electrical wiring help

[chris4001asat]

I'm putting up a ceiling fan in my bedroom. There's an on/off light switch on the wall, and the only thing it controls is an electrical outlet. I want the fan to be controlled by the light switch, I could care less if it controls the electrical outlet. Access is easiest to the light switch. There are only two wires coming into the box with the light switch. A black and a white. I have an idea on how to do this, but I thought I'd better ask here first.

[LowendinFL]

The switch is "reversed" from a power source to the outlet. Probably just gets power from the outlet itself. That means power goes through one blk/wht and back down the other when the switch is flipped.

Is there a wire up by the ceiling fan already? If there is it is more than likely "hot" all the time. Meaning that you would have to turn the fan off and on with the pull chain.

Either way you will need to run a wire from the switch to the fan location. A wire just like the one at the switch location. Ex: 14/2 or 12/2 romex probably.

To connect it to function like you want you need to change the connection where the switch wire is running to (probably the switched outlet). Just match the colors up. Blk to Blk, Wht to wht. At the switch you want to connect the Black from one wire to the white of the other. (Doesn't matter which one). Than connect the other black and white to the switch. Then at the fan location you just match the colors. In all these connections the bare copper and or green is always the ground and should always be twisted together and connnected to whatever device is there.

Hope this makes sense. Its easier to draw a diagram! Also be sure to shut off the proper breaker before working on anything!

[Steve]

Originally Posted by LowendinFL

At the switch you want to connect the Black from one wire to the white of the other. (Doesn't matter which one). Than connect the other black and white to the switch.

Dude, you have no business giving electrical advice to anyone. Even if you're trying to explain how to back feed a single pole switch, it very much DOES matter. Per NEC the white MUST be tied to the constant hot.


If you want it to WORK and not dead short....

Match color to color in the receptacle that will carry a proper constant hot source of power to the switch.

Run your wire from the fan to the switch.

Tie the whites together and fold them into the back of the box, forget about them.

Take the remaining two black wires and put one under each screw terminal of a single pole switch. That will carry your interrupted power to the fan.

Tie all the grounds together, bring one wire off the splice and tie it to the GREEN screw on the single pole switch.

That will give you a ceiling box that has a bare ground, a neutral that is white and a switch controlled conductor that is black.

[LowendinFL]

Originally Posted by Steve

Dude, you have no business giving electrical advice to anyone. Even if you're trying to explain how to back feed a single pole switch, it very much DOES matter. Per NEC the white MUST be tied to the constant hot.


If you want it to WORK and not dead short....

Match color to color in the receptacle that will carry a proper constant hot source of power to the switch.

Run your wire from the fan to the switch.

Tie the whites together and fold them into the back of the box, forget about them.

Take the remaining two black wires and put one under each screw terminal of a single pole switch. That will carry your interrupted power to the fan.

Tie all the grounds together, bring one wire off the splice and tie it to the GREEN screw on the single pole switch.

That will give you a ceiling box that has a bare ground, a neutral that is white and a switch controlled conductor that is black.

Oops I guess you are right about the switch location. I guess its been a while. Not sure what I was thinking. But how do you figure the NEC requires the white to be tied to a constant hot when white is the neutral? Speaking of dead shorts...

[Steve]

Originally Posted by LowendinFL

But how do you figure the NEC requires the white to be tied to a constant hot when white is the neutral? Speaking of dead shorts...

When you back feed a switch in residential, you have the choice of two colors, white and black.

If you use black, that leaves a switch controlled white wire. In a trouble shooting process the white wire with the switch off can be confused with an open neutral wire and can get energized by the switch usually while I'm holding onto the stupid thing.

If the white wire is used as a constant hot, it is either on with the circuit or off with the circuit. a much safer situation.

If the white wire is used as a constant hot, any electrician can look at the splice and immediately tell due to having one or more blacks under a wire nut with one white that there is a back fed switch coming out of the box and a black wire that is switch controlled present at the box.

That is why the NEC requires that you use the white wire as a feed only in those circumstances, only in residential.

Electricians get taught: "The neutral is always white but, the white isn't always neutral"

The NEC has also as of 15+ years ago required that the white used in that manner be permanently identified at both ends a different color so the whole color thing should be a non issue but, it rarely ever gets done.

[chris4001asat]

Thanks for all your help! Works great!