For reasons of convenience I swapped the wireless remotes between a Hampton Bay and a Harbour Breeze ceiling fan. The Hampton was an in-the-wall remote with a REV button, and the Harbour was a hand held remote w/o a REV button. Both control units, which get installed in the fan base, appear identical so I suspect they're made by the same Chinese supplier. Anyway everything works fine except the Hampton only runs in reverse (upward air movement) which I don't want. As an experiment, I tried swapping the supply hot and neutral wires at the fan base with no difference. I don't think I can swap the black and whie wires from the controller to the fan motor because I suspect the fan light won't work. It seems to me I might be able to open the fan up and swap the leads going to the motor but, before I try it, I was wondering if anyone's ever done that or if anyone has any other suggestions. Thanks

This is because your replacement receiver does not have a reverse feature. Does the original Hampton Bay receiver not work? It is possible you could use the Hampton Bay Receiver with the Harbor Breeze remote, you would have to first use the wall switch to ensure it is going in the direction you wanted, and make sure the frequency (dip switches) matches on on all three pieces. You could leave the wall switch installed AND use the remote.

If the Harbor Breeze Remote does not work with the Hampton Bay Receiver.. . The two wires you would need to switch would be the yellow in the pink, in most cases.. . But I wouldn't go that route. If the Hampton Bay Receiver works fine but you simply want a handheld remote, I would locate a handheld remote that works with it.

http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-remote-controls.php

This is because your replacement receiver does not have a reverse feature. Does the original Hampton Bay receiver not work? It is possible you could use the Hampton Bay Receiver with the Harbor Breeze remote, you would have to first use the wall switch to ensure it is going in the direction you wanted, and make sure the frequency (dip switches) matches on on all three pieces. You could leave the wall switch installed AND use the remote.

If the Harbor Breeze Remote does not work with the Hampton Bay Receiver . . . the two wires you would need to switch would be the yellow in the pink, in most cases . . . but I wouldnt go that route. If the Hampton Bay Receiver works fine but you simply want a handheld remote, I would locate a handheld remote that works with it.

http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-remote-controls.php
Boh remotes work as faf as on/ff, speed selections and lamp dimming, it's only the fan direction that's wrong.

All the DIP switches on both fans and remotes were set to '0000' so I tried the Harbour remote on the Hampton receiver but it didn't seem to work. If your really think they should be interchangeable (I did) I should open them up and double check that one of them wasn't really "1111".

I don't recall any yellow or pink wires, at least in the fan bases. They were only white, black blue and green. Were you referring to wire colors inside the motor??

Thanks for your help

Ok, you're saying both of your receivers only have 3 fan wires, 2 power wires, and ground, but one of them has a reverse feature and the other does not?

That is correct.

I don't see how a remote receiver can reverse a fan if it only has three wires-- hot, light, and neutral. There would have to be a second receiver/relay inside the fan motor to reverse the motor.

Regardless, when you hook up the Hampton Bay receiver and control, does everything work?

Sorry, that's the way it is, with the wires, that is. Black, white and green in and black, white, blue and green out for both receiver units. I figure it controls the motor with some sort of phase or pulse width modulation. I don't know. I'm just a dumb mechanical engineer.

To recap: The Hampton Bay remote and receiver work with the Harbour Breeze fan with the exception that the REV button doesn't work so I just don't use it.
The Harbour Breeze remote and receiver work with the Hampton Bay fan with the exception that the fan rotates the wrong way and that's the problem.

I'm trying to save the $40 for a new wireless controller by re-wiring it.

Did you ever try my first suggestion, reversing the fan with the one control and then installing the other? If it is a mechanical relay then that should work. Some remote receivers have mechanical relays for the reverse feature.

If the receiver has only 3 wires (+ ground) going to the fan, there has to be some sort of additional receiver inside the fan to switch the reverse feature. The other fan is not going to have this no matter how you wire it.. . Nor is the other control going to have the capacitity to interact with it.

This is because your replacement receiver does not have a reverse feature. Does the original Hampton Bay receiver not work? It is possible you could use the Hampton Bay Receiver with the Harbor Breeze remote, you would have to first use the wall switch to ensure it is going in the direction you wanted, and make sure the frequency (dip switches) matches on on all three pieces. You could leave the wall switch installed AND use the remote.

If the Harbor Breeze Remote does not work with the Hampton Bay Receiver . . . the two wires you would need to switch would be the yellow in the pink, in most cases . . . but I wouldnt go that route. If the Hampton Bay Receiver works fine but you simply want a handheld remote, I would locate a handheld remote that works with it.

Ceiling fan remote controls - help and FAQ- Ceiling Fans N More (http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-remote-controls.php)

Thanks for your answer it helped me! I was trying to figure out how to rewire my fan to run normal direction since my replacement remote did not have reverse and my original remote broke while fan was on reverse. {searched a while trying to find a place that sales original remote with no luck} I to tried reversing black and white wire which did not work. I figured it wouldn't but didn't know for sure. Reversing the pink and yellow wire worked great! Only took me half a day of googling to get the dang thing working in the right direction... ha ha.. I can't believe all the remote problems I encountered on numerous forums. That bites!!

I know. I would encourage everyone:

NEVER BUY A FAN WITH A REMOTE.

I got a new harbor breeze ceiling fan remote kit on ebay for $16 shipped.

We're all so very proud of you.

Thanks for your answer it helped me! I was trying to figure out how to rewire my fan to run normal direction since my replacement remote did not have reverse and my original remote broke while fan was on reverse. {searched a while trying to find a place that sales original remote with no luck} I to tried reversing black and white wire which did not work. I figured it wouldn't but didn't know for sure. Reversing the pink and yellow wire worked great! Only took me half a day of googling to get the dang thing working in the right direction....ha ha.. I can't believe all the remote problems I encountered on numerous forums. That bites!!!

So the wires are inside the unit not the ones coming out the top?