A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

Hi one and all

I am having a little problem. Last night I turned on the wall switch
that activates my ceiling fan / 60 watt light in my daughter's room.
The light bulb popped out with a blue flash. No big deal right? I went
and got another bulb but it didn't work either. I tested it in another
light and it worked fine. I tried a second new bulb and it too did not
work but worked fine elsewhere. Both the light and the fan are
controlled separately with pull chains. There is a single wall switch
that provides power to both. I have been leaving the fan chain in the
off position because one blade broke off a month or so ago. The light
chain was on the on position when I turned on the wall switch.The fan
works fin by the chain and the wall switch.
I had a neighbor test the wiring right up to and including the inside
of the light reciprocal with a voltage tester. Each step of the way
the tester read 110 red for good. Even on the tab where the light bulb
makes contact inside the bulb socket. It turned red when the chain was
on and off when the chain was in the off as well. What gives here? How
can the tab that the bulb touches have power but none of the bulbs
will work?

Thanks for your help everybody! Thanks!
Ehrin

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

On Apr 20, 7:05�pm, Aaron Eel wrote:
Hi one and all

I am having a little problem. Last night I turned on the wall switch
that activates my ceiling fan / 60 watt light in my daughter's room.
The light bulb popped out with a blue flash. No big deal right? I went
and got another bulb but it didn't work either. I tested it in another
light and it worked fine. I tried a second new bulb and it too did not
work but worked fine elsewhere. Both the light and the fan are
controlled separately with pull chains. There is a single wall switch
that provides power to both. I have been leaving the fan chain in the
off position because one blade broke off a month or so ago. The light
chain was on the on position when I turned on the wall switch.The fan
works fin by the chain and the wall switch.
�I had a neighbor test the wiring right up to and including the inside
of the light reciprocal with a voltage tester. Each step of the way
the tester read 110 red for good. Even on the tab where the light bulb
makes contact inside the bulb socket. It turned red when the chain was
on and off when the chain was in the off as well. What gives here? How
can the tab that the bulb touches have power but none of the bulbs
will work?

Thanks for your help everybody! Thanks!
Ehrin

It wasn't made very clear in my first letter but the fan works ok both
by the chain and by the wall switch. it's only the light thats acting
weird.


Ehrin

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

"Aaron Eel" wrote in message
...
On Apr 20, 7:05?pm, Aaron Eel wrote:
Hi one and all

I am having a little problem. Last night I turned on the wall switch
that activates my ceiling fan / 60 watt light in my daughter's room.
The light bulb popped out with a blue flash. No big deal right? I went
and got another bulb but it didn't work either. I tested it in another
light and it worked fine. I tried a second new bulb and it too did not
work but worked fine elsewhere. Both the light and the fan are
controlled separately with pull chains. There is a single wall switch
that provides power to both. I have been leaving the fan chain in the
off position because one blade broke off a month or so ago. The light
chain was on the on position when I turned on the wall switch.The fan
works fin by the chain and the wall switch.
?I had a neighbor test the wiring right up to and including the inside
of the light reciprocal with a voltage tester. Each step of the way
the tester read 110 red for good. Even on the tab where the light bulb
makes contact inside the bulb socket. It turned red when the chain was
on and off when the chain was in the off as well. What gives here? How
can the tab that the bulb touches have power but none of the bulbs
will work?

Thanks for your help everybody! Thanks!
Ehrin

It wasn't made very clear in my first letter but the fan works ok both
by the chain and by the wall switch. it's only the light thats acting
weird.


Ehrin

You're tester presumably proved that you have the hot leg at the socket, but
you need a neutral as well. The flash could have opened the neutral
conductor. You need to use a tester with two leads. Touch one lead to the
socket shell and one to the tongue, but it's probably easier to just replace
the fixture, if not the entire fan

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

"RBM" wrote in message
...

"Aaron Eel" wrote in message
...
On Apr 20, 7:05?pm, Aaron Eel wrote:
Hi one and all

I am having a little problem. Last night I turned on the wall switch
that activates my ceiling fan / 60 watt light in my daughter's room.
The light bulb popped out with a blue flash. No big deal right? I went
and got another bulb but it didn't work either. I tested it in another
light and it worked fine. I tried a second new bulb and it too did not
work but worked fine elsewhere. Both the light and the fan are
controlled separately with pull chains. There is a single wall switch
that provides power to both. I have been leaving the fan chain in the
off position because one blade broke off a month or so ago. The light
chain was on the on position when I turned on the wall switch.The fan
works fin by the chain and the wall switch.
?I had a neighbor test the wiring right up to and including the inside
of the light reciprocal with a voltage tester. Each step of the way
the tester read 110 red for good. Even on the tab where the light bulb
makes contact inside the bulb socket. It turned red when the chain was
on and off when the chain was in the off as well. What gives here? How
can the tab that the bulb touches have power but none of the bulbs
will work?

Thanks for your help everybody! Thanks!
Ehrin

It wasn't made very clear in my first letter but the fan works ok both
by the chain and by the wall switch. it's only the light thats acting
weird.


Ehrin

You're tester presumably proved that you have the hot leg at the socket,
but you need a neutral as well. The flash could have opened the neutral
conductor. You need to use a tester with two leads. Touch one lead to the
socket shell and one to the tongue, but it's probably easier to just
replace the fixture, if not the entire fan
It's also possible that the tab that makes contact with the base of the bulb
has been bent back slightly so that it doesn't make contact when the bulb is
screwed in, or that the flash you saw was actually a spark jumping from the
tab to the bulb which left a burned spot on the tab that doesn't conduct
electricity.to the bulb

On one occasion I've had to take a small screwdriver and gently pry that
little tab forward so that the bulb regains contact when it's screwed in,
and/or use a file or knifepoint to clean off the tab. Of course, make sure
the power is off before you try this --

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

On Apr 20, 7:33�pm, "RBM" wrote:
"Aaron Eel" wrote in message

...
On Apr 20, 7:05?pm, Aaron Eel wrote:





Hi one and all

I am having a little problem. Last night I turned on the wall switch
that activates my ceiling fan / 60 watt light in my daughter's room.
The light bulb popped out with a blue flash. No big deal right? I went
and got another bulb but it didn't work either. I tested it in another
light and it worked fine. I tried a second new bulb and it too did not
work but worked fine elsewhere. Both the light and the fan are
controlled separately with pull chains. There is a single wall switch
that provides power to both. I have been leaving the fan chain in the
off position because one blade broke off a month or so ago. The light
chain was on the on position when I turned on the wall switch.The fan
works fin by the chain and the wall switch.
?I had a neighbor test the wiring right up to and including the inside
of the light reciprocal with a voltage tester. Each step of the way
the tester read 110 red for good. Even on the tab where the light bulb
makes contact inside the bulb socket. It turned red when the chain was
on and off when the chain was in the off as well. What gives here? How
can the tab that the bulb touches have power but none of the bulbs
will work?

Thanks for your help everybody! Thanks!
Ehrin

It wasn't made very clear in my first letter but the fan works ok both
by the chain and by the wall switch. it's only the light thats acting
weird.

Ehrin

You're tester presumably proved that you have the hot leg at the socket, but
you need a neutral as well. The flash could have opened the neutral
conductor. You need to use a tester with two leads. Touch one lead to the
socket shell and one to the tongue, but it's probably easier to just replace
the fixture, if not the entire fan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi guys

First let me offer my thanks to both of you for your answers. Thank
you. Jim, as to the disposition of the tab, the tab is out and making
contact with the contact point on the bulb. I can feel that myself.
The neutral thing was tested just like you said, RBM. After making
sure the light chain was on (by testing the hot line like we did
before) the red pointer was made to touch the tab in the socket and
the black made to contact the inner aluminum looking threaded socket
lining I guess you might call it. No red light. What does this mean?
What part of the deal do we need to replace? Can I just replace the
bulb socket or is it something up in the fan? Is it dangerous to leave
it off but hooked up? And does this problem extend back into the
writing of the house? Remember, the fan part works fine. We took the
wall switch out yesterday and got no red light signal out of that
although I'm not sure we touched the right things then. This was
before I learned that the fan part worked. I even touched both the
wires together that go to the wall switch and not even a spark. I
touched them as well and no shock even. I know I did that part right!
I did receive a shock today from touching the two wires between the
fan relay in the base of the fan and the light socket. There was a
splice point and we undid the wires there to test and I inadvertently
touched them and got a shock at some point. I don't know why I didn't
get a shock off of the wall switch wires though. Electricity is very
strange.

Aaron Eel
(Ehrin)

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

Hi Ehrin;
I had a very similar thing happen to us on a jobsite, where we were
renovating a home. Turns out the previous owner had put a nail
through the power line leading to the light, which shorted the neutral
to hot, which started blowing up the light bulbs, and making even the
casing of the light 'hot'. Could've burned the house down. We
started tracing the lines, and eventually found the nail through the
electrical line.
You should look at where recent screws or nails have been added,
likely a line has been compromised, or there is a short inside the
electrical box up top. Could even be a roof leak shorting out that
box....
J

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

Aaron Eel wrote:

We took the
wall switch out yesterday and got no red light signal out of that
although I'm not sure we touched the right things then. This was
before I learned that the fan part worked. I even touched both the
wires together that go to the wall switch and not even a spark. I
touched them as well and no shock even.

A house switch only has one wire...it comes in, it goes out but it's the
same wire. You need *two* wires to fry yourself.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

On Apr 21, 5:12�am, "dadiOH" wrote:
Aaron Eel wrote:
We took the
wall switch out yesterday and got no red light signal out of that
although I'm not sure we touched the right things then. This was
before I learned that the fan part worked. I even touched both the
wires together that go to the wall switch and not even a spark. I
touched them as well and no shock even.

A house switch only has one wire...it comes in, it goes out but it's the
same wire. �You need *two* wires to fry yourself.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

I see better now but not because I have my light fixed. Five different
answers from five different people. Wow. Sorry the harder questions
stumped you guys.


Ehrin

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

Aaron Eel wrote:
I see better now but not because I have my light fixed. Five different
answers from five different people. Wow. Sorry the harder questions
stumped you guys.

Maybe because the answer is obvious? Replace the pull chain switch.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

A really weird ceiling fan working / light not coming on problem
 

On Apr 23, 7:39�am, "dadiOH" wrote:
Aaron Eel wrote:
I see better now but not because I have mylightfixed. Five different
answers from five different people. Wow. Sorry the harder questions
stumped you guys.

Maybe because the answer is obvious? �Replace the pull chain switch.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Thanks for the advice Dad. I actually bought one before I even entered
this post, but since the tester registered hot when we touched the tab
and the base of the fan fixture, I figured that it can't be a switch.
Is it possible that the existing bad switch is letting in only half
the current? I think the other guy was right. There's a little circuit
board thing up inside where all the wires from the light meet up with
all the wires from the fan. It's probably in that board. Another other
guy said I might have driven a nail into a wire in the wall but no
nails have been hammered lately. I'll bet the fan is shot in the board
area. I hate to open that new five dollar switch and have the same
problem.


Aaaaa Rrrrr ONnnnn Eeeeeeel

(Ehrin Lloyd)