Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Ceiling fan replacement question -

Ok - here we go -

I have a ceiling fan / with a light fixture installed in my living room - The light works via a wall switch.....and the fan works via another wall switch....

My wife did not like that the light fixture hung to low off the fan ....so it needed to be replaced.....

So what I did originally was simply took the light fixture off....and just left the fan up there (we have plenty of other lighting in the room)...This worked fine......The fan worked great....and there simply was no light fixture any longer associated with the fan.

Well my wife finally finds a light fixture that she would like to go with the fan....(here is wear I screw everything up).....I unscrew the fan assembly and hook up the light fixture.......My light now works....but my fan doesn't.

I seem to have 3 wires coming out of my ceiling... A WHITE, A BLUE and a WHITE & BLACK (it is white on one side...black on the other??).

Ok....So my WHITE ceiling wire hooks into the WHITE fan/light fixture wire....and my BLUE ceiling wire hooks into the BLACK fan/light fixture wire (which is where I am now......which means my light works...but NO fan).

Ok, so where does this WHITE/BLACK wire from my ceiling go? ...Does it hook into one of the other two combo's (with the BLUE/BLACK...or WHITE/WHITE)????

Or does it hook into another wire? There is a small wire (WHITE) that runs from the fan swtich (the sliding fan switch.... which I think simply changes the direction the fan operates in)...

This little white wire is part of the fan swtich box inside....where several wires run out and into other preassembled wires...

If I have confused you........I'm not surprised. I am so F'ing confused myself!

Also...when shutting off breakers on the master breaker box....is there any damage possible from doing this too often? (as I've play tested with this fan...I've shut my master switch off like 6 times today).

Thanks

The wires that connect to the fan are the same wires that connected to the fan before you messed with it.

The wires that connect to the light are the same wires that connected to it before you messed with it.

You apparently violated one of the cardinal rules of changing out a fixture. You forgot to take detailed note or a digital picture of how things were hooked up first.

Stop guessing. That may eventually work, but it gets old very fast.

With the power OFF and without disconnecting any wires, examine the switches to see what wires are connected to the switches. It should be those same wires that connect to the fan and light.

If you are having trouble, tell us ALL the wires at the switches and at the fan. Identify by cable and by color and tell us how all the wires are connected- connected to anything, another wire, a switch, etc.

After doing some thinking .....(after closing everything back up.....and simply having the light work...with no fan).

I'm suspecting that the one WHITE/BLACK wire I have coming out of my ceiling.....should probably be connected to the WHITE wire coming out of the fan/sliding switch.....(as currently that wire is not attached to anything....it simply comes out of some type of control hub...but isn't attached to any other wires).

That hub likely needs power.....which is what my BLACK/WHITE wire is for?

I don't have the time at the moment to test this out......but hopefully someone on here will be able to give me some direction.

Thanks again.......(just thinking out loud here).

What!?! You mean actually do something the right way. Hell no! That would be way to easy for my stupid as$!!

I simply go from one project to another eventually doing everything the hardest way possible!!

Thanks for your advice.....I am going to go check my wall switches now....to see which wires they have running from them...(I should have thought of that myself).

Thanks again....

My one problem being though....I don't know where to connect the wires to on my fan/light fixture......

I seem to know my White ceiling wire connects with my White light fixture wire.....and my BLUE ceiling wire connects with my Black light fixture wire......I just can't seem to find out where my BLACK/WHITE ceiling wire connects to....

I just checked my wall switches (the two that turn on and off my light...and the other that should turn on and off my fan)....

But they simply both have only Black and White wires.....(neither has a blue wire.....and neither has the Black&white wire)....which are the one's running out of my ceiling.

I know these are the two correct wall switches....because the one currently turns on and off my light......and the other used to run my fan just fine??

I don't think we have any more information now than we did after your first post, so I'm not sure we can give you any better answer. We'll wait until you check the switches. Guessing can get you into big trouble.

I think I'm going to have to step aside now. I can't really understand what you're saying. I can't even quite figure out what wires come out of the top of your fan. Bob will probably figure it out when he comes back.

Mr. Nelson.....I must have replied a second before you did -

I've since gone and checked my wall switches (to see which wires are running from them). Thing is, they both seem to only show a thicker black wire and a thicker white wire.....(not a blue wire....or a the black& white wire I have coming from my ceiling.....with which to connect into my fan/light fixture).

I'm just confused here.......the old adage "nothing is more complex then avoiding the obvious"......probably comes into play here.

I know I have a WHITE wire, a BLUE wire and a Black&White wire coming down from my ceiling....

Here is what I know with 100% certainty.... I have two wall switches. One of them operates my light....the other operates turning on and off my fan (or should).

I know with regard to the light fixture portion...there is a BLACK wire and a WHITE wire....These are coming from this light fixture with a need to be connected to something from my ceiling)

As for my FAN....I don't know which wire from it I'm suppose to tie into?? (I suppose it could be the small white wire off of the sliding switch / hub box within the fan).

I also know as of right now....I have my WHITE ceiling wire hooked into the WHITE light fixture wire.....and my BLUE ceiling wire hooked into the BLACK light fixture wire....(and my light works....when I use the corresponding switch).

Which leaves me with my BLACK/WHITE ceiling wire....not attached to anything at the moment (simply electrical taped off)....and my Fan not working......(which leds me to beleive this Black/White wire is the one from my fan swtich on the wall).

You mention one black wire and one white wire coming out if the top of the fan. Are you absolutely sure that those are the only two wires coming out of the top of the fan?

Let me see If I can help clarify -

I have a ceiling fan with a light fixture attached underneath it - The light fixture section has both a WHITE wire and a BLACK wire coming from it (which need to be connected into other wires).

The fan itself has a bundle of preassembled wires which are tied into each other........(there is also one WHITE wire which isn't at the moment connected / tied into any other wire......I may have disconnected this wire when I was in the process of hooking in the new light fixture? I'm not sure. I know this WHITE wire runs to the sliding switch on the fan itself).

I know from my ceiling (my house wires) I have 3 wires which are not connected to anything. Those being ONE BLUE wire, ONE WHITE wire and ONE BLACK&WHITE wire.

I have since connected the BLUE wire (coming from my ceiling) to the BLACK wire from the light fixture...... I have also connected my WHITE wire (coming from my ceiling) to the WHITE wire from the light fixture.

And my light operates fine (turns on and off from the wall switch).

However, I have this one BLACK&WHITE wire (from my ceiling) not connected to anything......(and my fan does not work).

You have three wires from the ceiling.

One wire is provides the hot wire for the light. That is apparently the blue wire. It may not be blue, it may be faded black.

One wire is a neutral. It is apparently the white wire.

Those assumptions are based on the light behaving with the switches that you think should control the light, and with the connections made.

The last wire from the ceiling is a black and white wire. I suspect that this is the hot wire for the fan. You would use this wire in conjunction with the neutral wire to power the fan. You can test this. Use either a two wire tester and test these wires, or simply connect the black/white wire in place of the blue wire and see if the light works.


Then all you need to do is to make the right connections for the fan. The fan will have two connections. A neutral connection (should be a white wire) and a hot connection (which should be some solid color other than white or green). These two wires get connected to the white/black wire and the white wire in the ceiling.

Then all you need to do is to make the right connections for the fan. The fan will have two connections. A neutral connection (should be a white wire) and a hot connection (which should be some solid color other than white or green). These two wires get connected to the white/black wire and the white wire in the ceiling.


Thanks for your help - Regarding the above -

Do I have this correct - Or can you clarify for me - My White wire (coming out of my ceiling...neutral connection) - Does this wire need to hook into both my FANs (white wire) along with the LIGHT FIXTURE (white wire)?? So all 3 would be connected together?

Or should there only be ONE white (neutral wire) for BOTH the Fan and the Light fixture??

The odd situation I'm having is there only appears to be a WHITE wire (from my FAN itself) that isn't connected..... (Yet I have this BLACK/WHITE wire from my ceiling that is likely hot...but not connected to anything itself).

Your ceiling has three wires. A hot wire for the fan. A hot wire for the light. A neutral wire for both the fan and for the light..

Depending on the exact wiring of the fan and the light you will have three or four wires. A hot wire for the light. A hot wore for the fan. One or two neutral wires for the fan and for the light. There may be one for each, or a common one may supply them both.

I don't know how much simpler I can make it. This isn't rocket science. Don't you remember at all how this was connected BEFORE you messed with it? Don't you have directions for the fan and light. They all come with directions. Yiou should be saving those directions, not throwing them away.

Racraft - Your last post help clarify much for me - Thanks -

No, I don't have any of the directions - We bought this home last year - It is an older home.....which has gone through 2 updated electircal wirings over the past 10 years (prior to our purchase).

None of the directions for the fan are around - Agreed that would be very helpful for me - And as I mentioned above I completely F'ed up when we took it apart by not completely looking it over prior to doing such.

I'm at work currently - But your advice has helped - I think when I get home later today.....I'll be able to put it back right -

Thanks again - (and yeah, I'm a little light when it comes to electrical things).