Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Ceiling fan installation -- too many wires

I just took down my kitchen light/ceiling fan. I took it down quickly because my wife was holding it -- I should have been more careful!

Anyway, in addition to a ground, I have 3 black and 3 white wires coming from the ceiling.

Two of the whites are connected with a wire nut. So basically I have 3 black and 1 white wire with which to wire my fan.

I've tried pigtailing combinations and seeing which black wire with the white closes the circuit (using my multi-meter). But none seems to.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Try using the single white as if it is a switched hot and the two whites as your neutral.

Let us know if that works or not.

Thank you! I'm still not sure what to do with all the blacks though since I have 3!

So I have 3 blacks, 1 single white, and the joint white.

So the fans white to go the two whites

The single white goes where?

And I can connect fan black to one of the three existing blacks, but what to do with the others?

Thanks again!

Look at the wires at the switch. I suspect you will only have two wires (not counting any ground wire) at the switch.

This will mean a switch loop. If this is the case, then try this:

Connect the black wire that comes from the same cable as the lone white wire to the black wire of the light. Connect the lone white wire to the two black wires. Connect the white light wire to the white wires that are connected together.

Understand that ideally you want to pay attention to how the previous item was connected when removing it. Further, you want to use an analog meter or a two wire tester to completely understand the wiring in the ceiling.

PERFECT! Thanks Bob!

connor35, does that mean it worked?

Yes. I didn't hook the fan up (waiting for another set of hands tonight) but I did what you said and I got 115V across where fan/light will be!

Hello,

It looks like you'll have to have an electrician re-wire your house so it'll support ceiling fans/lights. Once they do that, you'll be able to install your new ceiling fan. The correct wiring procedures are black to black, white to white, blue to blue, and Ground (green) to House (gold or green).

Hope this helps!