Installing a Primo Ceiling Fan with Remote Control

My wife wanted a ceiling fan in the bedroom so I told her to buy one and I'd fit it. So she spent 180 Euros on the heaviest unit she could find!

The instructions stated that the ceiling must be capable of supporting 100 kg weight. That was a problem because our roof is made of reinforced concrete a foot thick and insulated inside with 32 mm expanded polystyrene sheet and plasterboard.

I removed the mattress and placed the step ladders on the base, which is well supported by the steel frame beneath.

Mains power turned OFF.

I removed the lamp, which was suspended from a small hook that was screwed into a plastic plug in the concrete ceiling.

I marked out a rectangle on the ceiling that needed to be cut away.

An electric reciprocating/vibrating tool was used to cut away the plasterboard and blue insulating foam.

Closer view of the resultant hole and the existing wiring - live, neutral and earth.

Note: I had chosen the position of the rectangular hole so that the short wiring could be connected easily to the screw terminal strip on the support bracket (see below).

I cut a piece of wood to fit and drilled two holes through it. With the wood firmly wedged in the hole. I used a drill to mark the hole positions on the concrete ceiling then removed the wood.

It was a hot day and it required a lot of effort to balance on the step ladder and drill holes into the concrete. My wife thought that I was about to have a stroke. (The camera lies. I was definitely not as bilious in colour as the picture suggests!)

With plastic plugs inserted into the holes in the concrete, I tightened two very long screws to hold the wood in place.

I had already marked the wood and drilled four pilot holes for the screws that will hold the support bracket. (Two screws were supplied but I added two more, since there were four slotted holes in the bracket.)

Support bracket screwed in place. It comes with a 3-way screw terminal strip and a wired plug that connects to the fan assembly.

Note the "horseshoe" into which the ball of the fan assembly will be fitted.

The remote control receiver unit is separate and I found the instructions confusing. It appeared that the infrared receiver "eye" was meant to be stuck to the ceiling with a self-adhesive pad but there was no slot in the metal cover for the thin cable to exit.

However, there was a large, circular hole in the cover that seemed to be suitable for the "eye" to look through but the hole was slightly too small to allow the "eye" to fit.

So I took the unit into my workshop. Rather than attempt to file the hole larger, I held the "eye" against it and used an old soldering iron tip to melt plastic adhesive around the eye to secure it in place.

Now the fan assembly was ready to hang by inserting the ball end into the "horseshoe" of the support bracket.

Here the remote control receiver unit is inserted into the gap provided above the "horseshoe".

See the red "eye" protruding slightly from the metal cover, bottom right.

Cables connected. See the "eye" glued inside. It still has a self-adhesive pad on the rear, with paper disc protector. There was no way to use this adhesive pad.

The cover was pushed up onto two screws on the support bracket and twisted into the slots.

Two additional screws were inserted into the holes provided and tightened.

Now I had to remove the three screws from each blade bracket then reinsert and tighten them with the blade in place.

Note to self: I need to expose my head to the sun more often. I'm beginning to look like an ice cream cone.

Five blades fitted and 15 screws tightened.

Lamp holder fitted with three screws and connected electrically.

Bulb fitted and glass bowl screwed into place.

Mains power turned on and the remote control works the lamp.

And the fan works at various speeds selected by the remote control.

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