To UK colleagues, and apologies to all who know this. I was intrigued, as I thought this must be a motor capacitor (why would you remove that), but I found much on the web about 'wattage limiters' in ceiling fans in the US. They seem to be fitted with capacitors in series with the lamps hanging below the fans, the reason being regulatory, to quote a US source:
"Ceiling fan light kits with any other socket type including but not limited to candelabra screw base sockets, intermediate screw-base sockets, 2-pin halogen sockets, and bayonet sockets manufactured on or after January 1, 2009, shall not be capable of operating with lamps that total more than 190 watts and must be packaged with lamps that together total 190 watts or less. DOE indicated in a January 11, 2007, final rule that it recognizes that manufacturers may choose to follow one of several possible design pathways to ensure that the light kit is not capable of operating with lamps that total more than 190 watts".
I still don't know if the capacitor module the OP wants to remove is just connected to the bulbs, or how to bypass it, but there seem to be lots of people who have posted youtube videos explaining how to defeat the US's intent to be more environmentally friendly.
Presumably the usual reason the lamps flash is either because the wattage limiter is faulty, or the bulbs are the wrong type.
Sorry I can't answer your question mspart, but I learn something every day!
