JulieBob
May 26, 2015, 01:19 PM
I replaced my ZE268S6 ceiling fan speed switch with a Lowe's 33905 but now the fan only gives me High -Low-Low. Is there a different replacement part I should use? The original problem was the speed switch was doing Hi- OFF- Low.
cll987
Jun 21, 2015, 09:57 AM
Sounds like you have a Hunter fan (a ZE-268S6 switch and a 4-wire 5/6uf double capacitor). The ZE-268S6 "switching pattern" is Off, L-1, L-2-3, and L-3 (for off and high, medium, and low fan speeds respectively). The black, or "hot" wire is connected to L and a gray wire (infinite capacitance) from the capacitor is connected to 1, the brown wire (6uf) is connected to 2, and the green wire (5uf) is connected to 3. Capacitors in parallel are additive, so that gives 11uf for medium speed and 5uf for low speed. The Lowe's switch is a ZE-286S, which has switching pattern Off, L-1, L-2, and L-3. You can either (1) toss the ZE-286S switch you bought at Lowe's and get a ZE-268S6 switch (see kenselectronics.com under "switches and relays") or (2) use the Lowe's ZE-286S with a new capacitor that is wired differently. For the latter you'll need a 5-wire 4.5/5/6uf triple capacitor. Simply use a wire nut to connect a short lead and the 5uf and 6uf capacitor wires. Connect this lead to terminal 2 (so you get the same 11uf medium speed as with the original ZE-268S2 switch). Connect the 4.5uf wire to terminal 3. Capacitors are accurate to within +/- 1uf, so you won't notice any difference in low speed between 5uf and 4.5uf.