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jeremymacsmith
Jun 9, 2006, 09:13 AM
I am trying to replace an existing celing fan. The outlet box has 3 wires, red black and white. It's not clear which is the ground wire. Also, the fan directions say that there is a ground wire coming from the motor, but there is not. There is, however, a grounding wire on the mounting plate. Can someone tell me which of the wires from the outlet box is the ground wire, and then, should I connect that ground to the ground on the mounting plate? Thanks.

Ok, so I now know that I have two hot wires and a neutral. If I cap the red one and connect the other two, then am I good to go. The other confusing thing is that the motor appears to have no ground wire coming from it. It has a remote, which connects to the motor with three wires, black, white and blue for the light. Out of the remote come two wires to connect to the outlet box. Is it possible that I'm missing the ground wire somewhere?

ceilingfanrepair
Jun 9, 2006, 10:00 AM
None of the wires you mention from the outlet box are ground. Is the outlet box metal?

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

jeremymacsmith
Jun 9, 2006, 11:36 AM
Yes, the box is metal.

ceilingfanrepair
Jun 9, 2006, 12:39 PM
Dumb question, God forbid you should be mounting a fan to a plastic box. The box is grounded, and so the metal mounting plate being attached to it, it is already grounded. The mounting plate has a ground wire to attach to the ground from the fan motor in the event the fan is used with rubber to isolate vibration. I am assuming you are mounting the fan close mount without a downrod?

In any case, you wire the remote to white and either red or black. Cap off the other.

jeremymacsmith
Jun 9, 2006, 01:02 PM
Thanks. Yes, I'm mounting it flush, not with a downrod. The only problem left is that I don't think there's a ground wire from the motor. There are the three wires I mentioned (black, white and blue) for the remote, and then a set of white and red and pink wires that connect to a small black box, but no copper or green wire for a ground. Is it possible that the motor has no ground wire, despite what the manual claims?

ceilingfanrepair
Jun 9, 2006, 02:03 PM
If you're mounting it flush the motor won't have a ground wire, the ground wire is on the downrod.