# Help wiring a ceiling fan



## jpos34 (Aug 31, 2019)

I'm trying to put in a ceiling fan at my sister in laws house. This is what I'm working with. She said there was just a standard light there before with a single switch. I'm trying to wire this fan and when initially did I put the white that circled in green in with the whites in blue and white to the fan. Connected all the blacks together and when you flip the switch it trips the breaker. Next I added the white circled in green in with the blacks and the fan came on but switch would not turn fan on or off it was just a constant on other than if you used the fan pull cord. Can anyone help me figure this out. Figured there may be an electrician or two on here.


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Ok try this……sometimes electricians use the white wire coming from the switch (white green circle) as the "Hot" wire. So try splicing that WHITE wire to the two black wires. Make sure they are the constant HOT wires. Hopefully you have a voltage tester. Then that lone black wire coming from switch gets wired to fan black wire. The fan white goes with the other two white wires.

Called down on white back on black. Saves the electrician from running a third wire


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## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

are the fan wires in this picture or have you removed the fan to take the picture. I'm assuming this is the box the fan is mounted on and the fan is not shown in the picture.

I see 3 cables entering the box so it looks like hot and neutral come into the box (cable 1) and then exit the box to go somewhere else (cable 2) and then the final cable (cable 3) runs to the switch.

All the black wires from all three cables get connected together as thats hot, 120v.

As already said the white wire circled in green is the switch leg. It's the switched hot wire. The black wire for that cable is hot and runs to the switch. The returning white wire is switched hot from the switch. The fan/light connects to that white wire (circled in green). It should really be wrapped in a piece of electrical tape to mark it as a switched hot wire. The white wires circled in blue are the neutral connections and the other wire from the fan/light should be wired to them.


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Yeah either way……you can make the white the switched hot leg. I usually feed the white as hot going to switch. And make the black coming back from switch the switch leg. Hence down on white, back on black.


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## jpos34 (Aug 31, 2019)

Thanks guys for the help. So the single white was the switch hot, I ran it to the fan black and now everything works as it should. Simple yet so hard.


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

jpos34 said:


> Thanks guys for the help. So the single white was the switch hot, I ran it to the fan black and now everything works as it should. Simple yet so hard.


Yep the white is the switch leg.


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