Need Help Wiring a Ceiling Fan

[MDSPHOTO]

Hey Guys need some wiring help with a new ceiling fan.

The old fan had some processor in that would not allow for using one light switch for the ceiling fan and one for the light kit on the fan. So on our switch plate the switch on the right had to be on for both the light and the fan to work and we would use the fan remote to turn of the light at night to run the fan. The light switch on the left did nothing if you turned it on or off.


When I pulled the old fan down I had your basic wiring pattern:

Green-Ground
White-White
Red-Black
There was another black wire in the ceiling just capped by itself, which I assumed was from the other light switch.

When I installed the new fan I wired it this way:

Green-Ground
White-White
Black from fan-Red
Blue from fan-to the other previously capped black wire.

So now I have the same problem both the fan and the light are still working off only one light switch, but now its the left switch on the wall plate instead of the right one.

My long winded question is what do I need to do to have the right wall switch turn on the light and the left wall switch turn on the fan??

 

[purplezr2]

I would look to see how the switches are wired. Both switches should be feed from a black. Then one should have a black on the load side. The other should have a red. Sounds like something is mixed up.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

I would look to see how the switches are wired. Both switches should be feed from a black. Then one should have a black on the load side. The other should have a red. Sounds like something is mixed up.

Get a meter and see what actually has power coming from the switches.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

It appears to be the switch configuration. I opened up a switch plate in another room that has a switch for a light and a separate one for the fan(Shown in the first image) and then what it looks like in the box I'm working on (shown in second image). There are no other single capped wires as there was in the ceiling so I am assuming I need to reconfigure one or more of these black wires to get it to work.

Suggestions??

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

It looks like they're jumping through one switch to feed the other switch in your picture.

 

[Bert_]

One of the switches in the first picture is a 3 way so don't pay attention to it.

It looks like they're jumping through one switch to feed the other switch in your picture.

I'd say the black wire with the wire nut is hot and feeds both switches. The red and black coming back out of the switches is a 14/3 and it goes to the light. It looks like everything is hooked up.

I am wondering if there is a jumper in the fan that needs to be moved or removed.

Use a meter on the wires coming out of the fan box and see it each wire turns on and off only with the corresponding switch.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

It looks like they're jumping through one switch to feed the other switch in your picture.

When we originally built the house we told the electrician we wanted all the ceiling fans set-up where one switch controlled the light and one controlled the fan. They told us during the walk through that this fan could not be set-up that way and that the fan & light would have to work off the switch on the right, and the switch on the left would not control anything.

As its set up now the fan & the light are both working of the left switch, which is crazy because the previous fan/light worked of the switch on the right??

I'm sure it has to do with the bundle of black wires here and how they are routed, but I'm not an electrician.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

One of the switches in the first picture is a 3 way so don't pay attention to it.



I'd say the black wire with the wire nut is hot and feeds both switches. The red and black coming back out of the switches is a 14/3 and it goes to the light. It looks like everything is hooked up.

I am wondering if there is a jumper in the fan that needs to be moved or removed.

Use a meter on the wires coming out of the fan box and see it each wire turns on and off only with the corresponding switch.

Don't own a meter. Have you read my signature?

 

[MDSPHOTO]

Unless there is something hidden in the ceiling all of the wires from the fan box are accounted for and tied off.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

One of the switches in the first picture is a 3 way so don't pay attention to it.



I'd say the black wire with the wire nut is hot and feeds both switches. The red and black coming back out of the switches is a 14/3 and it goes to the light. It looks like everything is hooked up.

I am wondering if there is a jumper in the fan that needs to be moved or removed.

Use a meter on the wires coming out of the fan box and see it each wire turns on and off only with the corresponding switch.

I'm looking at the single poles in 2nd picture.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Oops,trying to look at pictures on this phone is a little tough some times.
When I made the picture bigger it blurred it too much where I couldn't tell it was going back into the wire nut.
I need to break down and buy a lap top.

 

[Bert_]

I'm looking at the single poles in 2nd picture.

I know you were, I mean the OP should not necessarily use the first picture for reference.

 

[Bert_]

Don't own a meter. Have you read my signature?

Well either buy a meter or hire an electrician...


In all seriousness, a simple volt meter is an essential troubleshooting tool and even a $20 special will do 90% of what most people need.


Pull down the light kit and check the wires there. Did the fan come with any instructions?

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Well either buy a meter or hire an electrician...


In all seriousness, a simple volt meter is an essential troubleshooting tool and even a $20 special will do 90% of what most people need.


Pull down the light kit and check the wires there. Did the fan come with any instructions?

 

[mrpizza]

That looks like a 14-3 wire, so you would have 4 conductors. The first switch with the black could be your fan power, the second one with the red could be the light, or however you want them to work. The two black wires running from the wire nut are the pigtails for power to the switches.

On your fan wiring, white is neutral, green ground, and then black is probably the motor and blue is the lights.


zmaxmotorsports is on the right track, if its doing something funky, you need a meter or this is strictly guesswork at this point.