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Electrical Question

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scotthh:
What color were the wires? Generally:
Green or bare copper = ground
White = neutral
Black or red = hot

If you had separate wall switches for the light and the fan, you should have two separate hot wires in there see link 1 or link 2.

Perhaps there is a ground connected to a metal box? Can you post a picture?

javeryh:
It's too late for a pic but here's what was up in the ceiling:

1.  ONE white wire with a cap
2.  TWO white wires connected (twisted) together with a cap

The switch on the wall is ONE regular old light switch.  There were TWO chains on the fan - pull one to control the light and pull the other to control the fan.

I connected the two wires from the chandelier to the two caps that were in the ceiling.

scotthh:
How old is the construction? If it's pre-1960s, there might not be a ground in there.

With one wall switch controlling the fixture, it's unlikely that there are two hot wires in there. That's good.

If there were two switches where either could turn the fixture on, the extra wire could be a traveller. But you said there was only one switch.

Is there an outlet on the wall that's also controlled by the switch? That could account for the "extra wire" Also, it would allow you to use an inexpensive tester to ensure that the wires are connected properly.



SavannahLion:

--- Quote from: javeryh on June 10, 2007, 03:56:53 pm ---There were TWO chains on the fan - pull one to control the light and pull the other to control the fan.

--- End quote ---

To clarify what I was describing. Sounds like you have a manual control.

A typical fan installation consists of a wall switch (or two if you have a three way) that controls both the fan and light. You use one chain to control the fan speed and the other to control the light. This configuration is the most compatible and the most oft used because it's cheaper than running multiple wires, cheaper than a remote module, and the easiest to retrofit existing fixtures.

After that, you start getting into the hokey stuff. No point in explaining them all here if you don't have any of it. But the gist of it is, there were/are different attempts to allow greater control over a fan/light.

shardian:
I have installed 4 ceiling fans in my house from scratch now since only swag lights were originally in it. All of them have stranded wire that connects to the solid core house wiring. Typically, a fan/light has a green ground wire to ground the fan housing to your houses earth ground, white and black wires for neutral and hot house wiring, and a blue remote wire to control the light by a switch. If you wanted to put in the swag light, you would need to patch the existing hole, install a swag hook, and connect the neutral plug wire (the wide prong wire) to the white house wire. then connect the hot plug wire to the light switch wire. Note: when using a switch, always switch the "live" wire. The reason is when you turn a switch off you want to stop the power BEFORE the appliance in question. If you switch the neutral wire, it will work, but power will still be flowing thru the appliance - not good for changing bulbs for sure.

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