it works. The fan spooled up immediately when the switch was thrown. But the lights stubbornly refused to turn on.

Bugger! That was what made me replace the bloody fan in the first place!

Some quick diagnosis and it turned out that the crap wall switch had well, crapped out. I’ve never had to replace a wall switch before this house and now I’ve done four of them! These stupid switches the builder used inserts the wire into the back of the switch and uses the screw on the side of it to tighten it in place. Except that over time, that wire pops out. There’s a *REASON* why we bend a hook on the end of the wire and loop it round the body of the screw and tighten it. Because if you do it right…the house will fall apart before that connection does! Thirty minutes and three new switches later (and many curses at having to fiddle with the horizontal spacing so the stupid face plate would go back on properly!)…finito! 🙂

All in all, I have to say I’m really loving this new fan. It’s quieter, the lights are brighter and it was balanced properly right out of the box (but it was nice of Hunter to include a balancing kit…unlike some other brand where I had to buy a balancing kit for a recent fan install that refused to balance the fan properly at max fan speed but it was fine at medium and below).

Now I’ve got to figure out what is up with the dodgy recessed lighting can in the kitchen. It never ends… 🙁

UPDATE 18 Dec 2020 at 1558: Last throw of the dice was to change the bulb in that one can. Apparently the bulb was dodgy…the new bulb in the can seems happy enough! And I’m happy not replacing a recessed lighting can…I’ve had enough fun playing with the electrics today as it is! 😉