Ceiling Fan Lights Blew Out

Hello-

I have a hunter ceiling fan we bought about two years ago. I use the single switch on the wall to control the light (the switch is always turned on on the fan) and use the pull cord to adjust the fan blades when needed.


The other morning I turned the light switch on the wall "on" and all three bulbs blew out on the fan. I immediately took it apart thinking there might be a short in the wires etc and there are no loose wires I can see. The fan motor still works so to me that eliminates the wall switch being bad.

I replaced the pull cord light switch (on the fan) today and tried again and the lights are still not turning on. I've tried two different packs of new bulbs just to make sure as well.

What's my next course of action? I am out of ideas.


Thanks,


Brantly04

 

Odd problem. There is not really anything that can short in the ceiling fan that would cause the bulbs to blow out, since they run on full line voltage and there's nothing that can happen in the fan to generate a higher voltage. Did they get real bright before going out, or did they just all go dark?

If the latter, you may have blown an inline fuse that some ceiling fans have for the lights. If you turn off the power and remove the small canopy that the lights fasten to, you may see a cylindrical plastic fuse holder with a wire going in each end. It opens up so you can access the fuse. You can try replacing that.

Beyond that, do you have a multi-meter or voltage tester to do more checking?

 

It did the usual light blowout (see blue for a split second, pop, and then nothing) as soon I turned the switch on.


I will check the fuse right now. I do have a voltage meter...what should I test?

 

Here's what she looks like.

 

Are these halogen bulbs? I almost see a transformer.

 

OK, pretty standard. Most of the stuff in there is for the fan. The fuse is either inside the holder with the two white wires or the two black wires. You may have to twist to open, or there may be tabs to depress to open.

Since you know you have power to the fan, about all that can prevent the lights from going on is the pull chain switch or the fuse (or a broken or disconnected wire). If you measure resistance across the two switch leads you should measure near zero when the switch is on, and infinite or open when the switch is off.

The fuse will measure a few ohms resistance to several tens of ohms if it's good, or infinite or near infinite when bad.

The fuse they use is an odd duck. It's designed to limit the wattage of lamps that can be used. You probably have to get it from hunter if it's bad.

 

Ray, that box that looks like a transformer is a multi-section capacitor used for the fan speed and direction control.

 

Thanks for the correction.

 

I popped both of them open. One side had a brass looking female end while the other side had a silver looking male end. Is this a fancy butt connector or some time of weird fuse?

If it's a fuse it didn't have any signs of being blown (burnt marks, things disconnected, etc).

 

If there was a fuse it would be a separate little cylinder. If all you have is contacts then it's just a quick disconnect.

Were you able to test the pull chain switch?

 

I sent you a pm on the voltage meter settings

 

What is the voltage across the two terminals (or between shell and bottom contact) inside the bulb socket?

Did you make any wiring changes anywhere in the house before the lights blew out?

Are you using the correct kind of bulbs?