Will this box support a ceiling fan?


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Old 10-05-17, 03:46 PM
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Will this box support a ceiling fan?

House is a cape cod from the 50s with a finished attic in trying to remove the light fixture and install a cieling fan. This is the box I removed the center screw of this electrical box to see what it was secured to and it seems to be a metal rod, will this support a cieling fan or do I need to get a spanner box?
 
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Old 10-05-17, 04:32 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

That is not a fan rated box. A spanner box will work. Since you have metal clad cables.... you'll need a metal box.
 
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Old 10-05-17, 04:32 PM
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How the box is attached is only half the question. The real question is how the fan attaches to the box. If it has just a couple of ears for 8-32 fixture screws that is not enough. If those are 10-24 screws and thread through both the ears and the back of the box it is okay for a fan but 8-32 just into the ears no.

Note the problem with ceiling fans isn't so much weight, most boxes can handle the weight, the problem is it is a dynamic not static load that has increased fastening requirements to the box.
 
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Old 10-05-17, 04:39 PM
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The box will probably hold the fan but it probably doesn't meet code, if there is a code that applies.
 
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Old 10-05-17, 05:08 PM
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Lightbulb

Thank you for the replies. IM pretty sure it is a metal box or at least it feels like it, here's more picture if it helps at all. Codes not really an issue because there's a lot of things in this house that aren't up to code right now lol.
 
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Old 10-05-17, 07:03 PM
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Yes....that is an old metal box.
Will it hold the fan up...... probably but why risk it.

That box is held to the mounting bar with one screw in the middle.

Fan rated boxes have larger fastening hardware so that the screws have less of a chance of stripping.
 
 

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