Need help with wiring

Hi there,

In my son’s bedroom there was a light fixture and we wanted to replace it with the ceiling fan with light. So I removed the light fixture and took a few photos. Unfortunately I found that the box was only good for light fixtures so I replaced the box that will support the ceiling fan.

Originally 4 wires were in the box. Each one of those wires has – ground, white and black. I took photos but unfortunately they didn’t come out good. The holes through which the wires entered into the box changed when I replaced the box.

Originally 3 white wires were connected using a nut, 3 black wires were connected using another nut and one white and one black cable was used to connect the light fixture.

My ceiling fan has 4 cables – ground, white, black and blue (for light). I have only one switch for both fan and light so I’m connecting black from outlet box to black and blue from ceiling fan as per the ceiling fan manual.

When I connect all 4 black wires together and 4 white wires together, all the lights in other rooms work. First I thought if I connect 3 white together and 3 black together and use the remaining white and black for ceiling fan, everything will work. Well fan itself and lights in next room do not work.

Any suggestions from experts on which wires I should connect as I’m lost. I’ve a non-contact Klein no-contact voltage tester.

Thanks in advance,

Joe Green

 

You will need a continuity tester, one cable in that box is from the switch,you must determine which one,the white in that cable should be remarked to a color other than white.
Black from that cable to gets connected to all the other blacks
Remarked white gets connected to the fan black
All whites get connected together including the white from the fan.
By the way a cable contains conductors so you have 4 cables going into the box with 3 conductors each.
Geo

 

Actually no mention of red so 2-conductor +ground cables.

 

Ok I connected all 4 whites together including from fan. One of black cables for some strange has white paint. Do I connect that black marked with fan's black and blue?

How do I check for continuity? I have Klein's voltage tester.

 

Sloppy painter. Please stop calling wires cables. It is very confusing.That would be wrong if you have a switch loop. If the switch has a black and a white wire on it you have a switch loop.

 

You have 4 black wires at the ceiling. Separate them. Use your non contact tester to locate the ONE hot wire. Mark that hot wire so you don't lose it.

Separate the 4 white wires. Turn on the wall switch. Connect one of the other three black wires to the hot wire. Check for a hot white wire using your non contact tester. Eventually one of the three black wires when connected to hot, will cause a white wire to become hot.

That hot combo is the switch leg. Once you get to that point the rest is fairly easy.

 

Best to use a continuity tester ,switch the power off to the circuit ,go to each CABLE in the box 1 black conductor,1white conductor and connect the tester between them,turn the switch on if it tester alerts that is the switch leg,or continue until you find the switch leg,color the white from the switch and follow the other direction I posted earlier.
Geo

 

Thank you PJmax. I followed your instructions and now I have found a black and white wire that is a switch leg.

I haven't attached the fan yet. Can you tell me know how to proceed. I would like switch to turn on and off both the light and fan. Then I can use the strings attached to fan to turn on and off the fan and light. Is this too complicated to do?

 

Just substitute the fan for the light in this diagram. Both the fan black and blue would connect to the switch leg black.

 

Right now the switch leg wires are not connected to anything. I connected the remaining 3 black and 3 white wires together. Lights in the next 2 rooms came on but lights in 2 other rooms are not working. Is that normal? Is this because I still haven't connected my fan to the switch leg.

Thank you Ray2047. Both the fan black and blue would connect to the switch leg black. What about white from switch leg? Do I connect the white from switch leg to white of fan and 3 other whites?

I'll try it and let you know how it went.

 

The remarked white from the switch leg should connect to the blacks ,as for the 2 other rooms make sure all your connections are tight.
Geo

 

No. Please look at the diagram again. It is redesignated as an ungrounded conductor (not neutral not white) that caries power to the switch. Only the power in hot and other blacks of load cables to other rooms are connected to it, nothing else. Recheck you connections. Did you use a multimeter, not a non contact tester to determine which cable is hot. Please review the diagram Are you sure you have connected all blacks (LOAD in diagram) from other rooms to the black of the power in? Have you connected all whites from the other rooms to the white of power in?

 

I used non-contact tester. I have multimeter but I don't know well how to use it. It has red and black cables. It has lots of numbers which are hard to read.

I didn't connect the white from switch leg to other 3 blacks ; it this why other 2 rooms have no power?

I used wire nut so thought connection isn't an issue. I'll recheck connections.

 

Not useful for any of the tests you needed to make. Can not be used to determine which cable is the switch leg and little more then guessing at what cable is power in.

 

Using multimeter with AC can be dangerous if not used properly. Can someone tell me how to use multimeter to test continuity in my situation without killing myself. Will I feel the zap?

 

Set the multimeter to ohms and use it as I described I my earlier post.
Geo

 

Thank you Geochurchi, ray2047 and PJMax, with your help and some googling, I was able to install the ceiling fan and all lights in other rooms are working. Along the way I learnt little bit about multimeter and how to test continuity. My multimeter is not a fancy one; it doesn't make any sound only visual identification.

 

Your not alone. I never owned one that beeped either but never missed not having the audible.

Glad you got it. Glad we could help.