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    awalrath's Avatar
    awalrath Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Aug 15, 2007, 09:28 PM
    Ceiling Fan Dual Switch - Wires don't match up
    Hi there!

    I just intalled a harbor breeze ceiling fan, and followed the wiring instructions specific to having both the fan and the lights controlled by switches, as opposed to a chain. I then purchased a "Cooper 4 Speed Fan/Light Dual Control" switch and am stuck with two questions that I haven't been able to figure out.

    First, I replaced an earlier fan/light. On that fixture, just the lights were control by switches, but it was set up as a "3-pole", one fixture, two switches. So my first question is.. if my new switch is is for a single pole, and I don't care about being able to operate the fixture from two different switches (locations) in the room... is there any easy way to make this work? Can I just leave the other switch as it as and leave it in the "on" position all the time?

    Secondly, and more aggravatingly, I cannot figure out the wiring instructions for the dual switch. It almost seems like I am short a wire. To give you a clear picture, I'll start by telling you how I wired the actual fixture.

    The wire from the house is a 3-wire plus ground. Its colors are gray, pink, white, and copper (which I have assumed is the equivalent of black, red, white, and copper). The fixture also has four wires. Its colors are black, blue, white, and green. Following the instruction, I attached the fixture's black(fan) and blue(light) wires to the gray and pink house wires, respectively(So, black to gray, blue to pink.). Then I attached the whites(neutrals) and the grounds.

    I finished intalling the fixture and tested it immediately with my REGULAR light switch. I turns the light on, but does not operate the fan. Which, I expected, because since I still need to install the separate switch to control the fan.

    So a bought the Cooper dual switch and here is where my problem arose. The house wires at the switch receptical are the same as they are at the fan - gray, pink, white and green. I had expected that I would just have to attach the gray to the fan control, the pink the light control, the whites together, and the grounds together, and be done. BUT, the instructions and the switch don't make sense to me.

    The dual switch also has four wires, but they are black, red, yellow, and green. I attached a pdf of the instructions to this post, so you can see them without me retyping everything. But basically it sounds like I need 3 hot wires, a ground, and no nuetral, which I don't get.

    I'm a new homeowner, and definitely not a electrician. I just don't want to burn my house down... can anybody help?
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    Stratmando's Avatar
    Stratmando Posts: 11,188, Reputation: 508
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    #2

    Aug 16, 2007, 04:39 PM
    Three pole switch you speak of is 3 way circuit(like you say, 2 locations). There are 2 wires(travellers) that go from switch to switch(to the 2 silver screws), You will have a dark screw left on each switch. 1 is power feed(always live), and 1 will go up to the light. Do those travellers go through Fan Box? You can leave 1 switch on all the time.
    If you have empty space next to control, The light can be on 3 way(would be at what ever setting left on, on the control.
    You may want to put that control at the location where there is power all the time.
    Constant power to new control black. Red from control to pink(light wire)
    The gray HAS to be from control yellow to fan black, NOTHING else.
    Sorry, didn't mean to yell.
    Good luck.
    Oh, if the grays are travellers. I would maybe leave alone, and try to pull or push extra wire in. With power off, you can attach 2 wires to 1 of the wires, that goes from fan to switch, then pull light wire out and light and fan in.
    If you want 3 way switch next to fan control, let me know.
    ceilingfanrepair's Avatar
    ceilingfanrepair Posts: 5,733, Reputation: 109
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    #3

    Aug 21, 2007, 07:12 PM
    Before I get too far into this: the four ceiling wires, HOW were they connected to the old fan? Same with the switch wires and the old switch?

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