We have one cable coming up from the switch in bathroom to ventilation fan. The ground and Neutral, as well as Red (Light) and Black (Fan). We know the light and fan wires because we just removed a Broan fan.

The ventilation fan has the following wires Neutral, ground, black (L), Fan, Light, common, Night Light (we don't want to hook up the night light).

Where do we go from here?

 

"Common" is not a term that would normally be applicable to this situation. Can you explain what you mean? What are the actual colors of the wires from the vent fan? Does it use a remote or special wall switch?

 

On your new fan there should one common neutral (white) and 3 hot wires for exhaust, main light and night light. The wires should be labeled or illustrated in the instructions. It will be white to white, the red wire in your box to the main light, black wire in your box to the fan and just cap off the extra night light wire. Does that help ?


And of course the ground wires need to be connected.

 

There is a wire on the fan labelled Common and also a white wire labelled N. I included 2 pictures. One of the 4 wires from the switch and another from the Hampton Bay fan.

The fan wires from left to right are labeled:
Gold - Common
Black - L
Red - Fan
Gren - Ground
Blue - Light
White - Neutral

The wire from the cable coming in is:
Ground
White - Neutral
Black - Fan
Red - Light

Hope that helps.

 

Added one more picture from inside the fan. Since we don't have a seperate power source. I'm thinking I can connect the wire labelled Common to my Neutral from the switch. Of course ground to ground and Red to Light and Black to fan. Thoughts?

 

I tried finding at Hampton Bay (home depot) but not much luck. I'm guessing it didn't come with an instruction sheet. It appears that the wiring diagram is on the cover as seen in your last pic.

Looks like black and white are for the fan.
Red, blue, yellow (gold) are for lighting.

Therefore you can combine the white and yellow as neutral.

 

By gold do you mean yellow? Yellow under NEC code is hot wire. I would not connect it to neutral. Does the instructions tell you the function of each of the fan wires?

I see plugs on the yellow and black where do those go? It appears only red blue and white (+ground) connect to the house wiring. Give us a picture of the wiring instructions.

 

I attached the wiring diagram. The white and black looks to be for the power source coming in. The Red wire from the fan is for the fan. A little confused.

 

DO NOT USE YELLOW ! I'll explain


On edit: Based on your last pic - you are supposed to power the fan combo at the unit and then run a dedicated switch line down.

That yellow wire is connected to the black inside the fan therefore it must be capped off. The red wire will also be capped off. (night light)

 

Very good. The diagram shows a un-switched 2-conductor cable providing power to the fan and a 3 conductor cable running to switch box for the switch. You only hsave a three conductor cable. To wire according to the diagram you woulf have to either run a new 2 conductor cable to the fan in addition to the three conductor cable there or replace the existing switch cable with a 4-conductor cable.

The yellow cable is not a common. It is an un-switched hot for the switch. The diagram has major mistakes but we can tell you how to wire it now.

The fan yellow is capped of. It is not used.
The fan red is capped off. It is not used.
House white>Fan white
House red>Fan blue
House black>Fan black

 

Great!!! Can't wait to hear back.

 

Based on your last pic - you are supposed to power the fan combo at the unit and then run a dedicated switch line down.

That yellow wire is connected to the black inside the fan therefore it must be capped off. The red wire will also be capped off. (night light)

 

Sorry about that I didn't read far enough. Will let you know what happens.

 

PJ and I are racing to answer you. PJ said what I said in my edit. I just used more words.

 

Using Ray's instructions when we turn on the fan switch the light comes on. Nothing happens when we turn on the light switch.

this is how I had it wired:

On the unit:
Night Light (capped off)
Red Wire - Fan - capped off
Yellow Wire - Common (capped off)

Then
Ground - Ground
White - White House
Blue - Red House
Black - Black House

Any thoughts?

 

In post #1, you saidIn post #4, you said
Based on these two pieces of information, splice the black switch wire to the red wire in the unit. Splice the red switch wire to the blue in the unit. Leave the white neutrals and the green or bare grounds connected the way they are. Cap the yellow and black wires from the unit.

The labels on the wires in the unit and the colors in the wiring diagram don't appear to agree. I suspect that Ray was basing his advice on the wiring diagram.

 

You missed the brown wire in your description

Yellow - Common hot - not used-cap off
Black - Line in - not used - cap off
Red - night light - not used - cap off
Green - Ground - ground - used
Blue - main light - red from wall switch
White - Neutral - white from wall switch
Brown - Fan hot - black from wall switch

 

You're looking at the diagram, aren't you? There is no brown wire. The actual wires are all shown in post #4.

 

As I said earlier the diagram has multiple errors. Just remember the yellow isn't used. One of the three remaining fan hot wire (red, black, blue) are the light, night light, and fan motor. Swap till you have identified which is main light and which is fan motor.

 

In pic 4 - inside the unit it sure looks like a brown wire.

 

Dang it is brown. Geeze that is a common color in the UK but being American I thought it was black. I wonder if the took as little care with the fan as they did the diagram?

 

I may have a defective fan. When I wire it this way:

Yellow - Common hot - not used-cap off
Black - Line in - not used - cap off
Red - night light - not used - cap off
Green - Ground - ground - used
Blue - main light - red from wall switch
White - Neutral - white from wall switch
Brown - Fan hot - black from wall switch

I get nothing.

When I connect it this way:

Yellow - Common hot - not used-cap off
Black - Line in - Black from wall switch and brown from unit (Fan)
Red - night light - not used - cap off
Green - Ground - ground - used
Blue - main light - red from wall switch
White - Neutral - white from wall switch

The Light worked but the fan did not.

I then connected it this way:

Yellow - Common hot - not used-cap off
Black - Line in - Black from wall switch and blue from unit (Main Light)
Red - night light - not used - cap off
Green - Ground - ground - used
Blue - main light - red from wall switch
White - Neutral - white from wall switch
Brown - Fan hot - red from wall switch

Light worked but the fan did not.

Unless there is anything else I'm going to return this fan tomorrow and get a new one.

I appreciate all of your help!!!

 

One more thing to the last post. For the middle configuration when we turned the light switch on the light would blink off and on every few seconds. However, the light would work with the fan switch.

 

But the fan has never worked. Is there a plug and socket inside the unit for the fan motor ?

 

I just took a peek inside of the unit and the plugs are attached.

 

I wouldn't mind taking a peek in there too. I may go to HD tomorrow just to open one of those units right in the stiore. (an advantage in knowing the gen. mgr.)

 

Trace the wires on the fan all the way out to be sure you have the right colors. Please give us some pictures with the switches pulled out so we can see the wires.

Did the box it came in look like it had been previously opened?

 

The box didn't look like it was opened. I've attached a picture of what it looks like inside the unit. No wire colors to trace, but they look to be conected.

 

I was expecting maybe to see relays or some kind of controller but nuthin.

 

It seems really odd how the main power is shown running from the box to the fan, then a separate cable for the fan/light/nightlight switching. With the need for 3 switches -- fan/main light/nightlight, did the unit come with a special switch? The illustration seems to indicate a single-gang switch with 3 switching capabilities, which is not a standard item. I'm wondering if there is a power transformer in the fan housing, and the switching is low voltage? Just asking.

 

Early on I asked something similar because some of the wires at the fan have plugs on the end not stripped wires.

The cable colors are not those found in standard cable and the fact that the switch is powered from the fan instead of the power cable in the fan box certainly seems to indicate some kind of low voltage control circuit.

I'd wouldn't be surprised if you aren't missing a bunch of parts. Well some parts. The label says switch panel sold separately. Curious it says "switch panel" not "switch".

 

Don't let the plugs fool you. It's their "quick connect" system, so you can slip in the bare wire from the house easily. There's nothing special about them, just a pain so I clipped them off. It says you can do that in the instructions. The instructions say nothing about low voltage switching. The only caveat it mentions is to not use a dimmer switch.

 

Are you talking about this wire in the OP's description:or some other wire not available for connection?

 

Hi Nashkat1,

The wire you see in the picture is labelled Fan and is brown. I didn't show the true red wire because it's labeled Night Light and we have no need for the night light. So I'll be capping that off.

I haven't made it back to HomeDepot yet. Is there a fan that's around 80cfm and <2.0 sones that anyone here would recommend? Thought I'd ask before I exchange the fan.

 

I'm partial to the Panasonic line of exhaust fans. A little pricier than Hampton Bay and not available at the Depot.

 

By now this issue should have been resolved.
Just in case someone else has questions regarding this unit, here is what I found out having two of these fans.

This fan must be wired direct to AC power using the fans BK WH & GRND wires.
There is a transformer in the fan that turns the AC to 24DC which the fan and light operate on. DC motors are quieter and why the sone level is so low.

The mfg has discontinued this model as the wiring diagram and box make no mention of low voltage run through the switch and additional wiring needed to control the light and fan.

The fan and light control wires are correctly labeled as pictured in this post.
The additional wires are for the fan, night light and light. These can be used or not used as needed. I was able to bench test the fan and light options, all performed as advertised. The light emits a slight hum when used as night light or regular light.
This unit will require a single pole switch that will have 1, 2 or 3 push switches. All depends on what you want switchable. The fan and light options can be wired independently or together. You will only need to run one additional 2, 3 or 4 conductor wire from the switch to the unit. A thermostat wire could probably be used as long as you document the colors. The yellow wire is the common to the light and fan that will be wired to the one side of the switch opposite light and fan wires that you decide to use.

This unit will not work as a direct fan replacement without running an additional wire from the switch to the unit. Any AC connected to the light and control wires will instantly fry the unit. No motion control or timer can be used unless it is low voltage based, most are not. A spring or dial timer might work, but I have not tested it.

Forget the quick connectors as they are pain to remove wires even with the unit on your bench let alone in a tight space or attic.

I am not a licensed electrician, just a jack of all trades. If you are unsure, bench test the unit or hire an electrician. With this knowledge this fan unit can be installed despite the additional steps required.

Any questions, send a reply.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for the additional information. I had gone to my local Depot but the fan wasn't stocked there so I was never able to confirm wiring "hands on."

This thread will forever remain in our searchable archives. If you have a question or problem with your fan..... please feel to start a new thread.