Customer Reviews

Westinghouse 0110000 Saf-T-Brace for Ceiling Fans

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have a home like ours where the light boxes are not supported by the joists, this is a perfect solution. Say goodbye to ceiling fans that wobble and "click" when they turn. This product takes care of that problem.

I ordered this brace for a ceiling fan. It seemed like the perfect thing, to insert the brace into a 4" diameter hole, in this case, between ceiling joists at 16" spacing.

So... this is the deal: I have 16" on center spacing of 2x12 joists which are actually a little narrower than 2". This leaves a little more than 14" open space between the joists... get it? The brace is 14" at it's smallest, therefore it could not be inserted between the joists at an angle... it's too wide. I can't go all the way above the joists with the brace to make it level and pull it down in this installation, there is flooring above the joists. Even if I could do that, the idea of no breathing room for the brace is very odd. Only option for me was to carefully cut off 2" of the square metal tube, re-insert the threaded cast metal plug, cut off 2" of the screw-rod, reassemble the thing... then guess what? It worked. Someone at Westinghouse didn't think this one through..... But on the bright side, I got to use a bunch of my tools to modify the brace... and made it work. If Westinghouse makes a different version of this brace that is shorter, I couldn't find it.

Just a fair warning about my particular installation problem with this brace. It does come with all you need to provide a solid electrical box for a ceiling fan.

This is a great well designed and well made product. Once the old box was out (which was not so easy), the support bar and box were easily installed from inside the room and my formerly wobbly, noisy, and in-danger-of-falling fan was secure and quiet.

I have installed several ceiling fans in the last few years and this Westinghouse brace is FAR superior to the cheaper models you might find at places like Lowes. The Westinghouse has a solid, metal screw inside (as opposed to the L-Cheapo mechanisms inside other brands). It is very possible to strip the cheap brands by accidentally overtightening them BY HAND. Not so with the Westinghouse. It would take a hurculean effort to break the Westinghouse model by hand. That means you can get the brace really tight and dig its sharp tips deep into your wood studs. In addition, the Westinghouse has taller plastic feet on each end that support a much deeper electrical box. This is a big pluse for those of us who appreciate extra room to bend and tuck our wires. It is safer as well. The more breathing room your electrical box has, the less potential for heat buildup and the further you can move your neutral and ground wires away from your hot wire so the chance of contact and spark is reduced. But that's not all. The Westinghouse also comes with a black, plastic connector to grip your Romex cable so you don't need to remember to buy a connector. All in all a SUPER product.

Tips: Avoid using the knock-outs located directly below the two bolts that secure the electrical box to the brace. If you already popped the connector into the knock-out hole and pushed your Romex through it, you might have trouble getting a nut on the bolt above and tightening the nut. Fortunately, there are plenty of other knock-outs to choose from, even on the top of the electrical box. Also, when using the long screws (bolts) that mount your fan to the electrical box, you might want to throw a washer on each screw. The screw heads are a bit on the small side. If the plate your fan came with (that is used to mount your fan to the electrical box) has large holes, you might have an issue. Washers will solve that problem.

This Saf-T-Brace for Ceiling Fans, is one of the great ideas that I have seen in a long time, as long as you know there is not more then 24" stud to stud, this works great! Works great in Trailer Homes. Westinghouse 0110000 Saf-T-Brace for Ceiling Fans

These are easy and great. You do not have to climb in the attic to use these. They adjust between your ceiling joists right from the existing fixture hole in your ceiling.

The bracket fit and worked exactly as stated and is a very high quality bracket. I had it installed and the fan running in less than an hour. I have a total of 5 ceiling fans in my home and they were all added after the house was built. They were all hanging from electrical boxes with no additional support and have a small amount of shake. The one hanging on this bracket is totally without shake, even on high speed. I am buying 4 more brackets today and changing out each of my fan's hangers. I highly recommend this product to anyone needing to add after construction brackets or even with new construction. For only $18.00 they are an exceptional buy.

Was easy to use and worked great. I used it to hang a heavy pool table light and it held it easily. I took away one star because the description led me to believe that the brace did not include the support box and I had to buy that seperate. It turns out that it does include the support box and now I have an extra box since I purchased an extra one seperatly.

I had the same problem as another reviewer with the length of the bar being to long. My width was 13 inches and the minimum for the Sf-T-Brace is 14 inches. I'm installing a pot rack with light fixture and needed the extra support. I used a putty knife and hammer to pop the threaded end cap off then took two inches off with a hack saw. Also cut the threaded rod to match the length. Hammered the end back on and reassembled the brace. Works like a charm. Great product but just to long.

I'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF ADDING A SECOND LIGHT BECAUSE I HATED THE IDEA OF SAWING MEASURING AND HAMMERING UP A TRADITIONAL WOODEN BRACE IN A SPIDER INFESTED ATTIC. THIS TOOK ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO PLACE. ITS NOT QUITE AS EASY AS THE DIAGRAM, BUT IT BEATS THE HELL OUT OF THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. HINT:IF YOU KNOW HOW FAR THE ATTIC BEAMS ARE APART, "PRE-SCREW" IT OUT TO ABOUT 3/4 INCH SHORTER THAN THAT DISTANCE AND IT WILL SHORTEN THE INSTALLATION TIME. THE NEW LIGHT LOOKS GREAT!