Install Ceiling Fan from Switched Outlet


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Old 01-21-13, 08:57 AM
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Install Ceiling Fan from Switched Outlet

Hi, I am trying to wire a ceiling fan to a switch that controls an outlet. At the outlet is a set of 4 wires - black, white, red, and green. There are then a set of 3 wires going from the outlet to the switch - black, white, and green.

I have set up the wiring to the fan at the switch (it has an attached light). So at the switch I have the fan wires - black, green, blue, and red. There are also the wires from the outlet at the switch, of course - black, white, and green.

I have tried many combinations and most have the outlet working but not the fan. A few times I can only get the outlet and fan to work from the switch at the same time. It appears they are getting wired in series. How can I get the outlet rewired to always be hot and have the switch control the fan?

Thanks for any help, this has been driving me nuts.
 
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Old 01-21-13, 09:24 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

First, to get the receptacle hot all the time you simply need to nut together the wires which were running through the switch for it - would be two black wires in most cases.

Second, so you do have a cable running from the switch box to the box to which the fan is going to be mounted? I'm having a hard time understanding what wires you have where from your post.
 
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Old 01-21-13, 09:31 AM
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There are then a set of 3 wires going from the outlet to the switch - black, white, and green.
Grounds aren't relevant to this discussion so basically you have a black and white at the switch. That is a switch loop which means power is at the receptacle not the switch. You have no neutral at the switch so you can not connect the fan there as wired. Do you want the receptacle to continue to be switched? If so you will need to run new wire. If you don't you can change the connections at the receptacle.

Just to verify since you said green wire is this conduit?
 
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Old 01-21-13, 09:41 AM
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Thanks for the welcome mitch17.

Sorry about not being clear. Yes, I have a cable running from the switch box to the fan.

ray2047, you are correct in that the power is at the receptacle. I do not wish for the receptacle to continue to be switched. I would prefer it to be always hot. How would I change the connections at the receptacle to enable power to get to the switch, and thus the fan, while having the receptacle not be switched any longer?
 
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Old 01-21-13, 09:46 AM
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I answered the receptacle question for you already. Where I'm falling down is figuring out what wiring you have between the switch and the fan.
 
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Old 01-21-13, 09:57 AM
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I am not sure I completely understand. I have a white and black running from the receptacle to the switch. If I nut those together, how would the switch be getting any power? And how would the fan be getting power?

The wiring I have going from the switch to the fan is a cable with four wires - red(light), blue(fan), black(hot), and green(ground). Or, as ray2047 said grounds are not relevent, so just red, blue, and black. Three wires going from the switch to the fan.

At the switch there are 2 wires coming in from the receptacle - white and black. Those are the two that I should nut together though right? If I do that, how will the fan be getting power? I must not be understanding something in your explanantion.
 
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Old 01-21-13, 10:59 AM
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If those two wires were on the switch for the receptacle, then yes, nut them together and your switch will be hot all the time - you had two wires on the switch and all the switch does is allow or disallow the current to flow through so when you eliminate the switch and nut the wires together, the current flows all the time as if the switch was on.

That said, if that's a black and a white wire then, as Ray said, you have a switch loop and do not have power in the switch box and therefore cannot switch the fan from that box.
 
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Old 01-21-13, 11:22 AM
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If the receptacle has the tab removed on the brass side replace the receptacle.

At the receptacle connect all black wires to a pigtail and connect the pigtail the receptacle.
At the receptacle connect all white wires to a pigtail and connect the pigtail the receptacle.

At the switch you have a black and white from the fan and black and white from the receptacle.
Connect a black to each side of the switch.
Wire nut the whites to each other.

At the fan:
White to white.
House black to fan black and blue.

All grounds connected together and pigtailed to the box if metal.

If you want fan and light on separate switches you will need to use 3-conductor cable.
 
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Old 01-22-13, 05:04 PM
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If the switch only controlled half of the receptacle, you will need to replace that receptacle with one that doesn't have the tab on the hot side broken off, or make two hot pigtails - one to each half of the receptacle. If the switch controlled the whole receptacle, just feed it with one pigtail on each side as already explained.

To control more than one function from the switch location, you will need more than one switch. You could connect the black wire straight through to the fan for the motor and connect the red wire to the switch to control the light. The blue wire shouldn't be needed.
 
 

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