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    btravis's Avatar
    btravis Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Sep 15, 2008, 03:42 PM
    Ceiling fan light
    I recently installed a new fan with Light kit. The old one had both but had a fan and light dimmer switch and next to it it had a regular switch for the light. It is a 3way switch.My new fan has a remote and when I went to wire there was a black, white and red wire in the ceiling and only a black and white for the fan.I took the fan control out but the only thing working is the fan and not the light.How should I wire the switch next to the fan control so both the fan and light work. What should I do with the red wires at both 3 way switches.
    Thanks
    ceilingfanrepair's Avatar
    ceilingfanrepair Posts: 5,733, Reputation: 109
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    #2

    Sep 15, 2008, 10:51 PM
    How many wires come from the fan? It should be two.

    Ceiling fan wiring - Ceiling Fans N More
    ZackW's Avatar
    ZackW Posts: 15, Reputation: 3
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    #3

    Sep 15, 2008, 11:11 PM
    A fan with a light kit might have 4 wires. Black and red, white (neutral) and ground (bare copper or maybe green).

    The dimmer switch in the wall is likely the black wire in the ceiling. And the red wire is the old fan switch.
    It sounds like your fan might use one power source for both light and fan, and they expect you to use the remote and pull switch to control it.

    If that's the case, then cap off the black wire, since you can't use the dimmer switch most likely. Instead connect the red wire to the fan's black wire, and connect white and ground together. That way you can use a normal switch.

    Test with that. Of course the original installer might have been a little off and used the red wire to the dimmer, but we'll assume not. So that's it, cap the black wire in the ceiling, connect the red to the black wire of the fan, and whites together, and use the fan switch in the wall to control it.

    Just be careful!
    btravis's Avatar
    btravis Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #4

    Sep 16, 2008, 03:34 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair
    How many wires come from the fan? It should be two.

    Ceiling fan wiring - Ceiling Fans N More
    It is 2 coming from the ceiling and 2 from the remote.
    ceilingfanrepair's Avatar
    ceilingfanrepair Posts: 5,733, Reputation: 109
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    #5

    Sep 16, 2008, 11:23 PM
    Are you sure it's only two from the ceiling?

    If it's just a case of two and two, this should be easy!
    ZackW's Avatar
    ZackW Posts: 15, Reputation: 3
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    #6

    Sep 17, 2008, 10:59 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by btravis
    It is 2 coming from the ceiling and 2 from the remote.
    You said there is black, white, and red in the ceiling. Which is it?

    Likely the red wire is to the old fan switch, and the black wire is to the dimmer switch. If the new fan/light only has one wire for power, then the dimmer switch wire will have to be capped and unused.

    I suggest you just hire an electrician on this one. He can probably figure it out in 15 minutes.
    ceilingfanrepair's Avatar
    ceilingfanrepair Posts: 5,733, Reputation: 109
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    #7

    Sep 18, 2008, 11:23 AM
    I re-read the original post. And I agree it sounds like 3 ceiling wires and 2 fan wires which is what I would expect in this situation.

    1. Replace the dimmer with an ordinary switch
    2. Wire the fan white to ceiling white, black to ceiling black OR red, depending on which wall switch you want to control it!
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