Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

Exactly what it says. We bought the house in February. Fan and light
worked fine. In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.

Any advice?

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Sep 30, 12:31*pm, MS wrote:
Exactly what it says. *We bought the house in February. *Fan and light
worked fine. *In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. *I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. *I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. *I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. *Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. *Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.

Any advice?

you did not check the fans amp draw....its iether a bad fan motor or a
short in the wiring,
you dont check that visibly... you use an ohmeter.

its risky...dont run it and have a competent friend do your checkout.


Phil scott

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Sep 30, 2:31*pm, MS wrote:
Exactly what it says. *We bought the house in February. *Fan and light
worked fine. *In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. *I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. *I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. *I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. *Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. *Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.

Any advice?

Is it a cheapo multi-speed switch? I've had those arc on me when they
begin to wear out.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

MS wrote:
Exactly what it says. We bought the house in February. Fan and light
worked fine. In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.

Any advice?

1) The breaker could be defective. Can you replace the breaker?

2) The breaker could be overloaded. How big is the breaker? Do you know
what else is on that breaker? Can you bring power from another circuit
to that fan?

3) The fan is bad. Can you temporarily replace that ceiling fan with
another one just to try?

If you're not comfortable with any of these call an electrician...

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Sep 30, 2:31*pm, MS wrote:
Exactly what it says. *We bought the house in February. *Fan and light
worked fine. *In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. *I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. *I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. *I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. *Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. *Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.

Any advice?
------------------------------------------
Here is a possibility:
Usually the fan casing has two switches: One for the fan and the other
for the light. Do the following: (1) Turn both switches on the casing
off. (2) Turn the wall switch on. If the CB trips, replace the wall
switch. Else, (3) In succession, turn wall switch off, turn fan
switch on, turn the wall switch on. If CB trips, the fan motor has
short. Else, (4) repeat step (3) this time with the light switch.
HTH.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

1) This particular fan has lights attached, but there is only one
simple on/off switch for the fan/light.

2) The front half of the house loses power when the fan trips the
breaker. (It is only one breaker which trips)

3) I'm not quite sure how big the breaker is. I'll have to check.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Sep 30, 4:15*pm, MS wrote:
1) *This particular fan has lights attached, but there is only one
simple on/off switch for the fan/light.

2) *The front half of the house loses power when the fan trips the
breaker. *(It is only one breaker which trips)

3) *I'm not quite sure how big the breaker is. *I'll have to check.

This must be "ancient" fan and it is time for replacement. But to be
sure, remove/disconnect the fan altogether, then turn on the wall
switch to see what happens. I suspect the fan is the culprit.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

"MS" wrote in message
...
Exactly what it says. We bought the house in February. Fan and light
worked fine. In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every
time we turned the switch. I've taken the light fixture off the fan
to check for a short, nothing visible. I've taken the fan off the
ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible.
I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. I went into
the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the
wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. Replace the fan if the
switch isn't the problem. Then call an electrician if the fan isn't
the problem.



*I would remove the fan and attach a pigtail light socket with a bulb to the
wires. Then turn on the switch and see what happens. If the breaker
doesn't trip it would be a save assumption that the fan is bad.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

MS wrote:
1) This particular fan has lights attached, but there is only one
simple on/off switch for the fan/light.

2) The front half of the house loses power when the fan trips the
breaker. (It is only one breaker which trips)

3) I'm not quite sure how big the breaker is. I'll have to check.

1) are you saying that 1 switch turns on/off both lights and fan? IE
there are no separated switch on the fan? Odd. But you could still
remove the bulbs to leave just the fan motor working.

2) What's in the front half of the house, only lights and empty wall
sockets? You can add up the watts (the Amps if they are shown) of all
the devices/lights and see if that total exceeds or is very close to
the capacity of the breaker (see below). Don't forget the fan. In case
you forgot -- Amps = Watts/Volts

3) There is a number on the breaker that shows the amps. Something like
15, 20, 30 etc...

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:44:49 -0700 (PDT), phil scott
wrote:


Any advice?

you did not check the fans amp draw....its iether a bad fan motor or a
short in the wiring,
you dont check that visibly... you use an ohmeter.

its risky...dont run it and have a competent friend do your checkout.


Phil scott

You must be pretty damn good if you can test amperage with an ohm
meter, I'd like to see that. ****ing dumbass.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

"or a
short in the wiring,
you dont check that visibly... you use an ohmeter."

He was talking about the short professor.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

1) One switch does it all.

2) The front of the house includes the living room and two
bedrooms.

I've even tried turning off and unplugging everything else in the
house, but the fan still trips the breaker. I'll have to run to Lowes
and get a light socket to test.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

MS wrote:
1) One switch does it all.

2) The front of the house includes the living room and two
bedrooms.

I've even tried turning off and unplugging everything else in the
house, but the fan still trips the breaker. I'll have to run to Lowes
and get a light socket to test.
... and may be look around for a new ceiling fan? All the clues point in
that direction.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

MS wrote:
1) This particular fan has lights attached, but there is only one
simple on/off switch for the fan/light.

2) The front half of the house loses power when the fan trips the
breaker. (It is only one breaker which trips)

3) I'm not quite sure how big the breaker is. I'll have to check.

The front HALF of the house???

Take stock of what exactly loses power when you turn on the fan. What
is running, then shuts off?

The answer may be very simple: Your house is wired poorly, too much on
one circuit. You moved in recently. As you unpacked over the last
several months, you have set up rooms and electrical appliances,
increasing the load on this single circuit that serves HALF your
house. The fan worked when you moved in because you hadn't plugged in
all that other stuff. Now it's the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Each room should have its own circuit, and some rooms should have two.

I'm in a similar situation. The wiring is totally asinine. Many
circuits run from room to room to room, each serving 1-2 outlets or
fixtures in each room. To shut off power to a single room, I may as
well pull the main breaker because I have to shut off several circuits
to get all the outlets and fixtures.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

I checked the breakers last night. It seems most are seriously
underloaded, as if to say the electrician started by trying to put
each receptacle on it's own breaker, then ran our of breakers so he
put the rest on one altogether. The oven/stove has it's own, the
refrigerator has it's own, the dryer has it's own. I'll have to make
a list. I don't even think they're labeled correctly, because the one
which the fan trips is something like "front and back light". I'll
have to check.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...er-334063-.htm

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On 2/20/2021 1:30 PM, King Zacs wrote:
My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I
removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan
motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan


Since we have no idea of your mechanical abilities we don't know if you
can fix it. Could be a motor with a short. Good chance you won't find a
part or you have to take it to a motor shop.

Probably just as easy and cheap to get a new fan.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/20/2021 1:30 PM, King Zacs wrote:
My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I
removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan
motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan


Since we have no idea of your mechanical abilities we don't know if you
can fix it. Could be a motor with a short.Â* Good chance you won't find a
part or you have to take it to a motor shop.

Probably just as easy and cheap to get a new fan.

He might also consider what else is on the circuit. It could be the fan
is OK but exceeding the amperage of the breaker when turned on.
Removing the fan motor and attaching it to a different circuit would be
one way to evaluate the fan motor.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

On Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 7:47:09 AM UTC-5, Ken wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/20/2021 1:30 PM, King Zacs wrote:
My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I
removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan
motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan


Since we have no idea of your mechanical abilities we don't know if you
can fix it. Could be a motor with a short. Good chance you won't find a
part or you have to take it to a motor shop.

Probably just as easy and cheap to get a new fan.
He might also consider what else is on the circuit. It could be the fan
is OK but exceeding the amperage of the breaker when turned on.
Removing the fan motor and attaching it to a different circuit would be
one way to evaluate the fan motor.


Easier test first would be to disconnect the wires at the motor, put the switch
back in, turn it on and see if the breaker holds and there is 120V at the wires
at the fan end. If it's the typical home fan, not worth trying to fix the motor,
they aren't that expensive, get a new one.

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 21 Feb 2021 10:06:42 -0800, Bob F
wrote:

On 2/21/2021 4:46 AM, Ken wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/20/2021 1:30 PM, King Zacs wrote:
My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I
removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan
motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan


Since we have no idea of your mechanical abilities we don't know if
you can fix it. Could be a motor with a short.* Good chance you won't
find a part or you have to take it to a motor shop.

Probably just as easy and cheap to get a new fan.

He might also consider what else is on the circuit.* It could be the fan
is OK but exceeding the amperage of the breaker when turned on. Removing
the fan motor and attaching it to a different circuit would be one way
to evaluate the fan motor.

Or, it could be a bad breaker.

Breakers are cheap but if he doesn't want to buy one for no good reason,
he could swap with another circuit. He might even have a circuit that
not used and he could swipe it from there and not replace it until he
knows if the first one is bad or not. Twice as much work, twice as
much chance of electrocuting himself ;-) but less money.

Hint: turn off the power to the whole house and use a flashlight to
replace the breaker. (Or would wearing good rubber gloves work?)