Check out some similar questions!

taxigirl · Apr 24, 2008, 01:12 PM

Hi --

I have hooked up a ceiling fan to work from two of the Harbor Breeze remote universal wall control units (the kind that only require 2 wires). My problem is that I had no place on the remote to hook up the red wire which is the “traveller" wire between the two switches. There are 3 wires on the remote unit. 2 black and the green (ground). Is it possible to put the red traveller wire on the remote unit so that the two switches can control the fan even if the other switch is off? Right now I have to make sure both wall remotes are in the On position to control the fan and light.

I hope this question made some type of sense. Thanks.

WallyHelps · Apr 25, 2008, 09:08 AM

I don't think you can do what you want, taxigirl. If you ignore the speed control aspect of the units, they are basically just an on/off switch. However, to control a light (or whatever) from two locations, you need a 3-way switch instead of the simple 2-wire switch.

I'm not familiar with the specific unit you have, but my guess is that this is your problem. If they have a "3-way controller", this is what you would want instead.

Hope this helps,
WallyH

ceilingfanrepair · Apr 25, 2008, 10:33 AM

Ok, in most cases, these universal wall remotes have to be wired in series to act as a three way switch. They are not wired as normal three wire switches.

How many wires are in the wall, and where do they connect?

taxigirl · Apr 28, 2008, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

Ok, in most cases, these universal wall remotes have to be wired in series to act as a three way switch. They are not wired as normal three wire switches.

How many wires are in the wall, and where do they connect?

There are two black wires, a bare copper ground, and the red "traveller" wire that goes between the two wall switches. Since the location was originally a chandeller only, I bought the wall remotes because I did not want to have to run wires in the wall and up to the fan.

Both wall remotes work as long as they are in the ON position. The only time there would be a problem is if one is switched to off since I have capped the traveller wire off for the time being. I was wondering if it was possible and safe to connect the traveller to one of the black wires on the remote switch to establish a connection??

ceilingfanrepair · Apr 28, 2008, 03:50 PM

There should be two traveler wires between the two switches. For these two wire switches, you can only use one traveler wire.

With the two switches wired in series, you should be able to control the fan and light from both switches. However if they have a hard on/off you will need to leave that in the on position.

taxigirl · Apr 29, 2008, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

However if they have a hard on/off you will need to leave that in the on position.

Thanks, that answered my question. The controls work as long as they are both in the on position, and so I will leave them just the way I have them. I am going to opt for the wall control/remote combo in a different room. Best of both worlds that way!

Thanks again!