Mount Ceiling Fan to Old Junction Box?

Question

Is there anyway to safely mount a ceiling fan to this type of older ceiling junction box (see the photos)?

I rent an old 1920's built house where an old hanging light fixture junction box was covered with a blank panel. I want to hang a ceiling fan in this living room, but when exposed I see this old junction box that is really in the plaster and would be a huge hassle to replace.

One photo is how it looked when I first removed the blank cover. You will see the old threaded light fixture mount. With that mount removed as well as some plaster, you can see it is in there pretty well. There is no access from above it since that is a wooded bedroom floor directly upstairs. That junction box appears to be held sturdy by the two rusty-colored head screws (see photo) to a metal cross bar behind it.

I am sure my landlord would not be cool with having the ceiling torn apart more to replace this old junction box, so I wanted to see if anyone thinks there is an adapter or way to retrofit and adapt this box to mount a ceiling fan.

Answer 1

Buy a ceiling hugger style fan (the ones without a stem or with the option to mount without the stem).

Mount the fan's bracket directly to the ceiling with toggle bolts or other such fastener. This way the fan is not support by the box at all.

Good luck with your project!

Answer 2

Close inspection of the pictures reveals that this is a plaster ring mounted to a 4-S or 5-S box. It is a strange plaster ring in that it does not have standard threaded fixture tabs.

Open the plaster a bit more to reveal the screws in the corner that hold the ring to the square box below. Because the square box itself appears to be sufficiently anchored, you may be able to install a heavy duty fan rated 4-S/5-S to 4-O plaster ring onto it and away you go. Or, preferably, pull the box and install a fan-rated box.

Answer 3

This box does have 8/32 screw support. I have the same issue. There are two holes in the back of the pan that accept 8/3 screws and , in my case, the the center nipple also accepts an 8/32 screw. I need to find a way to use the old threaded nipple, else the fixtures hang too low usually. The nipple is incredibly strong and floats to allow a fan to self level.

Another issue is the electrical wire, most modern brackets expect that the wire will come through the center, but these old shallow pans have the wires , in essence coming off to far from the side. I had to drill a hole into the last large plate supplied by the fan mfg to allow the positive wire free movement.

Answer 4

It’s a steel support that is mounted with four nails under the drywall. Used to be used with plaster. It extends past supports drywall will be damaged if nails get taken out. I tried to saw them off from the attic. I ended up cutting in half and bent out of the way of new support. Still had hair size crack in paint/drywal.

Answer 5

It looks to me like the current box would come out pretty easily. I'd probably get a new box of similar dimensions that's intended to carry a fan and mount it to the metal bar basically the same way that the current box does. Some are designed to accommodate surface mounting.

Otherwise, it's just a matter of finding the right hardware configuration to mount the fan base bracket to what you have available--apparently the metal bar. You may be able to find longer versions of the screws that are there now.

Answer 6

This old electrical box is not rated for modern fans. It does not have the the 8-32 screw tabs on two sides. I suggest to remove this old metal box and replace it with a new shallow fan box. Clearly this old box is screwed to a floor or ceiling joist in an old home. The new ceiling box can also be screwed to the joist. Be sure to turn off the power before attempting this or call an electrician.

http://www.wayfair.com/HubbellRaco-Round-Ceiling-Fan-Box-295-L269-K~YNB1114.html?refid=GX100545120506-YNB1114&device=c&ptid=154609615740