Bad fan remote or bad 2 way switch

15 years ago

I had a room added on 4 years ago. All wiring was done by certified electrician. He installed a Hunter ceiling fan in the room. He installed 2 way switches on the wall so I could turn fan light on/off from either side of room.

Another switch was installed beside one of the 2-way switches to control the fan itself to be on/off--not the light in the fan.

This Hunter fan came with an internal remote control. When he finished wiring the fan and light up, he said I could not use the remote control to control the fan LIGHTS as I had requested 2-way switch on the lights.

He said I could still use the remote control to turn FAN on/off.

All was fine and everything worked--I could live without a remote control for the fan LIGHT.

As I said, everything has been fine until a couple of days ago. I went in the room and flipped on the light switch and no light would come on.

I tried the other wall switch for the light and still no light.

I picked up remote and turned on FAN--it works fine.

At any rate, I have discovered that the light switches still work, but it depends on the position (either up or down) of the 2-way switches--kind of hard to explain...

If I have switch 1 OFF (down) and switch 2 OFF (down), the light is ON like normal...that is switch 2 works OK--up it's OFF, down it's ON. Switch 1 works as well at this point, UP light goes off, down, light ON.

However, if I turn the light off with switch 2 (UP), then switch 1 does nothing at this point--up or down the light doesn't come on from switch 1.

(I'm confused too!)

Anyway, nobody has been in the attic since this was installed by qualified electrician about 5 years ago and all worked fine until a few days ago so I don't think it is a wiring problem.

Do you think that the internal remote control "something" in the Hunter ceiling fan is faulty and I need to just replace the entire fan or is one or both of the light switches bad?

Remember, I never could use the remote control to operate the LIGHT on the fan due to a 2-way switch installation in the room.

Also, the remote still works fine for the Hunter FAN. Remember the FAN is on a separate single switch too, as long as that switch is ON, the fan remote works, so there's no problem with the fan part.

I know one thing, these 2-way switches are sure confusing to this girl....

Any ideas?

Thank you!

Jeanie Beth

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Comments (8)

hendricus
15 years ago
"Bad fan remote or bad 2 way switch"

Could be neither. Could just be a loose wire at one of the switches.

How they work! One switch receives the power and sends it out on one of two wires to the other switch. There is no "off" on these switches. If they are wired the same, when one switch is up and the other is down the circuit is off. When both switches are either up or down the circuit is on.

It could be a loose wire on one switch or a bad switch. I don't think anything in the fan is bad. If you turn the light on with the switches you should be able to use the remote till the problem is corrected.
jeanie_beth
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for the reply hendricus. Remember I can't use the remote for the light part of the fan, but by getting the switches in the right position, the light will work.

If husband replaces the switches, are these just "plain" light switches or are there special "2-way switches" we have to buy? We assume there are just two wires at each switch right?

Thank you!
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wirenut1110
15 years ago
Sounds like a defective 3 way switch or a loose connection at one of the 3-ways.Turning power off of course and do one wire at a time.
First, I would check to see if they're "back stabbed". If so, I'd pull those out and bend a little hook and out the wires on the screws.
Backstabbed= the wires are just stripped and stuck in the little spring held holes in the back of the switches.
hendricus
15 years ago
They are technically called threeway switches, you can buy them almost anywhere. There are three connections on the switch one of which is labeled common. The common can be on one side with the other two on the other side or the common can be on the bottom with the others on either side on top. I use a flashlight and magnifying glass to find the word common.

When replacing the switch the wire that is on the common has to go on the common, the other two can go on either of the other screws, doesn't matter.

How they work? Power into the common of first switch, two other wires to other switch, power out of the common on the second switch to the light.
itsunclebill
15 years ago
3 way switches have one screw that is a different color, typically black on the ones I've seen lately, for the common terminal.

It is most important that the wire on the common screw on the old switch be installed on the common screw on the new switch. The common screw may not be in the same place on the new and old switch. In fact, I'd recommend marking the common wire with tape so it doesn't get confused once the old switch is completely removed.
joed
15 years ago
Replace one switch and see if it works. If not then replace the other.
MOST IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THE COMMON WIRE IS IDENTIFIED PROPERLY. If it is not and you swap both switches it can be a headache to get it correct.
jeanie_beth
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for all the replies. We'll go buy a couple of 3way switches today, although we are somewhat afraid now to do it thinking we may screw up this "common" wire. We'll take a picture of it before we unhook any wires though if we do get the courage up to try this switch replacing. At least the switches will be cheaper than what we first thought of which was trashing the Hunter fan and buying a new one.

I'll keep you posted if we get brave enough to do this today!

Thank you again!
Jeanie Beth
jeanie_beth
Original Author
15 years ago
OK, we did it! Changed out both of the two 3-way switches and all is fine now. Thank you all! One thing that puzzled us though initially was the "common" wire...I thought of the "common" wire as being the "same" wire going from one switch to the other, yet when we uncovered the switch 1, the common was a black wire and in switch 2, the "common" was a different colored wire entirely..oh well, I'm still confused and best of all, the switches work as normal...

I thought switches would last longer than Now I don't get a new fan. :(

Jeanie Beth

Bad fan remote or bad 2 way switch

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Bad fan remote or bad 2 way switch

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hendricus

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