A friend of mine has a remote-controlled ceiling fan/light that turns on sometimes when the switch is off.

Is the switch bad?

They don't by chance live in an apartment or Condo... or a Townhouse that might have a neighbot with a similar unit and are close enough to have it turned on by accident that way... single family homes would be too far apart most cases.

Just eliminating possible alternate sources here.

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Originally Posted by smoothy

They don't by chance live in an appartment or Condo...or a Townhouse that might have a neighbot with a simular unit and are close enough to have it turned on by accident that way....single family homes would be too far appart most cases.

Just eliminating possible alternate sources here.

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No, not an apartment or condo... however, the homes on either side of her are fairly close. So if a neighbor has the same remote control frequency, he could be turning on his own unit and my friend's if it is within range?

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Originally Posted by jakester

No, not an apartment or condo...however, the homes on either side of her are fairly close. So if a neighbor has the same remote control frequency, he could be turning on his own unit and my friend's if it is within range?

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That's the thought I was having... odds are it was installed using the default settings... as well as any neighbors units. They can change their settings and see if the problem continues.

Which switch, the wall switch or just the remote? If the remote is off and the fan turns on by itself then I would change a dip switch setting in both the remote and the receiver in the canopy.

Do they have a cat? A cat might play with the remote like it's a toy and in the process turn the fan on. I had a cheap remote for a TV that the channel up button would stick down and the channels would run through non-stop until I released the rubber button. The remote button is what's called a momentary switch which when pressed momentarily makes a connection that tells the fan to run. After its released the connection is broken at the remote but the fan continues on its own. If the connector inside the remote is broken it might be causing the false start. Do a Sherlock Holmes on it, remove the batteries for a month. If the problem goes away then it's the remote.

Cat would have to press two buttons every time it played with the remote, in this situation, this is unlikely

OK, this gives me a place to start... thanks guys... when I have an answer to the problem I'll come back to give feedback.

Jake, post 5, which switch?

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Jake, post 5, which switch?

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Not sure... I'll have to ask her.

Ok but it makes a big difference inmy answer and my fix so let us know what she meant by saying switch.

The remote has a battery you can remove to help deduce if it's the wall or remote as well.