Ceiling Fan Won't Shut Off??
 

On Saturday, August 12, 2000 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Bill H. wrote:
I found the answer!!!

This one really bugged me and I could not figure out what was going on.
Then, I remembered that my wife and I were preparing the hallway for
repainting when she noticed an old humidstat control that had been there
unused since we bought the house 10 years ago. I had never paid any
attention to it in all that time because I assumed that it was one of many
useless controls which were connected to an old room heating system long
disconnected.

I was sure that it no longer worked either because we had the furnace
replaced several years ago and Buster, the guy that did it, said nothing
about a humidity control. Anyway, my wife turned the switch and said,
"Listen, it clicks when you turn it to 45." Again, I didn't pay any
attention and went about the usual scraping, sanding, priming, and painting.
(The hallway where the humidistat control is located is 4 rooms and about 50
feet away from the bathroom in question.)

But, somewhere, thinking about that danged fan and wondering what was going
on, I thought back to that minute or two with the old humidistat and began
wondering. Sure enough, I reconnected the fan (luckily it has a built in
plug under the vent cover) and played with the humidistat. The bathroom fan
goes on and off with that little click that my wife heard. Must either be a
short, or somebody doing some electrical work earlier connected the hot wire
from the old humidistat to the bathroom fan. Guess I'll have to get Dave the
electrician out to check into it once the attic cools off and he has some
time for this kind of thing. Meanwhile we'll leave that old humidity control
alone.

Thanks for your help. The ideas of a short somewhere were what I think
sparked my mind to think about this.

Bill H.

Phil Munro wrote in message
...


(SNIP, SNIP)
It is something that you might expect if the wiring to the fan was
improperly installed, but this is no new installation. It's been
working for
the last 12 years and probably 20 before that so far as I know.

Any ideas?

Bill H.

--
Phil Munro Dept of Electrical & Computer Engin
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, Ohio 44555

Hi Bill,

Good old internet!! (and you!!) I had the same problem. I took off the cover plate and looked at the switches everything seemed intact. Then I thought that the switch plate might be defective, so was going to buy another one....and call an electrician (I am not handy and did not want to blow up the house!!). However, I thought I'd check the internet and found your story. We had a guest staying in our house and she wasn't familiar with our thermostats, so must have turned up our humidity control. After reading about your experience I turned our control down and instantly the fan stopped! Thank you for saving me an electrician call!!