Introduction: Mount an Inexpensive Led Hall Lamp to a Ceiling Fan

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About: Was it you or I who stumbled first? It does not matter, the one of us who soonest finds the strength to rise must help the other. - Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

I'm replacing older ceiling fans in my home with better units, and when I priced modern LED lighting accessories for them I found the retail pricing far beyond what was reasonable and proceeded to source my own. This is therefore, not an Instructable on installing or hanging a typical ceiling fan- there are plenty of posts for that, this one will focus solely on modifying and adapting an inexpensive imported hallway LED lamp to answer this need.

Step 1: Safety First

Mains voltage may be encountered, work only with all power disconnected and take all necessary precautions to avoid accidental contact with live wiring.

Step 2: Examine the Parts, Make a Plan

Ebay offers LED fixtures at attractive prices, and since I was buying 3 total, I contacted the seller with a group price and bid him my order at $10 per lamp, which was accepted, as well as a free shipping request. At 8 5/8” [220mm] diameter X 2 3/4” [70mm] high, and being almost weightless, it makes these lamps a perfect choice. I wanted general area illumination and 8 watts of LED gives the Lumen equivalent of an old 75 watt incandescent lamp, ample for my needs.

Step 3: Make an Adapter Plate

After sizing up the task of mounting the lamp to fan, I decided to use some scrap acrylic I had laying about, but thin plywood or hardboard would work just as well. I cutout the center with a hole saw that just happened to be a perfect size, allowing access to the fan speed switch housing interior, and after roughing out the O.D. I mounted them on my lathe and finished to size.

NOTE: Use of a lathe is not mandatory at all, a jigsaw and sanding the cut edge will easily suffice for this task.

Step 4: Move Fan Speed Switch

The original mounting angle of the fan speed switch prevented the adapter plate from having a flush fit, so it's relocation was necessary to the upper periphery, a Sharpie dot marked the new location. I carefully drilled a hole for the switch shaft- I like to use a small drill and ream it out to size using a “T” handle taper reamer, it's much safer, truer, and more controlled when boring a large diameter hole in thin wall metal.

Step 5: Mechanical Assembly

I wanted to relocate the grommet and wiring from the LED driver so it would be enclosed within the fan switch housing, again I used the same drill/ reamer technique as the fan switch remount. Next, I transfered mounting hole locations for both the lamp base and switch housing onto the adapter plate, and drilled according to needs. I used 3mm self- tapping screws for the lamp base attachment in a “Y” configuration. The fan switch bottom cover is no longer needed so I reused those screws as well.

Step 6: Wiring and Test

I believe all fans come with extra in- place wiring to facilitate installing an under-mount lamp, but am not sure they all use the same color code to identify them, so that is something to be determined during the adaption process. Mine were readily found with labels and so connecting them to the LED driver was an easy matter of strip, solder together, heat shrink tube insulate and done. I gave each unit a live test to be sure they worked as I didn't want to be at the top of a ladder and have to troubleshoot an unlit fixture.

Step 7: Parting Thoughts

I'm reasonably certain that with little change save private labeling, these fixtures are essentially the same design as is sold by the fan manufacturers at a much more expensive markup, in any event it was an easy modification and I'm now enjoying savings of both initial cost and operating expense.