ANOTHER ceiling fan light fixture doesn't work

bandguy

Hi -

I made my own thread so as not to disturb the other thread.

I am replacing an older, noisy fan/light (which both worked) with a new, quieter one. Both the old and the new are/were set to run the light off the wall switch and the fan off the pull chain.

The problem is the wiring diagram shows only one white (neutral) wire coming from the ceiling, but I have two -- one supposedly from the ceiling wiring and one from the wall switch. I have no idea how to connect the white wires. The fan works no matter how I connect them, but the light does not. I returned one fan to the store thinking the light must be faulty, and the next one is doing the same thing. Fan great, no light.

I have tried each white wire from the ceiling connected to the fan by itself, and then all three of them (two from ceiling and fan/light connected) and still no light.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks all
Andrew

hbsparky

have you put a bulb in the fixture??? is it a good bulb? try a new one.

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bandguy

I have two bulbs in the fixture -- both brand new.

johnny331

so the two are wired together internally (if the fan is on a pull string)?

Or are there two sets of wiring on the unit for a double switch (light/fan)?

bandguy

Wired internally.

The question I have is why do I have two white wires from the ceiling, and what to do with them.

jbfan

How was it wired when yoou took the other fan down.
Their could be several reasons why you have 2 white wires. How many black wires do you have?

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rjniles

It sounds like you are saying there are two cables (2 white , 2 black wires) in the ceiling box. If so, one cable is the hot and neutral, the other cable is a switch leg. Verify by opening the switch box and having only one cable with the white and black wires connected to the switch. If this is so: at the ceiling box use a tester to identify the "hot" cable; the other cable should not be hot and is the switch leg to the wall switch. TURN OF POWER AT THE BREAKER BOX. (1)Connect the white of the fan to the white of the hot cable (2) connect the 2 blacks together with the black of the fan (3) Connect the white (you should put black tape on this white to identify it as being hot) to the blue of the fan.

If you do not have the equipment to test the wiring as I have suggested you should get an electrician.

J187

I'm not really sure what you mean by "ceiling wiring". Have you tested the wires at the ceiling to see which, if any, bring power?



I wouldn't focus too much on that question in particular. The question you really have is "why isn't my light working" which may have something, everything or nothing to do w/ why there are two white wires at the ceiling.

I think some more info would be helpful - how many black wires are there at the ceiling? What does the wiring inside the switch box look like? Was your last fan/light setup the same way - what did the wires on the fan/light itself look like?


Also - aren't there some fans that require you to connect the light internally before using? Even ones that come w/ the light already? I'm not sure, but that may be your issue. Could be wrong there though.

HouseHelper

As RJNILES said, you probably have an incoming hot and neutral and a switch leg. Check the switch as suggested, but the wiring at the ceiling would be:

Incoming white (neutral) is connected to the fan white.
Incoming black (hot) is connected to the fan black AND to the switch leg white (it must be remarked as hot with tape or marker)
Switch leg black is connected to the fan blue.