[Ocaelynth]

Hello all.
My AC is broke for a while so I'm attempting to take my living room ceiling fan/light fixture into my office.

The wiring from the ceiling in the office consists of 3 black wires and 3 white wires and a ground. The previous fixture was just a light bulb housing and was connected via 2 black wires twisted together and the leftover single black wire connected through the other side.

I have a standard ceiling fan with a black, white, green, and blue wire for the fan, neutral, ground, and light respectively. I'm having trouble figuring out the configuration for connecting it in place of the old fixture. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Joeywhat]

How exactly were the old wires all connected?

 

[Ocaelynth]

The white wires were all bundled together in a wire cap and weren't involved with the old fixture. Two of the black wires were twisted together and clamped to one end of the old fixture. The leftover black wire was clamped to the opposite side.

 

[jreagan]

Before you get too far, is the ceiling box in your office rated for a fan? They are heavy and fan rated boxes have different mounts to carry the weight.

 

[Ocaelynth]

It's actually just a converted bedroom that I made my office. I have gotten the fan up following some instructions so it's hanging now with no issues. However, the instructions weren't very clear regarding this specific situation and I'm trying to see if it's user error or the setup that's wrong. I attempted to just connect the neutral white into the bundle of three and connected the singled out black wire to the fan and light connections.

 

[joed]

Connect the fan black to the black bunch.
Connect the fan blue to the single black.
Connect the fan white to the white bunch.
The fan will function with the pull chains.
The light will function with the light switch if the pull chain is on.

 

[seharper]

And that's... how you get 31,000 rewards points. Yup, yup.

OP, take the "fan rated box" thing seriously. It's not enough to say "it is carrying the static weight of the fan just hanging there". Once that fan starts spinning, it'll start vibrating - and that'll walk the nails right out, or shake apart a non-fan box.

 

[Ocaelynth]

I've tested it and it did work perfectly. However, I'm going to hold off on keeping it connected per your advice. Is there any easy way to test whether it's properly rated? Would it be easy to see where it's rigged to from my attic or something along those lines?

 

[Jim Port]

The box should be labeled rated for fan support. Can you post a picture of the box?

 

[Ocaelynth]

I didn't see any such labels or maybe I missed it. I did a comparison check and the box is identical to the one I took the fan off of. After a bit of googling, I searched through the attic and found it attached at a pretty sturdy section, though I'm not sure how to describe it. It's like a beam connected to an X-ish support structure connected to the roof. This is the one I pulled from. The one in the other room is a touch taller, I think, and was more caked with wiring.

 

[Jim Port]

Your fan should have had at least one white wire connected to it. Something sounds like it was not wired correctly.

 

[wpollock]

If he followed joed's wiring instructions then the white leg from the fan is connected to the white legs coming from the house.

 

[chetwisner]

The wiring from the ceiling in the office consists of 3 black wires and 3 white wires and a ground. The previous fixture was just a light bulb housing and was connected via 2 black wires twisted together and the leftover single black wire connected through the other side.

Two blacks on the light? That ain't right.

 

[joed]

Two blacks on the light? That ain't right.

Sure it is. One from the light and one from the switch.

 

[chetwisner]

Sure it is. One from the light and one from the switch.

So we don't use a neutral on a light anymore?

 

[joed]

Sure the light uses a neutral.

 

[surferdude2]

So we don't use a neutral on a light anymore?

Sure you do... the neutral is connected to the white group, per directions. The black is connected to an always hot wire to supply the fan and the blue is connected to the wall switched power for the light.

The fan will be operated by its pull chain switch. The light will be operated by the wall switch and its pull chain will normally be left in the on mode unless the OP runs a string down to his desk for a red-neck remote control.

EDIT: @chetwisner I read back through his posts... I see what you are referring to... the way it was wired before he moved it. Yep, nope, that is not compliant.

 

[chetwisner]

Sure the light uses a neutral.

:hang:

 

[chetwisner]

Sure you do... the neutral is connected to the white group, per directions. The black is connected to an always hot wire to supply the fan and the blue is connected to the wall switched power for the light.

The fan will be operated by its pull chain switch. The light will be operated by the wall switch and its pull chain will normally be left in the on mode unless the OP runs a string down to his desk for a red-neck remote control.

EDIT: @chetwisner I read back through his posts... I see what you are referring to... the way it was wired before he moved it. Yep, nope, that is not compliant.

I was envisioning his initial light setup with two blacks on the light, as opposed to a black and a white. Yes, the whites are bundled, but there should be a white pigtail to one side of the light and/or fan neutral. But then, once again, I could be wrong. :vs_smirk: