Hello all, I am installing a ceiling fan in master bedroom and my junction box has 4 wires going into it. That is a lot of wires for one fixture. I currently have a light fixture in master bedroom. Just trying to figure out why I have 4 wires going into the junction box. I have a switch for the light obviously, so that might be one wire. Also, I have 3 plug outlets in master bedroom. But, how would I know where those 4 wires go to?? My fuse box says I have master bedroom light, bathroom light, kitchen light, dining room light, 3 master plugs, and 2 other plugs in basement. No major appliances on this circuit. Just lights and plugs on this circuit. 15 Amp breaker for this circuit on fuse box. Just wanted to know how to know where these 4 wires go to. Thanks for the help!!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Very important to understand some electrical terms.
A wire is a single conductor.
A cable contains several wires.

Are you removing an existing ceiling fixture and installing the fan in its place ?
You need to make sure it is a proper fan rated ceiling box. If you don't know you can post a picture of it.
If it has four cables and many wires..... you'll want a picture of the wiring so that it can be reconnected as it was. You don't need to know where all the wires go but you do need to re-connect them correctly.
How-to-insert-pictures.

 

Thanks for reply, I have 4 cables with 3 wires each going to that octagonal junction box. White, black and ground on each of the 4 cables. I plan on adding a square junction box, 4"x4"x2.5" right near the octagonal junction box. I will run those 4 cables into square junction box and then a cable from square junction box to octagonal junction box to power my ceiling fan with lights. Sound like a good idea??

 

Ok.... you have two wire cables with ground. The ground isn't included in the count.
You are going to see white and black wires connected as you have a switch loop from that box to the wall switch.

You're going to install the junction box..... in the attic ?
That would be ok but you still need to use a fan rated electrical box.

 

How do I know if I have a fan rated electrical box for my ceiling fan? All I know about the electrical box is that is octagonal and little more than 2 inches deep, and is 4 inches wide. I planned on adding a 2x6 stud across the top of the octagonal electric box and securing it to the 2x6 with screws and securing the 2x6 to the attic rafters, so that it will support the weight of the ceiling fan. Then, mount the square junction box on top of that 2x6 stud to run my cables into it.

 

The box is usually stamped fan rated somewhere.
If the only place to attach the fan is small ears created by bending over the side of the box, is not fan rated.
If you post a picture we can tell if it is fan rated.

 

Hello all, update!! I got 4 cables rewired to square junction box and added one cable to go to octagonal junction box for ceiling fan. When I took the cables out of octagonal junction box I noticed I have 4 black wires, 4 white wires, and 4 ground wires. But, one white wire was connected to 4 black wires, 3 white wires connected together, and obviously all ground wires connected together. Now, why is just one white wire tied in with the black wires?? That's the original wiring in ceiling. Would it be okay to do the standard blacks together, whites together and grounds together?? Or should I wire it up the same way it was originally?? Thanks!!

 

That is a switch loop. No. That white is a hot wire to a switch not a neutral.

 

So, I should wire it up like it was originally, correct??

 

Yes, wire as originally wired.

 

Why can't I wire it up to standard code?? Is this possible?? If not, is this the correct way to wire it back up to original switch loop.....Hot feed cable's black wire goes to switch white wire. Then, black switch wire, which is hot wire goes to my other black wires in my junction box. Basically, in my junction box i will have one black feed wire spliced together with a white switch wire, all my black wires spliced together, the rest of my white wires spliced together and of course all my grounds spliced together.

 

Yes.... that is correct. A switch loop is where a two wire cable is used for a switch. The "hot" is sent down to the switch on white and the black is the "switched hot" up to the light. With this type of setup.... it is advisable to tape the white wire a different color like black,red or blue at both ends so that is not considered a neutral.

 

Like this....pictures of wiring....

 

Yes...... that appears to be correct. When we draw diagrams....... we don't show the ground wiring because it clutters up the diagram. It is understood and needs to be done.

 

Okay, Will be working on splicing all the wiring in square junction in about an hour, then turn on fuse box breaker and see if all is good, back to fuse box and turn off, then install ceiling fan. Thanks for all the help!! Very happy you guys can help me with this!!

 

Fuse boxes don't have breakers. Good luck on your project.

 

All done, everything works great!! Very happy now!! Thanks again guys!!

 

Always a pleasure to help. You might want to give Pete a like if you haven't.

 

Thanks Pete!! Always nice to know someone can help me out.