Adding a ceiling fan single switch in box with 3-Way Switch in older house
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Adding a ceiling fan single switch in box with 3-Way Switch in older house
Sometimes I love our house and sometimes I don't..and many times I don't when I am trying to do some electrical because it is not at all straight-forward.
House was built in 1943, has older silver colored braided insulated wire with 2 wires in it, 1 black and 1 white.
I have done a bunch of work on electrical, replacing when I am able and it is needed, and running new circuits. A couple of summers ago I installed a new 40 panel box. Everything is working well.
So I am trying to add a ceiling fan to our living room. I ran a new 12/2 wire from fan to a newly converted (single to double) box on the wall. The other switch in the box is a 3 way switch that actually switches an outlet on and off and has 1 partner switch on opposite wall.
First issue: For whatever reason, some of the old wire is reversed and some is not. What I mean is, where normally black is hot and white is neutral this particular 3 way switch is indicating white as the hot and black being neutral. Well, let me take a step back. The switch I am referring to has 3 wires connected, a white to the top brass screw, and black to the bottom dark screw, and then a red on the other brass screw. When using a non-contact, I am getting white reading as hot and nothing on the black unless the switch is in the opposite position (in which case both white and black are reading as hot). When I disconnect completely from switch, only the white hits as hot.
So, the fan that I am adding is going to go on a single pole switch so how exactly should I approach connecting this? I know there are a couple of ways. I was thinking of just connecting the black coming from the fan (which is hot for the fan) to the switch and then connecting a single length of wire as a jumper between the hot on this switch and the 3-way switch. Is this proper?
Finally, I have no idea what to do with the neutral coming from the fan in this situation. Which wire do I need to connect this to? I know it is the neutral and am unsure how to handle this situation when connecting to 3 way switch.
Thanks!
Mike
Edit: Here is a diagram:
Attachment 31559
House was built in 1943, has older silver colored braided insulated wire with 2 wires in it, 1 black and 1 white.
I have done a bunch of work on electrical, replacing when I am able and it is needed, and running new circuits. A couple of summers ago I installed a new 40 panel box. Everything is working well.
So I am trying to add a ceiling fan to our living room. I ran a new 12/2 wire from fan to a newly converted (single to double) box on the wall. The other switch in the box is a 3 way switch that actually switches an outlet on and off and has 1 partner switch on opposite wall.
First issue: For whatever reason, some of the old wire is reversed and some is not. What I mean is, where normally black is hot and white is neutral this particular 3 way switch is indicating white as the hot and black being neutral. Well, let me take a step back. The switch I am referring to has 3 wires connected, a white to the top brass screw, and black to the bottom dark screw, and then a red on the other brass screw. When using a non-contact, I am getting white reading as hot and nothing on the black unless the switch is in the opposite position (in which case both white and black are reading as hot). When I disconnect completely from switch, only the white hits as hot.
So, the fan that I am adding is going to go on a single pole switch so how exactly should I approach connecting this? I know there are a couple of ways. I was thinking of just connecting the black coming from the fan (which is hot for the fan) to the switch and then connecting a single length of wire as a jumper between the hot on this switch and the 3-way switch. Is this proper?
Finally, I have no idea what to do with the neutral coming from the fan in this situation. Which wire do I need to connect this to? I know it is the neutral and am unsure how to handle this situation when connecting to 3 way switch.
Thanks!
Mike
Edit: Here is a diagram:
Attachment 31559
Last edited by shelzmike; 05-12-14 at 09:17 AM.
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has older silver colored braided insulated wire with 2 wires in it
I have no idea what to do with the neutral coming from the fan in this situation.
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Thanks Ray! I think I had already been figuring this out As it so happens, I actually have an outlet in the same wall (facing the other way) that is a brand new circuit that I ran a couple years ago. The outlet is running directly to its own breaker with new line...can I just extend this circuit to the fan switch?
Thanks again for the help!
Mike
Thanks again for the help!
Mike
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Just as a final update to this topic - I did end up running this fan into another circuit and at the end of the day, it was the best solution. Thanks again for the help!
Mike
Mike