Electrical

Ask an Electrical Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Electrical question?

3 Electricians are Online Now

characters left:

Not an Electrical Question?

Question

I am replacing my bathroom fan and cannot make sense of the wiring. The bathroom fan I'm replacing was old. It was only a fan (no light fixture). The light switch on the wall has two light switches - 1 to the vanity and 1 for the fan. There are two sets of wires running in the attic into the fan. Both sets have 1 blk, 1 white & 1 bare wire. On the fan, there was 1 blk & 1 white. The blk wire from the fan was connected to 1 of the white wires from the house. The white wire from the fan was connected to 1 white wire from the house. The remaining 2 blk wires (from the house) were connected & the 2 bare wires were also connected.

Now, the new fan has a light, night light and fan features. It has a blue/white set of wires (two wires, but taped together; the light), red/white set (night light), blk/white set (fan) & green wire (single wire).

Ideally, I'd like the 1 light switch to turn on the vanity & the other switch to turn on the fan (& light if possible).

Please help...

Submitted: 153 days and 15 hours ago.

Category: Electrical

Value: $15

Status: AWAITING CUSTOMER ACTION

Posted by Jason 153 days and 15 hours ago.

Info Request

Hi XXXXX. Do you have the 2 sets of wires in the ceiling identified in some way? In other words, do you know which white wire from the ceiling was connected to the black wire on the old fan?

153 days and 15 hours ago.

Reply

Yes, taped the black wire on the old fan and marked it B2W. I also taped the white wire from the ceiling W2B. I also taped the white wire from the ceiling W2W.

Posted by Jason 153 days and 15 hours ago.

Answer

Thank you for asking your question on
You are corresponding with Jason - Your personal on-line "Electrical Consultant"

Thank you for the additional information. On your new fan, please connect the wires as follows:

All of the white wires from your new fan need to connect to the white wire from the ceiling that you have marked "W2W".

Go ahead and connect the 2 black wires in the ceiling back to each other only.

The black and blue wires from your fan need to connect to the white wire in the ceiling that you marked "B2W".

If your night light feature requires a constantly hot connection, it needs to be added to the 2 black wires that don't connect to the fan.

If the night light feature requires a connection to a switched hot, add it to the red and blue wires from the fixture, that are connected to one of the ceiling white wires.

Please ask as many follow up questions as you need!

If you need further clarification on anything I posted – Please don’t hesitate to ask!

100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS MY GOAL

Remember to leave FEEDBACK if my answers were helpful.

Accepted Answer

CORRECTION - Add it to the blue and black wires from the fixture, that connect to one of the ceiling white wires. Sorry for the error.

from my previous answer...
If the night light feature requires a connection to a switched hot, add it to the red and blue wires from the fixture, that are connected to one of the ceiling white wires.

The 2 bare wires from the ceiling will connect to the one green wire from the fixture, for a total of 3 ground wires in one wire nut.

Edited by Jason on 6/21/2009 at 10:12 PM

Accepts:
Expert:	Jason
Pos. Feedback:	99.7 %
Answered:	6/21/2009

Service Technician

15 yrs. experience in all types of installations, troubleshooting, and repairs

153 days and 11 hours ago.

Reply

Thanks Jason. I actually typed the response below and failed to hit the reply button. In the meantime, I followed all of your steps, including the corrected step (your last post). My ceiling fan is up and running. THANK YOU.

I completed the following:
1. Connected all white wires from my new fan need to the white wire from the ceiling that I marked "W2W" (fyi..what does this achieve?).
2. Connected the 2 black wires in the ceiling back to each other only (what does this achieve?)
3. Connected the black and blue wires from your fan to connect to the white wire in the ceiling that I marked "B2W" (I assume this is putting the fan and ceiling light on the same hot wire, correct?)
4. I am no certain if the night light feature requires a connection to a switched hot and the directions don't help. So I'll start by connecting the night light feature (red) the 2 black wires that don't connect to the fan (the 2 black ceiling wires in #1 above). How will I know if this "worked"? If it does require a connection to a switched hot, did you mean I should add it to the blue and black wires from the fixtures?

In general, I'd really like to know the "why" to these actions as well, which is why I've posted questions behind the actions taken. If you wouldn't mind responding one last time, I'd really appreciate a response to them as well. Thanks, I will try this out now and will likely have some additional questions.

Posted by Jason 153 days and 11 hours ago.

Answer

Hi there. I am happy to answer additional questions.

1. When you connect all of the white wires together, you are connecting the fan, the light, and the night light portions of the fixture to the system neutral wire. This is the return path that the current uses to complete the circuit. Current always seeks its source.

2. By connecting the 2 black wires in the ceiling together, you tied the system hot wire to the wire that goes down from the ceiling to feed constantly hot power to the wall switch.

3. By connecting the black, red, and blue wires from the fixture to the appropriate wires in the ceiling, you have tied them into the system hot, or switched hot. The current goes into the fixture on the colored wires, and goes back out of the fixture on the white wire. Yes, you are correct about putting the fan and light on the same hot wire. Yes, I meant if the night light requires a connection to a switched hot, it needs to be tied into the blue and black wires from the fixture, that connect to one of the ceiling white wires.

If you have additional questions, then by all means post them here. I'm happy to assist you further.

Your night light likely requires a connection to a constantly hot wire, so it will come on automatically when the room is dark enough.

Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.

Electrical

Have your own Electrical question?

Question

Info Request

Hi XXXXX. Do you have the 2 sets of wires in the ceiling identified in some way? In other words, do you know which white wire from the ceiling was connected to the black wire on the old fan?

Reply

Yes, taped the black wire on the old fan and marked it B2W. I also taped the white wire from the ceiling W2B. I also taped the white wire from the ceiling W2W.

Answer

Accepted Answer

Reply

Answer

Related Electrical Questions