I'm attempting to wire a fan where a light fixture used to be. There are two cable in the power box. Cable one has black, white, and ground. Cable two has black, white, red, and ground. I assume the one with the red goes to the light switch and the other cable continues to other sources (outlets).

I've attempted a couple of wirings, and one popped the breaker.

Addendum: I've managed to get the fan working and the outlets working, but I can't get the light. Could I have burnt out the switch when the breaker popped? I currently have the black and blue from the fan hooked up to the red in Cable one. I have the two blacks from Cable one and two together (the two from the power box), and all three whites together (from the two cables and the fan.

I now have all the whites together, all the blacks together, and just the red to the blue of the fan. Still no light (but everything else is functioning properly).

Help please!

Remove the switch and tell us what wiring you have there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pfroom

Ielp please!

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First you specified the red wire only in cable two. Not in cable one...
In your addendum that red has changed to cable one.
Now : what is it really?
Please restate what wires have what colors, and to what have you connected the fan and the light wires.
And as hkstroud asked : what is the switch wiring?
;)

Sorry for the confusion... red is in only cable two. Originally, I had the fan Blue and Black hooked up to the Red in cable two. Now, only the Blue is hooked to Red in Cable two, all the Blacks together and all the Whites together (both configurations yielded fan working, but not the light).

The light switch: top screw is Red, bottom one is Black. That cable goes upward in the wall, I'm assuming to the light fixture. A second cable is connected to the first (black and white cable only) heading downward, I'm assuming to the wall outlets.

Is that all in the switch box. There should at least be a white wire. Any thing else in the box like another cable.

The cable that has the red and black connecting to the switch itself has a white (this is the cable heading up towards the ceiling. That white is connected to the white of the second cable heading down towards floor. The two blacks are also connected together.

OK,
In the ceiling box you should connect the fan wire (which is probably black, but I don't know) should be connected to the black house wires. The light wire (probably the blue wire) should be connected to the red wire, connect the white wire of the fan to white house wires. The switch will then control the light and the pull chain will control the fan.

PF,

I'm more than a little confused so do you mind if I start back at the beginning?

1) You have cable #1 with Black/White and bare ground. Cable #2 is Black/Red/White and bare ground. Correct?

Which cable connects back to the circuit breaker, #1 or #2? This is very important.

2) Please identify the cable that connects to the breaker in the main panel and get the amperage off that breaker, then open the breaker to kill the line.

3) What is the approximate weight of the complete ceiling fan assembly? If it is more than 50 lbs. then you have to change the box in the ceiling to one that is rated for more than 50 lbs. You can find it at any hardware store. It is a steel box mounted on a metal shaft that mounts to the joist. It is a code violation to use the previous light's fixture if it is not listed for 50 or more pounds.

4) I'm going to make a unqualified guess about your cabling. I suspect that cable #1 is you supply side cable and that cable #2 is your switch loop cable. With that in mind, I would connect the Black from the #1 to the Black from #2. The Red, is the return from the switch and that would connect to the Black and Blue on the fixture. The White from the fixture would connect to the #1 White. The White from #2 should be capped off with wire nuts on both ends as it is not used. The ground wires should be pigtailed and secured with a wire nut.

5) Mount the assembly and then close the breaker from the Main panel.

With the switch in the down position, the light and fan should be off. With the switch in the UP position, both light and fan should be working.

Please give that a try and let me know if you get lights and fan.

I'm going to start at the beginning and ask: how was the original light fixture connected?

HKStroud: That's how I have it hooked up currently. Fan works, no light.

donf: 1. You've identified the cables correctly. Unfortunately, I don't have a tester to find out which cable goes back to the breaker. At this point, I'm calling a semi-retired handi-man/friend of mine who does, who can probably figure out what's wrong (at a charge, of course).

2. The breaker that operates it is a fifteen.

3. This fan needs support up to 35 lbs. (it's only about 24" across... very tiny).

4. I attempted that configuration. Same result... fan works, but no light, which baffles me, because they should be getting power from the same wire right now, correct?

Ceilingfanrepair: The black from the light was connected to the red in Cable two. The black from one and two were connected together, and all three whites were connected together.

At this point, I'll be giving a call to the friend of mine and give him a shot at it. In the meantime, feel free to give me some other things to try. If/when he gets here and is able to figure out what I've done wrong, I'll post it. Thanks for the suggestions.

It sounds like your wiring (fan black to two blacks, fan blue to red, all whites) is correct and something else is wrong. Check the fan light pullchain, light bulb, and the lighting connections within the fan.

If you didn't change the wiring of the switch, you can probably leave it alone.

What wiring popped the breaker?

It sounds like your wiring (fan black to two blacks, fan blue to red, all whites) is correct and something else is wrong. Check the fan light pullchain, light bulb, and the lighting connections within the fan.

If you didn't change the wiring of the switch, you can probably leave it alone.

What wiring popped the breaker?

Have you checked the light bulb?