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#684730 - 09/18/11 10:45 PM Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch
KingRay Offline
fanatic

Registered: 12/09/04
Posts: 517
Loc: Wichita, KS
I have a ceiling fan I think just one of htose harbor breeze models but worked fine until now.

I took the light down to put a trim ring on it due to a hole in the ceiling being too large.

Anyway hooked it back up and no lights. I tinkered with it using different bulbs,etc and then changed the pull switch. Still nothing.

I have power to the fan just fine, but nothing in the sockets.

Is one of those black boxes in the switch housing something to look at or are the fan capacitors. There are 2 of them.

Any help would be awesome on this.

by the way the fan is only about a year or so old.

Thanks
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KingRay

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#684737 - 09/19/11 05:45 AM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: KingRay]
Just_Bill Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/27/02
Posts: 19037
Loc: Wilmington, Delaware
Coming out of the fan are 4 wires, white, black, blue, green or bare. Bare goes to house bare ground wire, white to house neut(white), black to house black, blue to switched wire from the wall switch, it could be red, black or white, and that is where I suspect you miswired. Another way to get the light to work is connect the blue and black to gether and operate the light from its' own pull chaim switch.
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#684738 - 09/19/11 05:46 AM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: KingRay]
ront02769 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/03/04
Posts: 9737
Loc: New England
silly question I know, but have you checked to see that you have all your connections correct AND tight? could be that simple. ront

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#684790 - 09/19/11 11:07 AM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: KingRay]
MCA Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/09/06
Posts: 4532
Loc: Illinois
Quote:
I have power to the fan just fine, but nothing in the sockets.


Are these connected to the same hot wire from the ceiling box? If so I will guess that the wire for the lights slipped out from under the wire nut.

Quote:
I tinkered with it using different bulbs,etc

Are you sure the bulbs work...did you try them in a working fixture?

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#684857 - 09/19/11 05:41 PM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: KingRay]
Punky Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/01/05
Posts: 3145
Loc: Springville, NY
maybe it's that crappy wattage limiter...went bad like it so commonly does.
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#684873 - 09/19/11 06:37 PM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: Punky]
ront02769 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/03/04
Posts: 9737
Loc: New England
first choice, pull each connection apart and redo. ront

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#684892 - 09/19/11 09:18 PM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: Just_Bill]
KingRay Offline
fanatic

Registered: 12/09/04
Posts: 517
Loc: Wichita, KS
That might be my issue then. I just assumed the blue wire was ground and hooked it up to the bare wire. So the blue wire is only for the lights then?

I went white to white, black to black and blue to bare. I didnt have a bare wire coming from the fan/light so I assumed the blue was that wire.

So I hook the blue up to the black or white?.

I thought I knew a little about electricity but guess not. I usually just replace things and hook up exactly like it was. In this case I just assumed the blue was ground.

As for all the other replied, I did try bulbs and rewired it several times just to make sure.


Edited by KingRay (09/19/11 09:21 PM)
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#684893 - 09/19/11 09:20 PM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: Just_Bill]
KingRay Offline
fanatic

Registered: 12/09/04
Posts: 517
Loc: Wichita, KS
Originally Posted By: Just_Bill
Coming out of the fan are 4 wires, white, black, blue, green or bare. Bare goes to house bare ground wire, white to house neut(white), black to house black, blue to switched wire from the wall switch, it could be red, black or white, and that is where I suspect you miswired. Another way to get the light to work is connect the blue and black to gether and operate the light from its' own pull chaim switch.



That might be my issue then. I just assumed the blue wire was ground and hooked it up to the bare wire. So the blue wire is only for the lights then?

I went white to white, black to black and blue to bare. I didnt have a bare wire coming from the fan/light so I assumed the blue was that wire.

So I hook the blue up to the black or white?.

I thought I knew a little about electricity but guess not. I usually just replace things and hook up exactly like it was. In this case I just assumed the blue was ground.

As for all the other replied, I did try bulbs and rewired it several times just to make sure.

Not sure if I double posted or not. Didnt see the quote button till after.
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KingRay

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#684898 - 09/19/11 10:37 PM Re: Ceiling fan light not working..I did change switch [Re: KingRay]
MCA Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/09/06
Posts: 4532
Loc: Illinois
Quote:
So I hook the blue up to the black or white?


Blue is a hot, connect it to black (or whatever hot color is used at the ceiling box...if the fan and light are switched seperatly then there will be 2 hots at the ceiling box).
If just one hot in the box then connect the fan black and fan blue to the ceiling black. And connect the fan white to the ceiling white.

Quote:
In this case I just assumed the blue was ground


Never assume with electricity. If you assumed a blue from the building wiring was a ground and connected the fan ground to it then touching the fan will result in electrocution.
In your case the incorrect assumption of the blue from the fan resulted in a light that didn't work but it could have been worse. Also be careful with color blindness/faded colors, poor lighting, etc. Blue and green may look similar under certain conditions.
Even with colors always test/verify the building wiring... you never know what people used as far as colors.






Edited by MCA (09/19/11 10:38 PM)

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