On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 14:52:10 -0700, HeatMan wrote:

When the fan was hung, the person probably didn't wire the fan for the
light.

"Jim®" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Have a ceiling fan controlled by the wall switch but no light
originally fitted. Got an add on light unit. Unscrewed bottom circular
panel of ceiling
fan and found two unused wires, white and black. New light fixture has
two wires, white and black, connected through an additional pull
switch. Connected up white/white and black/black but the light still
will not work.
Identical situation in another room. Any suggestions where to look?
Thanks.


You have two choices, but first the situation.
You found two wires in the bottom of the fan, but there
are three wires in the top. The fan is wired across the
white wire and the third wire (probable red, but may be
blue). You correctly connected the light across the white
and black wires. The problem is no power is connected to
the black wire. You need to get power to the black wire.

You can just connect the black wire to the red (or blue),
but this will require using the built-in switches on the
fan.

You can buy a remote control for the fan, but this requires
more work.

Turn off the fan before you start, or better yet pull the
circuit breaker. A test light to check for power before
touching wires is a good idea too. If the light lights
when connected between a green or bare copper wire and
the wire in question then don't touch the wire. If the
green or bare wires are not connected together then then
you can use any white wires that are connected together
(ie do not use black to white or red to white).

The wires you need to get to are between the top part
of the fan and the ceiling. Its not hard to take this apart,
just be sure the fan is supported as the this is how the fan
is kept up. Remove the light first to reduce the weight and
size.

For the first option and the black wire to the wirenut that
already has a black and the unknown color wire and then
put everything back together.

For the second option the remote control receiver should
be able to fit within the top of the fan. There will be a
black and white wire coming down from the ceiling that
supplies power to the remote receiver. There will also
be a black, white, and unknow color wire from your fan.
You already know that the black wire is for the lights.
Wire according to the directions for the control.
In addition, there will be bare copper or green wires
that all get connected together unless you have an
old house.

If you remember that white only goes to white, that
bare wire and green only go to bare copper and green,
and there are no three-way switches you shouldn't make
a mistake. If there is a three way switch that controls
this fan you can make a mistake following these rules,
my assumption about a black and a white wire supplying
power may not be correct. In this case, note the wire
colors and ask for more help.


Richard Kaiser