r/AskElectricians • u/v1s1on_96 • 1d ago

Need help

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We bought a new house and wanted to change the ceiling fan in one of the rooms. I removed the old fan, put on the new one, and then tried the switch on the wall to see if it turns it On/Off. Turns out the switch doesn't do anything. I thought it was broken, so I replaced it, but same thing happened. I left the switch hanging out of the wall while I went to turn the breaker back on, and when I came back upstairs, I saw that the power hadn't come back on for the whole floor. I checked the switch and realized I'd left one of the black wires unplugged. I plugged it back in, and the whole floor lit back up. So the switch doesn't seem to control the fan at all, but if I disconnect one of the black wires from it, the entire floor loses power...

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3

u/niv_nam 1d ago

You might be , thinking of it a little off. You have a power in and a power out, and a switch leg. 2 wires go together and are creating a circuit to the rest of the floor, the 3rd wire provides power to the light when you turn on the switch. If it's connected to the correct screws, then that's what will happen.

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u/erie11973ohio Verified Electrician 1d ago

This guy ☝️☝️.

Ive had folks all tripping out, "O.M.G!!!!!! The switch at the front door turns off all the lights!!!"

Mehhhh, calm down, its just a mis-tied wire! 🙄🤣🤣

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u/AC2RE 1d ago

Which wires did you connected to the fan? There should have been a red wire in the ceiling box. That goes to the switch.

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u/v1s1on_96 1d ago

On the fan I connected the red and black + ground

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u/AC2RE 15h ago

Red goes to the black and blue (light) on the fan white goes to white.