VZM35-SN: Fan Humming

I just had a few ceiling fans installed in a new build and I had ordered a handful of VZM35-SNs for the fans. The fans are Hunter, which I have 3 of in another are of the house of Red On/Off switches. On the reds, the fans are dead silent, but on the Blues, the fan is humming, quite a bit. I read online that this is often caused by using a dimmer switch. I have these hooked up to Home Assistant and they are on “Load Only”, Smart fan mode: off, Output Mode: OnOff.

Is there a different setting that I’m missing?

I have yet to take a standard on/ off switch and swap it out to verify that the fan is silent, but I’ll have to do that later because the humming is just loud enough to drive you crazy.

Thanks!

What model Hunters are humming?

Newsome 52" (non-smart, pull chain, no lights):

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hunter-Newsome-52-in-Indoor-Fresh-White-Ceiling-Fan-For-Bedrooms-53319/206941804

Confirmed that that is an AC fan so The motor should not be an issue in that regard.

I have a bunch of Hunter fans in a new build. When I get a chance, I will throw a blue on one of them and see what happens.

I have 3 hunter fans myself (pull chain, no lights, AC fans). 1 has the VZM35-SN and 2 have the VZM36. One of the ones with the VZM36 hums (but it’s not terrible). Neither of the other two hum. @EricM_Inovelli and I believe it may have been a bad VZM36 in my case (it was a beta unit) since the same fan was fine with an Enbrighten fan controller. I haven’t had a chance to completely dismantle the fan to swap out the module.

If you’re seeing it with multiple fans and multiple VZM35’s though, it’s unlikely that you have a bad VZM35.

Thanks - I have an extra dumb switch laying around that I’ll try to hook up this afternoon to verify that part at least. I ordered 5 of the VZM35s, the other 3 are designated to go into bathrooms to operate the exhaust fans. I have to leave the humidity sensing switch in until inspection though, so they’re just sitting in the boxes still. If a dumb switch solves the humming, I might try the other blues I have.

Just make sure the exhaust fans are not the WhisperGreen version.

Well I put in my dumb switch and the fan still hummed. Having had Hunter fans all my life, I’m really surprised.

I think they are. What’s the issue with those?

They seem to work once then when you power off, it won’t turn back on until you air gap the switch. I use the Whisper Choice and have zero problems. Just seems to be the Green versions. Multiple threads to search: one below to as an example.

Blue Fan w/ Panasonic Whisper Bathroom Fan

Hunter customer service is really great. I bought all my fans directly from them and they were able to help with a couple of issues. I would give them a call even though you purchased the fan from Home Depot.

Thank you for this suggestion!

I just messaged them online, sent two videos (one of each fan), a PDF of my receipt from Home Depot and answered a few questions about the switches I tried. They have now dispatched replacements with pre-paid return shipping for the existing fans. The Newsome fan is actually out of stock in the color I had, so they offered that I select any other fan within $250.

Sweet! You can’t beat that!