Ceiling Fan Problem, please help

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 11:23 AM

i bought a new ceiling fan/light combo and had to wire everything new as there was no light or anything in the ceiling, i hooked it up to the switch and nothing happened. i know im getting power to the fan as i tested it, i even bipassed the switch. my connection are good as i double checked them as well. could my fan be faulty? it just seems weird that i ran everything correctly and nothing is happening at all, if you have any suggestions that would be great, thanks!

jlmran · 02-11-2012, 11:24 AM

Does the fan have a switch attached to it? Like a pull string?

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlmran

Does the fan have a switch attached to it? Like a pull string?

yes a pull string for the light and fan, i have had the swicth on and off while trying each string with every possibility. right now the switch controls the bottom half of a outlet. i even pigtailed it so it would be hott at all times but still nothing. i thought maybe by bybassing a switch all togther i would have gotten something.

Grampa Bud · 02-11-2012, 11:35 AM

jlmran is right. Check the fixture three speed switch AND the forward/reverse switch. You may have a disconnected lead in there to the switch or to the other switch or to the motor. The three speed switch on the fan does have an off position as well.

Stubbie · 02-11-2012, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhack836

i bought a new ceiling fan/light combo and had to wire everything new as there was no light or anything in the ceiling, i hooked it up to the switch and nothing happened. i know im getting power to the fan as i tested it, i even bipassed the switch. my connection are good as i double checked them as well. could my fan be faulty? it just seems weird that i ran everything correctly and nothing is happening at all, if you have any suggestions that would be great, thanks!

What is "I ran everthing correctly"? Please explain exactly how you connected the fan to incoming power. Describe where you connected to power for the switch, what color of wires you connected, then how you connected to the fan and what color of wires you connected.

We love pictures here .... hint ....

AandPDan · 02-11-2012, 12:37 PM

Post some pictures of the switch and the outlet box you tapped for power.

I'm thinking you hooked up to a switch loop.

Or, try a volt meter across the leads to the fan/light. It is unlikely that the entire unit, including the light, is dead.

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AandPDan

Post some pictures of the switch and the outlet box you tapped for power.

I'm thinking you hooked up to a switch loop.

Or, try a volt meter across the leads to the fan/light. It is unlikely that the entire unit, including the light, is dead.

ok i will get pics. i connected straight from the power feed to the fan and nothing happened though. thats why im wondering if its something to do with the switch in the fan like a previous poster said, what do you think?

AandPDan · 02-11-2012, 02:03 PM

It could be the fan. It's just that usually the light/fan are totally independent of each other except for sharing a neutral.

Pics will help.

hammerlane · 02-11-2012, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhack836

i bought a new ceiling fan/light combo and had to wire everything new as there was no light or anything in the ceiling, i hooked it up to the switch and nothing happened. i know im getting power to the fan as i tested it, i even bipassed the switch. my connection are good as i double checked them as well. could my fan be faulty? it just seems weird that i ran everything correctly and nothing is happening at all, if you have any suggestions that would be great, thanks!

So you had to install a new ceiling box and run new cable from a switch to the new box?

Is power coming into the ceiling box or into the switch box?

Do you have one switch controlling both the fan and light or a switch for each?

hammerlane · 02-11-2012, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhack836

right now the switch controls the bottom half of a outlet.

you used a switch that controlled an outlet to now control the fan/light combo?

As it has been said above some photos of the wiring to the switch, wires inside switch box, wires inside the ceiling box and any other junction points would probably be helpful

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammerlane

So you had to install a new ceiling box and run new cable from a switch to the new box?

Is power coming into the ceiling box or into the switch box?

Do you have one switch controlling both the fan and light or a switch for each?

i will get pics tonight to post, u ran a 14-3 new to the ceiling box. i wanted to use the existing switch on the wall to control the fan and light. i found the hot and neutral from the outlet and ran it directly to the fan so black to black/blue white to white and ground to ground and nothing happened, i did that just to see if myabe i connnected the switch wrong, shouldnt the fan have worked though if i bypasses the switch?

hammerlane · 02-11-2012, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhack836

i will get pics tonight to post, u ran a 14-3 new to the ceiling box. i wanted to use the existing switch on the wall to control the fan and light. i found the hot and neutral from the outlet and ran it directly to the fan so black to black/blue white to white and ground to ground and nothing happened, i did that just to see if myabe i connnected the switch wrong, shouldnt the fan have worked though if i bypasses the switch?

So you brought power into the ceiling box from the existing oulet. Yes the fan should of worked provided the wire/cable you ran from the outlet to the fan was connected properly at the outlet side.
Are you sure you're getting power at the ceiling box from the cable you ran from the existing outlet? When you grabbed power at the existing outlet, did you come off the terminals of the outlet or did you wire nut to verified hot/neutral wires in the outlet box?

You say:
u ran a 14/3 new to the ceiling box

You then say:
i found the hot and neutral from the outlet and ran it directly to the fan so black to black/blue white to white and ground to ground and nothing happened

If you ran 14/3 to the ceiling box, what did you do with the other conductor(probably a red wire) from the 14/3?

hammerlane · 02-11-2012, 03:56 PM

If your set up is like in the first photo, the fan/light should work.

To add your switch in follow the 2nd photo.

Sorry for the crude drawings.

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammerlane

So you brought power into the ceiling box from the existing oulet. Yes the fan should of worked provided the wire/cable you ran from the outlet to the fan was connected properly at the outlet side.
Are you sure you're getting power at the ceiling box from the cable you ran from the existing outlet? When you grabbed power at the existing outlet, did you come off the terminals of the outlet or did you wire nut to verified hot/neutral wires in the outlet box?

You say:
u ran a 14/3 new to the ceiling box

You then say:
i found the hot and neutral from the outlet and ran it directly to the fan so black to black/blue white to white and ground to ground and nothing happened

If you ran 14/3 to the ceiling box, what did you do with the other conductor(probably a red wire) from the 14/3?

i disconnected the outlet and wire nutted the black to black white to white and bare to green and ran that directly to the fan, i put the tested up there and it was showing power. there was no switch or outlet present at this time. i bypassed everything straight to the fan

jhack836 · 02-11-2012, 09:24 PM

i know i can pigtail the outlet so it is always hot, currently the switch has 1 black and 1 white that run to the outlet. is there a way that i can wire it so those will be hot/neutral to the switch so i can run the wiring straight from the fan to the switch so i can leave the outlet alone all togther. i just dont want to do any drywall work or anything like that is i have to connect to the fan, switch and outlet like a loop or something like that, i appreciate the feedback so far