Fan lights just started blinking, we changed bulbs which were bad but still blinking with new bulbs

This problem was posted on several sites, but this was the only one where I found both the cause of the problem and the solution. Mine is a Hunter 5 Minute Fan which came with no remote. And after about a month the two lights would blink together whenever I'd turn them on at the wall. So in case it helps for that type of fan or the same type of wiring arrangment here is what I did: POSITIVE SIDE: P1) Remove the light shade. P2) Remove the 3 screws that hold the cowel and lower the cowel. P3) Disconnect (pull apart) the black and red wire coupling. P4) Cut the coupling off of the black wire that comes up from the lights. P5) Strip off a quarter inch of jacket from that black wire. P6) Remove the wire nut that connects the black wire coming from the governor with the other black wire. P7) Re-use the wire nut to connect the black wire from step P5 with the other black wire from step P6. NEGATIVE SIDE: N1) Disconnect (pull apart) the white to white wire coupling. N2) Cut the coupling off of the white wire that comes up from the lights. N3) Strip off a quarter inch of jacket from that white wire. N4) Remove the wire nut that connects the white wire coming from the governor with three other white wires. N5) Set the governor aside (or just throw it away). N6) Re-use the wire nut to connect the white wire from step N3 with the other white wires from step N4. That's all, you're pretty much done! Turn on the power and test the light. If all is good, re-install the cowel and the light shade.

Looks like this "black box" watt governor (98480) is causing other problems too. I was replacing an older fan which had the lights connected to a fancy electronic dimmer. However, because of this watt-regulator the lights would not turn on at all!
Disconnecting it fixed that problem too!

Here is the UGLY TRUTH! Part No: 98480-02 a.k.a. "The Black Box", Is a watt governor. I talk to a fan rep. he said that our beloved national government put this into effect in 2008. Bush and Obama did this. Now we are forced to place candelabra lights in our new fans. Fan Co. are now forced to put governors on them too! How ever, Fan Co. can get around this by supplying CFL lights in the box with the new fan. But to keep the cost down they place governors on the fans, YIPPY! I had the same problem flicker lights on my fan, Iopen up the light housing ripped out the black box, holy smokes, it work great.

I had the same problem...I took the little black box out, attached the wires back up and it worked. The black box is under the the switch/socket panel. It's the one with the label on the side with the part number and has slots all over it so you can see the circuits inside. I cut off the plug with the black and white wires coming out and attached those to the same places where the black and red wires were attached (bundles of black wires and white wires which come up from the light sockets). Works like a charm now!

Good Luck

My husband just solved this problem by removing the black circuit box, part# 98480-02, he had to reattach the wires, but now, the light works and actually lights up the room. OUr feeling is that this fan was originally built to use a remote, but due to the hundreds of complaints about faulty remotes, they just sold the fans without the remotes. We think ur fan has been stuck in a "dim" position for 6 months!

Where is the black circut box?

The irony of it is that the government's busy-body attempt to limit wattage backfires: the black box apparently acts like some kind of dimmer, which means even low-wattage compact fluorescent lamps don't work. My fan lights would work fine with four 40W (total 160W) incandescents, but flickered unbearably with four 13W (total 52W power consumption, but equivalent light output of 4x60=240W). The black box on my fan says it limits consumption to 190W, but CFLs draw oddball current waveforms with lots of harmonics, which apparently fools the black box, even with just 52W CFL (actually, a single 13W CFL flickered, with the other four bulbs unscrewed). To avoid flicker, many people likely will use the four 40W instead of four 13W CFL - great energy efficiency! I jumpered around the box and the four 13W CFL (with candelabra base) work fine now.

I fixed my flashing light like others. Wired around the government solution to wattage control. Then I threw the government control just as far as I could. I wish I could do that with other government fixes. bowag

15 mins and I'm done. My Hunter fan had male and female connectors as if they expected you to remove the limiter and just plug the wires male to female. Lights are bright and no more lag in light coming on from time I flip the switch.

Thank you !!!!!! removed the "black box" and the lights are working now!!! This is awesone. We were without the lights for 2 months and I was almost ready to call an electrician.

My hunter had a black in and red out, tied those together and two whites tied those together. Blinking problem solved. like the others also a lot more light.

Thanks

The issue may be the watt governor. It is a little black box that limits/controls the wattage available to your bulbs. You can try different bulbs or attempt to rewire around the governor. I would ask a fan/lighting store if they have any suggestions on lights to use before trying to do the rewire, because if you don't know what you are doing you may damage fan or yourself. Good luck and be safe! http://fancfans.com/Lighting-Fixtures

I follow your instruction from you and eliminated the black box, governor electric part, and connect the black wire to the 4 black wire from the light and the 4 white wire from the light to the neural white wire and fix my light problem of my Hunter Fan. Thank you for your instruction that help me with my problems.

I would suggest buying a new fan at the price of the replacement part for your existing Hunter Fan. Ceiling Fan Direction have fans at lesser price compare to other online retailers.

http://www.ceilingfandirection.com/ CeilingFanDirection

On the latest model Hunter ceiling fan light kits the wattage limiter is a flat white rectangle (1/8" X 3/16" X 5/8") with two white wire leads.
It is wired between the fan light and the fan socket. It is connected by two wire nuts. After removing the limiter the remaining two wires in the light kit can then be connected together with one of the wire nuts. This part (wattage limiter) is not available from the fan manufacturer.

My lights flickered and then died.
Removing the black box part# 98480-02 totally worked!
just reattached all the white wires together and the one back one and you're good to go.

I replaced the receiver on my fan and started having problems with flickering lights. First with low energy CFL bulbs which constantly flickered, I switched to fluorescent bulbs these flickered after about 30 mins of use. I just by chance tried a different brand of CFL bulbs (Longstar instead of the GE ones I started with - both 13W) and the no flickering!

Great post! Pulled out the 3 screws holding the fixture assembly up to the fan, the whole thing fell out and there was the odd looking black box in the middle of it all, 2 wires coming in, 2 going out to the lights. Cut the 4 wires, stripped off some jacket, used 2 wire nuts to put together the 2 whites and 2 blacks, screwed it back together, works perfectly now. Thanks!

This blog is right on......my hunter fan started blinking. i cut out the regulator box & connected black to the black wires & then tied all white wires together (seven wires) all working fine now & no more 2 second delay. thanks everyone!

Thanks to everyone and their posts! This worked wonderful for us as well. Only difference with our hunter fan is there were two bundles of white wires - one set from the lights, one set from the pull switch and power in coupling. The black wire explanations were spot on, but it seemed like there was only 1 white wire to contend with from the limiter, I had two and two bundles - so I had 7 individual white wires to wire nut with a larger nut. Works wonderful, no flicker!!!

My lights started blinking too. I cut the black box out, and tied the wires back together and it worked like new. Thanks for everyone's help!

Thanks guys. Found the "Black Box" as shown. And followed Rappaho's instructions. Worked like a charm.

Great Work Gents.

Thanks for the work around. I have two switches on the wall, one for the fan and another for the light. Now the light switch only works if the fan switch is on. Does anyone know the solution?