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smrepp · Oct 9, 2011, 11:27 AM

The house that I moved into had a wall switch plate with no switch, but it appears that it had been wired to a light kit in the ceiling: which is not there anymore. I mounted a ceiling fan w/light kit and added a switch to the wall, but when I turned the power on the light on the ceiling fan came on, but quickly tripped the circuit breaker. Does anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening. The breaker is 15A. Am I missing something. Wires available are white, black, and red. White to white and Black to black, but is the red a ground? If so, that is my answer. Please advise. Thanks.

cdad · Oct 9, 2011, 11:52 AM

Did you use an ohm meter to test the wires at all ?

That will tell you what wires goes where. Were the wires in the ceiling the same colors?

smrepp · Oct 9, 2011, 12:43 PM

I did test the wires, but the red wires were the only ones without any measurement. They are probably the ground wires, but I am used to seeing a green or bare copper wire. I'm sure these wires were installed by the previous owner. With the exception of the ground, all of the other wires should be installed properly. Will the lack of a ground cause the breaker to trip?

donf · Oct 9, 2011, 12:45 PM

I need clarification on the wiring.

At the switch, Is White connected to the bottom of the switch and black to the top? Is there a red wire at the switch?

In the ceiling, Is there a two wire cable coming from the supply or is it a three wire, (Black, White, Red, Bare)?

It is critical that I know where the feed wire is.

If the feed is to the switch and then to the ceiling outlet, there is one set of connections.

However, if the primary feed is from the ceiling, to the switch and then back to the device, this is a switch loop.

Do you have a multi-meter?

I am going to take a shot at the wiring for a switch loop.

If this is the three way, then I would use Red as the feed to the switch, Black as the return and white (Neutral) cap off.

At the ceiling, I would have the Black feed connected to the red (switch Feed) and Black from the fan all connected together.

The black from the return of the switch, I'd connect to the Blue for the light.

This will leave the fan to be operated by the pull switch and the light to be operated by the wall switch.

Neutral would be capped off at the switch and reserved for future use. This is a requirement of the 2011 NEC code.

ma0641 · Oct 10, 2011, 05:58 PM

A red wire is not a code approved color for a ground and it is most likely an unused conductor or is a power lead from a switch. Take the red off the ground side, cap it and use bare or green to ground. What were the colors of the wires you used for the switch?