help with bathroom fan and light on separate switches, pics attached

detyianni

I have searched and read many posts on the same thing but I could not find anything that sounds like my current setup so I took some photos. I am assuming all the wires are here and I dont need to pull any new ones. Right now the fan and light are on the same switch and I want to put them on a double switch so I can turn them on/off independently.

I did try to hook it up and just succeeded in having one switch work and still turn on both at the same time so I dont know what im missing here. thanks!

1. here is what I have, simple fan and light




2. Here is how the switch is currently wired



3. here is the double switch

jbfan

Unless you have another wire going to the fan, you are stuck with one switch turning on both.

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Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"

Jim Port

That looks like #12 wire which should not be used in the backstab holes. It can be used under the back wired clamps.

The ground wire is going around the ground screw the wrong way. The loop should be clockwise.

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Answers based on the National Electrical Code. Local amendments may apply. Check with your local building officials.

sirsparksalot

Pic of the Fan/Light assembly?

detyianni

there is not a fan / light assembly the first pic is what i have.. lights on the wall and fan on the ceiling

the second pic is how it is currently wired (i did not wire this this is how it looked when i pulled it out of the wall.

the third pic is the switch i want to use. it is a double switch.

so i have a pair of hot wires, then two more pairs which i am assuming are for the light on the wall and for the fan

thanks for your replies so far...

McSteve

Are you sure about which wires are hot with the switch off? If this was wired sensibly, those black wires near each other on the original switch would be the power to the fan and light, and the other black wire at the bottom would be the incoming power. If that were the case:

The incoming hot goes to one of the black LINE screw on the new switch. There's probably a tab connecting the two LINE screws, don't break it off.

The other two black wires go to the brass LOAD screws on the other side of the new switch.

sirsparksalot

You'll have to run a 2-wire cable from the new switch you want to install (Sw2) to either the fan box or the light box. Problem is, I don't know if the cable runs from the switch > fan > the light, or from the switch > the light > the fan.

Can you take pics of wires coming from the fan box, and from the light? Or at least, describe what you see from these locations.

jbfan

Mcsteve, i think that is the hot wire feeding in and out of the switch, and the switch leg is on the bottom.

The op never staes where he is located, but here, the energy codes require the fan to come on with the light.

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Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"

detyianni

yes, I disconnected the wires, flipped the power back on and tested them, that is the hot wire. ( i put them back exactly how they were (sounds like its not right to begin with...

so here is what I tried, I attached the incomming hot to one of the black screws on the new switch, and the other two black wires on the brass screws, and the ground where it is supposed to go...anddd

still only one switch on the two switch assembly works and both fan on the celing and light on the wall turn on at the same time..


but then i broke the tab (stupid mistake to see if that made a diff...so now i need another switch) (well at least im learning..

It will be a few days before i can get up and see whats behind the fan if that is the next step.

I am in michigan i dont think it is code to have them on the same switch here...

thanks!

jbfan

Read my other post.
If that is the hot wire connected to the back stab, with another wire connected to the same screw, you feed in and out the hot.
The wire on the bottom is the feed to the light, and you only have one wire feeding the lights, so the switch will turn on both.

You need another wire to seperate the fan and light.

__________________
Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"

psuryan

From what I see, you will need a piece of 12-3 wire going from your switch to your fan. You will have a black, red, and white wire, plus the ground.

The black wire should feed your light, and be wired to one swtich. The red wire should run to your fan, which will be on the second switch. I would assume there will be a tab between the hot coming in and out, but there should not be one between the wires that run to your fan/light.

What we need to see to help you out is a picture of the wiring behind the fan/light assembly, and the front of the switch would be helpfull as well. It could be that second black wire that you said does nto do anything does not go to your fan, but to something else, like an outlet or another light, or to nothing at all.

Hope that helps you, and if I am wrong, someone please correct me