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tank55 · Feb 21, 2009, 12:05 PM

I am trying to replace a light fixture ( for my wife) that has 3 way switches, with a ceiling fan ( with a light). The way the light fixture is wired is both black leads from the switches are wire nutted together and the 2 white wires are wired to the fixture. Do I just wire the ceiling fan in white to one of the white and black (form the ceiling fan) to the other white. If so where does the blue for the light go;to the black and white or white and white connection.There is of course a ground from the switches ( two twisted together) and a green one from the ceiling fan which will be wire nutted together.
Thanks
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Perito · Feb 21, 2009, 02:18 PM

The two wires that went to the original light fixture are the live and neutral, respectively. Hopefully, one of the wires is white. That should be the neutral. The other one is most likely black, though it could possibly be another color.

Wire the neutral wire to the white wire of the ceiling fan. Connect the black wire to the black wire from the ceiling fan and the blue wire of the ceiling fan.

With this arrangement, the ceiling fan and the light are both powered by the switch. You have to use switches on the fan/light to turn the fan or the light on or off.

If you had two switches, you would route power from one switch to the black wire and power from a second switch to the blue wire. That way, one switch would control the fan and the second switch would control the light.

The fact that you have three-way switches is no problem. Three-way switches simply allow you to toggle power from either of two locations.

The green wire from the fan is, of course, bonded (usually with a wire nut or a crimp cap) to the ground wire.

tank55 · Feb 21, 2009, 06:22 PM

Thanks you.
The problem for me was that the black wires were wired together and the 2 whites were the wires supplying power. I thought it would the black wires that were "hot" and the white would be neutral but not so in this case.
Thanks , the wife loves it.
Curtis

Perito · Feb 21, 2009, 09:30 PM

No, the black wires are the hot and the white wires are the neutrals. One of the black wires comes from the switch.

ceilingfanrepair · Feb 21, 2009, 09:36 PM

Wire the fan the same way as the light, connect the black and blue from the fan together.

Ceiling fan wiring - Ceiling Fans N More

tank55 · Feb 22, 2009, 07:10 AM

In this case the black are neutral and the white are hot hot, I did not wire this house someone else did, do not know what he/she was thinking.
Thanks again
Curtis

donf · Feb 22, 2009, 08:39 AM

Tank,

Then you must re-identify the wires by either by paiting them with the correct colors or using white electrical tape, band both black wires with the tape and using black electrical tape band both blacks as white.

Then go out, find the guy who did the wiring, and bind the right side of his body in black and the left side in white and toss him into the drink! :)

ceilingfanrepair · Feb 23, 2009, 01:23 AM

I would get a meter and double check that, if you haven't already.

tank55 · Feb 23, 2009, 08:56 AM

I have, I did not believe that was the way it was, the fan and light work.