Hi, we have a typical new home construction ceiling fan pre-wire which works (supposedly) off a wall switch. There are 3 wires that come out of the ceiling, a black, a white, and a red. Both black and red are hot when tested. Unfortunately it is a double wall switch with a half-hot outlet also which we have used to plug in a floor lamp. The actual ceiling fan (Hunter 56" with a remote and a light) has only 2 wires, a black and a white. We have tried connecting black wires together and white wires together, this trips the breaker when we flip the wall switch for the fan. Then, we tried connecting black wire (fan) to red wire (ceiling), and whites together. This caused the breaker to trip when we flipped the switch for the half-hot outlet(wall plug). What the heck are we doing wrong? Help!

You have a double switch, one switch controls the switched half of an outlet, the other switch controls the fan/light. Is that correct? You nave a neutral and two hot wires in the ceiling box which indicates the wiring to control the fan and light separately. That would necessitate two switches. Something is not right

Pull the switch and tell what you see.

Hi, Switch #1- 2 black wires. Switch #2-2 red, one black wire. Both have copper attachments also. Switch #2 is the one that turns the wall outlet one (half-hot). #1 was SUPPOSED to be for the ceiling fan.?

So you have two 3-wire cables in the switch box. Correct? A wire is a single wire, a cable is two or more wires in an outer covering. In the switch box you should also have two white wire that are connected together with a wire nut. Correct? Look at the switch again. On one side you should have two screws that are connected together. On the other side you should have two screws that are not connected together.

Switch #1-two screws, one top one bottom on the side of the switch, not connected. No wires attached to either screw. Switch #2- two screws on side of switch, also not connected, top screw has red wire attached, bottom screw has nothing. 2 black wires are coming out of 1st switch, one red one black out of 2nd switch. Yes there is a white capped bundle inside switchbox. There are also 4 places where the wire bundles are attached inside the box. 1st two look like black/white combos, 2nd two look like red are attached along with other wires, cannot tell all the colors as there is a lot of overspray paint in the box. Looks like I have 4 3 wire cables, not 2.

So you have two individual switches, not a two in one switch, correct?

Correct. ANd it seems no matter how we wire the ceiling fan we short out the outlet when we turn the switch on, either one!

OK, with 4 3-wire cables its no wonder the electriction got confused. I'll draw out what I think you have. It will take a few minutes.

The red and blacks are different circuits. They share the white neutral. Don't know what's wrong but here is the fix. Determine which cable goes to the outlet. Determine which cable goes to the ceiling box. Disconnect both switches. Cap the red wire going to the ceiling with a wire nut. You won't need it because you have a remote controlled fan/light. Take you power for the outlet from a wire nut. Don't care which circuit, red or black. So run a wire from wire nut to switch, don't care which screw. If present connections use the little holes in the back, remove or clip off and use screws. The back stab connections develop poor connections after a period. Do not recommend using.
Run a wire from wire nut to other switch. You can use the same circuit as you used for outlet switch or use the other one. Connect the black wire going to ceiling fan to other screw of that switch.

At the ceiling box, connect black to black, white to white, cap red with wire nut.

Doesn't sound like there should be any black/white combinations under wire nuts. If there is, determine where white wire goes to, probably the ceiling fan cable. That's probably the problem. If I have envisioned things correctly, should be all blacks connected, all reds, all whited and all grounds.

If the switch to the outlet is a 3-way switch, this is probably what you have (should have).

Thanks for your kind help Harold. A couple of questions... "Determine which cable goes to the ceiling box"... How do I do that? Also, are you saying that although there already appears to be a red wire connected to the switch that controls the outlet plug that I should connect a 2nd wire to that same switch? Or should I just connect a wire to the screw on the switch that controls the ceiling fan? Sorry, layman's trouble here...

Please advise whether your wiring is drawing one or drawing two. Is the outlet switch a 3-way switch?

Is this a remote fan or did it come with a wall switch?

Fan black to ceiling red OR black, and fan white to ceiling white, should be correct. Try both. If neither of these options work, something else is wrong.

Ceiling fan wiring - Ceiling Fans N More