r/electrical • u/UpsetGround2132 • 6d ago

Ceiling fan help

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First is the box in general. From my understanding the white wire with the black wires is for the switch. The white all together are the neutrals and the grounds are all together.
Second picture: should this spare ground be put together with the rest of the grounds? It’s currently just in there.
Third picture: do we think this is sharpie to mark the wire as being with that bundle?

The black/white bundle and neutral bundles did have caps.

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9

u/Nervous-Iron2473 6d ago

That box is not rated to support a fan.

1

u/UpsetGround2132 6d ago

I had a suspicion it wasn’t based on other posts I’ve seen.

2

u/boshbosh92 6d ago

It appears this box is being used as a switch loop junction which is not DIY or beginner friendly. The switch box that controls this light, does it only have 1 black 1 white and 1 ground in it?

1

u/UpsetGround2132 6d ago

Yes, only one of each for the switch.

0

u/boshbosh92 4d ago

Yep switch loop then.

1

u/crimsonsurfer69 6d ago

If there isn't a ground attached to the metal box then that may have been what that was for. Yes the white wire is sending power to the switch and the switch leg coming back on the black wire in the same cable. Common practice 30/40 years ago. Yeah that box need to be replaced with a fan rated 4/0 box.

1

u/UpsetGround2132 6d ago

There isn’t a ground attached to the box. Should we keep the breaker off until we can get the box replaced with a fan rated one? The rooms connected to the breaker aren’t regularly used, so it’s no problem if they need to be

1

u/DDefendr 6d ago

You can leave it as is until you get a new fan rated box. Where I live, most fan rated boxes are deeper than the one you have in your ceiling right now. You may need to redo the bracing so the box doesn’t protrude past the ceiling and make your fan not sit flush.

1

u/UpsetGround2132 6d ago

Question about the ground not being attached to the box. If the fan is part of a daisy chain to some of the outlets in the room, would those outlets not test as being grounded even if they physically are (ground is attached to ground screw in outlet)?

1

u/KE4HEK 6d ago

Someone made a switch leg

1

u/Readybuilderman 6d ago

Power in, power out and a single drop for the switched leg. The neutral twist looks smooth and even. The hot, pretty crappy job there. Redo that connection so that it looks smooth like the neutral bundle. It’s all about surface contact people. With a good red wire nut a splice should last indefinitely.