How do I troubleshoot this fan?

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Sometimes no actually most of the time I view an OP’s problem as a learning experience as mush as a problem to solve. I try and intermix the whole picture along with the quick steps of trial and error so that the OP and the other 200 lurkers that read the thread have a chance to gain some understanding from it. There are actually three switches controlling this fan. Anyone or all could be the problem. I agree checking voltage across the switch open should read 120v checking across it closed should read zero volts even though both sides of the switch would be hot. Voltage is the difference in potential so if both are 120 it will read zero. If there is a bare copper earth ground and the switch is closed the voltage between each side and ground should be 120.
 
Get a non-contact voltage detector to see what is hot and what is not. Disconnect power leg to fan so you don't get chopped up. Turn switch ON and check for power to your fan. If the hot leg has power then you have a fan problem. Replace it. If the hot leg I NOT registering power, you have a circuit problem.
 
nealtw said:
I am late to this party so I don't know what has been done.
Now that you have the fan hanging loose and you are looking for live power, your head could be in a bad place if the fans starts.
remove the fan and don't let the black and white wires touch each other or anything else.
Check the power between the cluster of white wires and the cluster of black wires, should be about 120 volts.

If you have power there, then check the power between the two wires that were going to the fan, with switch up and switch down.

If you find no power there, pull the switch and connect those two wire together and check the fan wires again.
Click to expand...

I tried to find power between the two clusters. I got no reading. I'm not sure if this was because the multimeter didn't touch copper or because there was no power.

There is no power between the white and black wires that were leading to the fan.

So you want me to remove the light switch from the wall, disconnect the wires, and attach the white to the black? I also noticed that after I removed the fan, there was no voltage reading at the switch. Prior to this, it was 120 volts, now it is 2.2 volts or zero.

IMG_20160816_244806252.jpg
 
bud16415 said:
You could test the switch by jumping a test wire across it if you know how to do that safely. You can check voltage at the wire nut where the 4 blacks and one white go together. Check between that bunch of wires and the bunch that have the brown / whites nutted together. If you have a volt meter and know how to use it you can sometimes find some copper at the base of the wire nut to stick the probe to.
Click to expand...

I tested the switch with a multimeter. It had 120 volts prior to removing the fan, it now has 0 (or 2.2) volts.

As far as testing the wire nuts, I tried, but I don't think I found any copper. I could undo those nuts if necessary, but I'm not going to do that yet.
 
CallMeVilla said:
Get a non-contact voltage detector to see what is hot and what is not. Disconnect power leg to fan so you don't get chopped up. Turn switch ON and check for power to your fan. If the hot leg has power then you have a fan problem. Replace it. If the hot leg I NOT registering power, you have a circuit problem.
Click to expand...

I believe I have a circuit problem.
 
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farmerjohn1324 said:
I believe I have a circuit problem. The switch no longer has power since I disconnected the fan, but this is to be expected since the power went to the fan first, right?
Click to expand...

No: the white wire in the black cluster takes the power to the switch and then to the light/ fan.

Don't confuse that when some one said power went to fan first, they meant it went to that box first as compared to the switch box.
 
nealtw said:
So at the switch you are checking from each screw to ground, with the switch in both positions?
Click to expand...

I was not. I was doing black screw to white screw.

I now get 120 volts when doing ground to white screw. I get zero when doing black to ground.

When I probe the copper ground wire itself, I get zero, but when I probe the metal part of the switch, I get the 120 reading.
 
farmerjohn1324 said:
I was not. I was doing black screw to white screw.

I now get 120 volts when doing ground to white screw. I get zero when doing black to ground.

When I probe the copper ground wire itself, I get zero, but when I probe the metal part of the switch, I get the 120 reading.
Click to expand...

Just so you know if everything was working right and you measure between those two screws, you could be feeding the light and fan thru the meter.
Very dangerous. That is what my fear was earlier in a post..

Pull the wires off the switch and connect them and check for power at the other box.
 
There is now 120 volts at the fan. Is this 100% proof that all I need is a new switch?

How is it possible to get shocked through a multimeter if it's made of plastic?
 
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Yes turn off the power, sounds like they are stabbed in the back instead of wrapped around the screw. If they are stabbed in the back, there is a small round hole there too, close to each wire, some times if you shove a nail in the other hole the wire will release.
If one or both wires pull out easily, that could be the problem, using the screws is always better.
 
nealtw said:
Yes turn off the power, sounds like they are stabbed in the back instead of wrapped around the screw. If they are stabbed in the back, there is a small round hole there too, close to each wire, some times if you shove a nail in the other hole the wire will release.
If one or both wires pull out easily, that could be the problem, using the screws is always better.
Click to expand...

Edit:

I attached the wires to the screws. Now, there is no power to the fan.

I get 120 from the white wire to the ground with the switch in either position. I get zero from the black wire to the ground. There is no power to the fan in either position.

On this switch, the white wire is attached to the bottom-right screw, and the black to the top-left. I noticed there is a switch on the other side of the room (control an outside light) that is the opposite, with the black on the bottom-right and white on the top-left. Could this be my problem? Were the wires to the switch backwards? If not, the switch must be bad because I have seen that the power works.

Also, what is the proper way to attach the ground wire to the switch? It had been wrapped around the switch, but not screwed to anything.

IMG_20160816_045503583.jpg
 
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On a switch leg where there is only one cable it does not matter which wire goes where.
There should be a green ground screw else about on the switch, if not with the copper wire attached to the box and the switch screwed in place it is grounded thru the steel box.
So remove the switch, twist the wires together and check for power at the light box. Don't forget to turn the power on before checking for power.:)
 
If you find power at the light box, turn off breaker and re install the fan. it should work when the breaker is turned on and can be controlled with the pull chain,
If it still doesn't work, we will have to check the switches in the fan it self.
 
By the looks of that switch, when you buy a new one buy a box of them and a box of outlets, when you paint a room change these things out.
 
nealtw said:
Just so you know if everything was working right and you measure between those two screws, you could be feeding the light and fan thru the meter.
Very dangerous. That is what my fear was earlier in a post..

Pull the wires off the switch and connect them and check for power at the other box.
Click to expand...

If your meter is set to volts there is no danger in checking voltage across a switch. Volt meters don’t pass current they look for a difference in electrical potential. In the case of this switch the meter won’t be trying to power the fan if the switch is open. Again if the switch is closed it should read zero from screw to screw as it will have 120 on both screws and it should have 120 from screw to ground on both sides. That will tell you if the switch is good or bad without jumping anything.
 
It was 120 from white to ground, and 0 from black to ground.

Does that tell me the switch is bad?
 
bud16415 said:
If your meter is set to volts there is no danger in checking voltage across a switch. Volt meters don’t pass current they look for a difference in electrical potential. In the case of this switch the meter won’t be trying to power the fan if the switch is open. Again if the switch is closed it should read zero from screw to screw as it will have 120 on both screws and it should have 120 from screw to ground on both sides. That will tell you if the switch is good or bad without jumping anything.
Click to expand...

You turn off power and check the continuity. but first you disconnect the wires so you don't get a back feed reading.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaIszMlrQNE[/ame]
 
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