Hi Greg,

The old ceiling fan had a couple of issues:

1) We would have to put up scaffolding to change the spin direction for the winter (hassle)

2) It had 3 speeds on the remote. It would turn itself on (from off), and sometimes it would change to high speed (from low speed) without anyone touching the remote.

3) It didn't move a lot of air.

So...we bought a bigger fan (with a dc motor and LED lighting), with the ability to change directions from the remote.

Your second question...we used a multimeter, my dad connected to multimeter to black and to the box, and we flipped each of the three switches...was always 120v. Did the same for the red, and the multimeter gave those values that I mentioned.

Is there a better way to measure it, to not get the phantom voltage reading, or could I conclude that it's ok?

Also, should black be ALWAYS live?

Thanks! :)

Ed

What were all of the wires in the ceiling box connected to? It seems to me like the fan would only have a black, a white, and the ground. Where was the other wire connected?

Are the wires bundled into cables? Or is this all run in conduit?

I'm assuming we aren't talking about a fan/light combo since you only mention the fan.

Google multimeter phantom voltages if you want to read up on that. Basically anything in your house will either be zero, 120, or 240 volts. Nothing else.

50 or 60 means zero.

It sounds like all of your problems with the old fan's operation were just problems with the fan itself. Not the wiring. So just wire up your new fan like the old one was and it should be fine.

I just re-read everything and I probably made some mistaken assumptions:

This IS a light/fan combo?

The switches controlled the light?

The remote controlled the fan?

If that's all true, then the 'always on' black is the power for the fan. The fan itself will have an internal mechanism that turns it on/off with the remote.

The red that switches on/off with the switches is the power for the light.

I was assuming that the switches controlled the fan.

Ooops, I should have mentioned that it was a light/fan combo, but the light bulbs have been burnt out since we moved in last year. It wasn't until we got the scaffolding set up that I could see what the unit looked like.

So...it did have a black, a white, and then a black with white swirl wire in the old fan unit. :)

From what I can see, it looks like bundled wire.

Awesome, thanks so much. I've been confused about this, because I assumed that the switches would turn the power off to all wires, so that black one had me worried.

Thank you!

Your last comment has helped me out tremendously, because your description helps me to understand perfectly!!!

I should have been more clear initially, but you have an awesome understanding of my problems, and of the wiring.

Thanks!

No problem! I probably should have realized what was going on right away even if you were a little vague. :) I need another coffee.

The installation instructions for the new unit will tell you which wire on the fan/light controls the fan and which controls the light so that you know which to connect to the black and which to connect to the red.

Ha Ha! I think I need the coffee....it now makes sense to me about the black and red at the ceiling (fan and light), and I didn't know about phantom voltage until today.

Thanks for reading beyond the details that I didn't mention at first....it's funny that I thought certain details were not that important, but were actually of crucial importance in the overall understanding of the circuit!

Hi Greg,

Could I bug you one more time?

Old fan:

3 wires - black for fan motor, red for light, white neutral

New fan:

2 wires: black for motor, white for neutral

I've got three wires at the ceiling...black (always hot), red (controlled by switches), and white. If I hook up fan unit to black and white, switches are now wall ornaments. If I hook up to red and white, I can shut off power to the unit. So, I will be not using one wire at the box. Am I understanding this correctly? The documentation/manual with the fan assumes hot and neutral at the box.

Thanks! :)

Since you have full remote control capability, and there seems to be no separate wire from the fan unit for the light, I'd connect the fan to the black and the white at the ceiling box and, yes, the switches would then be mere decorations. Don't forget to cap the unused red at the ceiling box.

Hi Randy,

Thanks, that's the direction I was leaning towards!

I think I'd return the new fan and get one that had separate wiring for the lights and fan. I hate switches that don't do anything in a house! And you'll now have 3.

Plus, is the light the main light for the room? If so, you'd want the switches to turn it on so that you don't have to search around a dark room to find the remote to turn on the light.