Ceiling fan short?
#1
03-23-10, 01:27 PM
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Ceiling fan short?
Well recently my ceiling fan stopped working. The lights work but whenever I flip the switch for the fan, it just makes a buzzing noise. I installed the fan a year or two ago but it's worked fine up until now. I think it may be a short because the lights seem alot brighter. I took down the fan and looked at all the connections and they all seemed fine. Although I'm not an electrician. Here's how it looks: The room this is in has two light switches. Out of the ceiling there is a black wire, a white wire, a red wire, an exposed copper wire, and another black wire. I think the last two are some kind of ground wires? Out of the fan, there is a black wire, a white wire, and a blue wire. Attached to the ceiling fan mount is a green wire which I suppose is some kind of ground wire as well. The way I wired it was black to black, white to white, and blue to red. I left the ground wires as-is. The only thing I could think of was that maybe I should do something with the grounds?
#2
03-23-10, 02:05 PM
I think it may be a short because the lights seem alot brighter
The lights work but whenever I flip the switch for the fan, it just makes a buzzing noise.
The only thing I could think of was that maybe I should do something with the grounds?
exposed copper wire, and another black wire. I think the last two are some kind of ground wires?
I think it may be a short because the lights seem alot brighter.
Switch (round) and capacitor (square).
<img src="https://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk116/ray2047/IMG_1570.jpg" width="480" height="640"/>
#3
03-23-10, 03:34 PM
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Thanks for your reply. I re-did all of the wiring and when I flipped the switch to the fan it made the buzzing noise and started to turn slightly but looked like it didn't have enough juice. The lights also still seemed incredibly bright and painful to look at. When all three wires are hooked up, there is the green wire from the fan mount, the completely exposed copper wire from the ceiling, and the other black wire that is exposed on the end. The main three wires from the ceiling are coming from one bunch and those other two from the ceiling are in a smaller bunch.
#4
03-23-10, 03:52 PM
When all three wires are hooked up, there is the green wire from the fan mount, the completely exposed copper wire from the ceiling, and the other black wire that is exposed on the end.
Tell us how many 2-conductor cables and how many 3-conductor cables come into the fan box. All cables even if you think they are unrelated. A 2-conductor cable is two insulated wires and a bare ground wire. A 3-conductor cable is 3 insulated wires and one bare ground wire.
#5
03-23-10, 05:12 PM
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Out of the ceiling there are two sets of wires coming through. One set has a red, white, and black wire coming from it and they are heavier wires. The other set of wires coming from the ceiling is a bare copper wire and a black wire with just the end exposed. I tried to get a picture but it wasn't coming out very clearly.
#6
03-23-10, 06:02 PM
is a bare copper wire and a black wire with just the end exposed.
#7
03-23-10, 06:33 PM
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Well this is a relatively inexpensive fan and wouldn't be too bad just to replace. The last thing I will try though is just to hook up the fan and the lights to the black wire so they both operate on the same switch just to be sure. If it is the capacitor though, why would the lights still be working? Also if I just wanted to replace the capacitor, how much is it, and what's stopping it from breaking again?
#9
03-23-10, 09:23 PM
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Originally Posted by ray2047
Capacitor has nothing to do with the lights.
