Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Wiring Confusion for Ceiling Fan...

Hello,

I recently purchased a home and installed a ceiling fan in the bedroom. There was no previous overhead lighting.

A switch on the wall controls the top half of a receptacle. The wiring is exactly as the link below>
http://www.electrical-online.com/wiringaswitchedoutletpowertoreceptacle.htm.


I ran a 14/3 cable from the ceiling fan to the wall switch. I purchased a fancy new wall switch that controls the light and fan motor independantly. It has a Black, Red, Blue wires. Going from the wiring diagram provided with the switch the Black is the Hot, the Blue is for the Fan Motor, and the Red is for the Light on the fan.

I believe i would connect the white hot coming from the switched leg to the black on the switch. Use the Red on the switch to the black on the fan for the motor. Use the Blue on the switch to the Red from the Fan for the Light. So what about the Nuetral white from the Fan is what confuses me. Do i connect it to the Black going back to the receptacle for Nuetral. IM CONFUSED>>>>any help would be appreciated.

You must have an energized cable in order to do what you want to do. In the switch box, all you have is a switch leg, controlling the receptacle. Have you determined where the power comes into that receptacle? The neutral will be derived from that box, and not the switch box.

Your problem is that you don;t have a neutral at the switch. In order to wire as you wish (and have a neutral at the switch) you lose the ability to have the receptacle switched, and must change the wiring at the receptacle.

You connect the receptacle as any unswitched receptacle is connected, with both white wires as neutral wires connected to the silver screw terminals, and both black wires connected to the brass terminals.

This means that your white wires at the switch are the neutral (and get connected together with a wire nut). Your black wire at the switch (from the receptacle) is the input to the switch, and the red and black wires to the fan are used to carry power for the light and for the fan to the fan. You can use either wire (red or black) for the light and then use the other for the fan, just make the correct connections at the ceiling.

Excellant. Makes sense. Don't i need to replace the wall receptacle if the hot sided tab was broken off with the previous setup. If tab is broken i'm assuming that the black going to the switch won't get the hot feed. Or will a pigtail work without breaking NEC rules.

Previously the wall switch only controlled the top outlet and the bottom had a constant feed...

Other than that i think i'm on track and will give a shot. Thanks for the help.

You either need to pigtail to the hot side of the new receptacle (which is leagl) or you need a new receptacle.