4 Sets of wires in ceiling box...new fan...help!


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Old 04-23-13, 12:25 PM
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4 Sets of wires in ceiling box...new fan...help!

I tried to replace a ceiling fan (with light) (one switch to control both light and fan) in the master bedroom, which is adjacent to the bathroom. After removing the old ceiling fan, I observed a ceiling box with 4 different sets of wires coming into it. I'm going to describe them the best I can.

Set # 1 - black and white wire that come from the breaker box

Set # 2 - 3 wires covered in sheathing coming from the wall switch. 2 wires are spliced together and the 3rd wire stands alone. No color difference in all three wires.

Set # 3 - Black wire and white wire which lead?

Set # 4 - New Romex wiring that leads to the bathroom area (white, black, bare).

I tried to hook up the new ceiling fan's wiring in the same way the old wiring was, but it was unsuccessful and now none of the bedroom lights/outlets work, and none of the bathroom outlets/lights work. The bathroom does have a GFCI receptacle.

For the life of me, I can't get the wiring back together in a sequence that will allow everything to work again. Help!

Also, I tried to reconnect the wires given advice from some other forums, but it didn't help. The receptacle tester said "open neutral" or "hot/ground reversed" (which I know is synonymous with "open neutral").

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Old 04-23-13, 02:03 PM
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First that box is not rated for a fan and needs to be changed out to a fan rated box. Now on to the wiring in the new box you are need to install.

The receptacle tester said "open neutral" or "hot/ground reversed" (which I know is synonymous with "open neutral").
Wrong type of tester, wrong tests. For this you need a cheap analog multimeter.

First to confirm you have a switch loop open the switch box. If there are only two wires, a black and white, and they are connected to the switch you have a switch loop. One of the black and white pairs of wires in the ceiling is your switch loop. To find it turn the breaker off, set your multimeter to ohms, have a helper flip the switch off and on while you check each cable pair (black and white). The one where the needle swings back and forth as the helper flips the switch is your switch loop, mark it.

Turn the breaker back on, set the meter to AC volts (closest range to 250 volts) and check each of the remaining cable pairs at the ceiling for 120 volts. That cable pair is the power in hot cable, mark it. The last cable will be your load cable, power out to other circuits.

Note mark current connections then disconnect all wires before making tests except for testing for switch circuit. That is done with the switch end of the cable connected to the switch and the other end disconnected. There seems to be at least one too many black wires. When you disconnect one may be a pigtail which will leave you with three whites and three blacks. If not post back. Otherwise do the tests and let us know the results.
 
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Old 04-23-13, 02:52 PM
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Wire Set # 2 (in my original post) is the wiring for the switch. There are multiple wires in the switch box which are interconnected and run to the 2-prong switch.
 
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Old 04-23-13, 03:18 PM
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There are multiple wires in the switch box which are interconnected and run to the 2-prong switch.
If you have a bundle of whites coming into the switch box connected only to each other then power may come in at the switch. Could you please post a picture of the wiring in the switch box with the switch pulled out but still connected so we can see the switch wiring.
 
 

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