I have a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan that I installed myself in a room pre-wired for a ceiling fan that has a dimmer switch on the wall. I can still turn the light on with no problem but if I hit the switch to turn on the fan it blows the circuit. What is the problem? How do I fix it?

First of all, it sounds like you wired it wrong. Second of all, a dimmer switch is not supposed to be used with a fan motor, only with a light. How did you wire it?

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Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

First of all, it sounds like you wired it wrong. Second of all, a dimmer switch is not supposed to be used with a fan motor, only with a light. How did you wire it?

Ceiling fan wiring - Ceiling Fans N More

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From the box in the ceiling I have red, black, white and ground. I connected the fans mounting box to the box in the ceiling. I connected the ground on this box to the ground on the fan. From fan I connected white to white in ceiling, black to black in ceiling, blue to red in ceiling. Am I wiring this wrong? Shoult the grounds from the fan and the box be connected the ground from the ceiling

Sounds like the fan is wired OK, how is the switch connected?

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Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

Sounds like the fan is wired ok, how is the switch connected?

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The box in the wall has three switches for the room one for a switchable outlet is wired ground, red, red. One for the fan is wired ground, black, red. One dimmer switch is wired ground, black, black. Is this OK? Is it possible that the dimmer switch is blowing the fuse? Should the plain copper ground from the ceiling be wired with the two green grounds from the fan?

Thanks

Do you have a voltmeter?

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Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

Do you have a voltmeter?

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No.

This is going to be pretty tricky to troubleshoot without a voltmeter. I have a few questions.

1. Were all the wall switches there before you installed the fans, or did you add those as well?
2. What was installed before the fan and how did it work, and how was it wired?
3. Disconnect the fan from the ceiling. Now operate the fan switch. Does the breaker still break?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

This is going to be pretty tricky to troubleshoot without a voltmeter. I have a few questions.

1. Were all the wall switches there before you installed the fans, or did you add those as well?
2. What was installed before the fan and how did it work, and how was it wired?
3. Disconnect the fan from the ceiling. Now operate the fan switch. Does the breaker still break?

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1. Yes they were already there.
2. Nothing. New house with ceiling fan pre-wire
3. No

Sounds like there are wires crossed inside the ceiling fan. Open the switch housing and check the wiring.

Wire could be pinched upon securing of canopy at ceiling.
Reconnect again. Ceilingfanrepair did most of work.
Don't install another fan control until short corrected.
Fan controls and light dimmers work backwards from each other.
Dimmers go from off, low to high.
Fan Controls, go from off, high to low. That is so you don't Lug motor up to speed.
You start fast, and back down.

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Originally Posted by Stratmando

Wire could be pinched upon securing of canopy at ceiling.
Reconnect again. Ceilingfanrepair did most of work.
Don't install another fan control until short corrected.
Fan controls and light dimmers work backwards from each other.
Dimmers go from off, low to high.
Fan Controls, go from off, high to low. That is so you don't Lug motor up to speed.
You start fast, and back down.

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Disconnected Ceiling fan and reconnected to check for crossed or pinched wires and still the same thing. Could it be the way the house is wired?

If you disconnect at fan, and breaker doesn't trip, and you hook up fan, and it trips, It is fan or wire.(not house). Or bad breaker(I doubt it)
The 3 wires at top of fan, go through pipe, to fan switching(speed and direction) and lite.
Disconnect from first connection, cap off, turn breaker back on. If it trips, it is in pipe,
Just pull in new wire and reconnect.
Good Luck
White wire needs to go to whites only.

I agree, disconnect the fan and see if it still trips.