Unknown cabling again, for ceiling fan this time

Drewex

Hi all. I got this switch which controls the cealing fan which must have been added later on. I am planning to change the switch with an insteon control. There is 2 black combining and going to the switch and back to the wall; there is 2 whites connecting and going back to the wall. And which i cant tell but a lot more in the back jumbled in. The fan doesnt look like switch controllable since it has the cords. How should i approch this project to figure out even its possible to get a switch control installed for this fan.


I should have rotated the pics sorry.

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joed

You have a fan on the wall. That just wierd.

You only have one power wire going to the fan. If you switch it then you switch both the fan and the light. I don't know how an Insteon control works.

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Drewex

I guess there is no good controller from insteon but i would still like to control it with a different brand controller. I just need to understand the cabling. But how do i know what these cables do.

joed

Sounds like a straight forward switch situation to me. The neutrals go through to the fan and the hot pass through the switch being switched on and off.

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frenchelectrican

MDR !!! that is funny one .,,

Anyway to OP I don't know if you did see a single red conductor in the switch box if so that is the extra conductor that will go to the ceiling fan I have see that and I done that few time more than once.

Let make a quick break down I will go reverse of my normal pratice so you can able understand this very clear as long you have a single red conductor in the box that is your fan or light feed that will go up the ceiling fan you should able match this with black and white conductors aka 12 or 14-3 NM and that is the only one that go to the ceiling fan the other two { 12-2 or 14-2 } that leave that alone keep that exsting pigtail that you will need for the new combo switch and I know you have other black that go to the ceiling fan but pull the red one out hook that up then go up to the ceiling fan box you will see red conductor there and typically most fan useally have a solid black that useally used for fan motour while bleu wire typically used with light kit however some case you will see black with white stripe that used for light as well.

you should able see it pretty clear on that one once you get it done it will work very well.

Merci,Marc

richgriffith

does the switch in the pic control the fan/light now? does it turn it on & off the way it is now? you confused me at first you said it controls the fan. and at the end there you said The fan doesn't look like its switch controllable since it has the cords.

oberkc

I assume that the whites are both neutral and there is a black (line) for the light and a black for the fan. That is consistent with fan/light combinations I have installed. The fact that the fan has chains is irrelevent. They are there to allow contol in the event you don't have things switched. All fans I have seen have such controls.

I believe the best way to control this fan is with two switches, one for the light, and one for the fan. Insteon will work for the light, including dimmer switches with proper bulbs. An insteon relay will work for the fan, but you will have no speed control at the switch. Good thing there are pull chains to control the fan speed. There is no insteon-based switch able to control fan speeds. Insteon dimmers probably won't work for fans, although I think I once saw claims of successful application of a dimmer switch. I would not try.

Drewex

Great response. Yes there is one simple switch which controls both the fan and light as on off no control. I have seen switches with remote controls that allows u have speed and light control at home depot. I havent found one like it at home depot. On this case i want to try this un plug one of the double blacks and see if that controls only one of the fan or light. If thats the case i can seperate both. But i do not know how those remote controls work giving speed control on the wall outlet. I need to do some research on those.

oberkc

Most of the remote controls available at places like Home Depot have a reciever module that you install at the fan box. Some have a switch that is installed in the wall box. Some have a loose remote. Some have all three. Communication between these various devices is wireless.

Since you have the wires in place, you can get a hard-wired device that controls both light and fan. They are less expensive. Unfortunately, this option excludes the possibility of remote control or insteon control.

Drewex

Ok the fan box idea is good. But i havent seen insteon version of this. Am i correct? I would love to control the fan speed one way or another at bed. And if i can connect it to insteon that would be awsome.

oberkc

I have seen insteon versions of the box-mounted control (in-line link) but they appear to be dimmers. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't believe these work with fans (but they would work with your light).

I have several fans in my house that I would like to control (including speed) with insteon, but have yet to see a solution. I once read that this is the most requested new device, but nothing yet is available that I have seen.