OT Hooking up a ceiling fan
- Thread starter All N
- Start date
I've hooked up a bunch of ceiling fans in my house, but I'll be damned if I can help you. I just start hooking crap up and eventually it works. I don't know how any of them are still up. Were probably lucky our house hasn't burned down.
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i tried all the blacks and blue together and the whites together. That makes the light go on but the switch don't work.
I have tried all different types.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
Are you replacing a fan or adding one where a light was? Can you post a picture of the box in the ceiling?
I assume there are two different locations to turn your light on and off?
Let YouTube and an amp meter be your friend.
Let YouTube and an amp meter be your friend.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
Chances are one of the whites is a switchleg and all the blacks are power. Should have 3 whites if there are 3 blacks though....
Blacks are hot...whites are nuteral. If replacing a fan the blacks may be for a light kit plus the actual fan....maybe from separate switches that operate both the fan and lights. The blue of the fan may be for a light kit. Tie all the whites together. The blacks can all be tied together and then pigtailed to the fan motor and lights. The switch may be needed to be looked at to see what coming out of there. But....the instructions should tell you all this.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
Usually you would be right, but not in household wiring. The power has 2 go into the switch, then back up to the light. Most house monkeys just pull a 14-2 romex to the switch. Black carries the power down, and white back up.
What year was your house built? Some old-timers thought switching neutrals was clever. I hate that. Good way to get shocked if you don't know they did that.
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Not yet. I hate it when I get the wires hooked up and turn it on to make sure it works ok and then stuff the wires up in the ceiling and finish putting it up only to turn it on and it doesn't work. So, I have to take it apart to find out my duct tape didn't hold and have to start all over again.
House was built in 1981.
Im pretty sure i have a bigger problem. Had sparks fly and now no lights or anything work on the circuit.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
Does the switch control more than that one box? You blew a breaker. Without seeing it or being there, I recommend you not just try random things. Your breaker is there to protect the electrical service. F with it too many times and that's when things get "unsafe"
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
I am betting you blew it because when you turn the switch on, the white wire that is a switchleg is tied into the neutral. Straight short.
How many switches control the ceiling fan? Is there one switch that's supposed to be for turning on the light and another switch to turn on the fan?
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
If that was the case he would likely have a red wire rinning from the switches (14-3)
Just how many Husker fans does it take to wire a ceiling fan anyway?
There is only one person who can help you now ---- Red Green.
Yeah this thread really needs some photos. If you don't have a voltage detector, get one. Without ripping out walls and ceilings you can't know how somebody wired it or what they were smoking, but the detector can at least tell you if the line is hot.
I've done a few light fixtures and a ceiling fan, but have not encountered the issues you're having. Do yourself a favor and put a piece of masking tape on each wire and number them. That way you can at least keep them straight and you don't get them mixed up.
Is it crucial to ground a ceiling fan?
I've done a few light fixtures and a ceiling fan, but have not encountered the issues you're having. Do yourself a favor and put a piece of masking tape on each wire and number them. That way you can at least keep them straight and you don't get them mixed up.
Is it crucial to ground a ceiling fan?
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
House grounds are kind of a "feel good" thing. They do orotect the circuit, but not the plastic boxes. If the fan is attached to a metal box, then yes it does technically help protect the fan. Fans have a seperate ground to protect the shell, and the wiring inside.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
House grounds fault at the breaker box. Commercial or industrial grounds can fault at the box/conduit body if everything is installed or grounded correctly. This insures a fault to trip the breaker (given the breaker is operating like it should)
Don't get me started on arc-fault breakers. I hate those stupid things.
NOOOO! Not arc-fault breakers. Talk about something a little less flammable, like politics or something.
black-c = black ceiling wire
black-f = black fan wire
blue-f = blue fan light wire
white = common in ceiling & fan wires
grounds = ground in ceiling & fan wires
Assuming there is a light switch controlling your ceiling light,
1 black-c needs to be hot, all the time.
1 black-c needs to be hot only when the light switch is on(leave this one by itself)
The 3rd black-c should connect to the always hot black. (It proly feeds wall outlets.)
Whites wire nutted together.
Grounds wire nutted together.
if housing is metal, ceiling & fan grounds connect together and to the can
if housing is plastic, connect grounds directly together.
The black-c that is always hot, connects to the 3rd black-c, that is not connected to the light switch. It's probably running to the wall outlets. Usually this is done using a pigtail(a short black wire) to connect to the black fan wire.
The switched black, should of had red tape around it(I've also seen white), indicating a switched hot, connects to the blue fan(light) wire.
All whites are connected via wire nuts.
If no switched hot, then simply wirenut all blacks together(along with blue wire), all whites together and use fan pull chains to operate.
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How is the switch wired? That's should give some direction
Any success? like others have said, you need a meter. With the meter you should be able to tell where your hot wire is. Is the feed(hot wire) coming into the switch? Into the Light? After you find that out, you can find wiring diagrams/ youtube videos that can help. The one graph in this thread looks like a great start.
If you don't have a meter, or it's not in the budget, you can get by with a voltage tester pen:
http://en-us.fluke.com/products/electrical-testers/fluke-1ac-ii-a2-electrical-tester.html
I posted the Fluke model, because you always know when it's on. When it senses current, it beeps and flashes. You don't actually have to touch the wires for it to sense a live circuit.
Another temporary option would be to get a fan with a remote. You might be able to by-pass the switch. The problem with that is you'll still have to fix it if you ever sell the house.
