I tried to install a new ceiling fan/light in my daughter's room. The old fan/lights could be controlled from the single wall switch, or from the two pull chains, one for the fan and one for the light.

I thought I had wired the new fixture correctly, but now I can only control the light from the wall switch and the pull chain appears to do nothing. In order to turn the light off at night, I have to turn it off at the wall switch. Of course, when I turn it off at the switch, the fan cannot be used. When the switch is on I can still control the fan from either the switch or the pull chain.

I would like to have the fan lights controlled by the chain so that the fan can be on at night, but the lights off. :confused:

It is nearly impossible to screw up a fan install on a switch. Black to black, white to white and green to green, you must have a bad pull chain switch. When you hang the fan you aren't even touching the wiring near the pull chain.

Ceiling fan/light are most often set up such that the wall switch control the light only. The fan is unaffected by the wall switch setting and the pull chain is used.

If the wall switch is on the light can be turned off with the pull chain but must be turned back on with the pull chain. These are simply two on/off switches and both must be on for the light to burn.

Is this the setup you want, if so tell us what wires you have in the ceiling box. What you can do depends on the wiring there.

Thanks for your help.

I had a black wire, a white wire and a bare ground wire comiong from the ceiling. I had a white, a green a black and a blue wire coming from top of the fan.

I connected the green to the copper ground wire, the white to the white and the blue wire and the black wire connected to the black hot wire. I capped each group individually.

In the light, the only thing I did was snap together the white to the white and the black to the black by way of the plastic caps and the connector that came already assembled in the light.

The fan and the light worked perfectly from the wall switch. The fan chain works perfectly to control the fan speed. But the pull chain to control the lights does not work at all to turn the lights off and on.

Did I explain that properly, or did you need more information?

I guess I should point out that I am attempting to have the fan on at night, but the lights off. ;)

When you turn the switch on the wall off, you turn off all power to the fan/light.

If you have only two house wires in the ceiling box, (one black and one white), you have wired it correctly. Indeed, it is wired the only way it can be wired.

Unless you want to replace cable between the switch and the ceiling you will have to turn the switch on and use the pull chain to turn the light off.

The fan that I replaced only had the blue, black and white wires (and ground wire) coming from the ceiling, but I was able to control it from wither the wall switch or the pull chain.

PS I guess I am saying that I wired this fan exactly as the old fan had been wired, but the old fan light was controllable by either the wall switch or the chain, but this one is not

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Originally Posted by pamhook

The fan that I replaced only had the blue, black and white wires (and ground wire) coming from the ceiling

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Did you mean from the fan?

All ceiling fan/ light will have these wires.
The question is, how many wires do you have coming out of the ceiling box (house wires)?
My understanding is that you only have two. One black and one white and a bare ground. No other wires in the box, no wires connected together with a wire nut and tucked away.

This is not a fan that is controlled by a remote is it?

A final thought for the night. Remove the switch and tell me what wires are connected there. I think I smell a rat.

Out of the ceiling box I have a white, a black and a bare neutral wire.

Out of top of the fan I have a black, a white, a blue and a green.

On the single wall switch I have the box with the switch and two screws at the side. Each of those screws has a cloth covered wire connected to it.

On the light/fan kit, I have a light pull chain switch at the bottom. With a black wire coming in on the top left of the switch and a black wire coming out on the right bottom of switch. I have 3 lights and a black wire coming from each, and a white wire coming from each. The black wires have a 4th short wire with a plastic cap on it. The white wires have their own short white wire with a cap on it. All four of the black are gathered together in a plastic cap and crimped together. The four white wires are all gathered together in their own plastic cap and crimped together.

In the upper part of the light kit there were wires in various colors of brown, purple, orange, and yellow. There was also a black wire with a cap and a white wire with a cap. The instructions said to push the white from the bottom into the white at the top. It said to do the same with the black. The caps just sort of snugged together, one inside the other.

OK. What is the bare ground wire in the switch box connected to?

If I understand you correctly and the switch box is the box above the fan in the box in the ceiling between the joists, I cannot tell where it is connected from above. If a switch box is something else, don't hesitate to school me ;)

The switch box is where the switch is on the wall. What I am trying to determine is if someone was using the ground wire as a conductor. That is the only way that the old fan could have operated the way you said it did.I

Harold,

I checked again and I see no ground wire coming from the wall switch. Interestingly, I contacted the manufacturer, King of Fans, and explained what I did and what happened after I did it. They believe it is a bad light assembly switch and they are sending an entire new replacement light kit. I will attempt to put that up when it gets here and will report back to let you know how it worked. Wish me luck!

Here's luck to you. Let me know.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

It is nearly impossible to screw up a fan install on a switch. Black to black, white to white and green to green, you must have a bad pull chain switch. When you hang the fan you aren't even touching the wiring near the pull chain.

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Ballenger answered this question all the way at the beginning of the thread.

Either bad pullchain, or something miswired inside the fan housing (a manufacturing issue, not an install issue).

Ceiling fan pullchain replacement and repair - Ceiling Fans N More