Two Ceiling Fans, Two Switches, One Breaker

I've had an on-off problems with two of my ceiling fans (different makers, one hunter and one minka). Wired differently too, the minka one is controlled by a wall remote control, and the hunter one by two wired wall switches).



Every now and then, for no reason, the fan will stop working. It may stop working for a day, a week, whatever.. then start working again for a month or even a year. When this happens, the light kit on both fans still works (on the minka, the light kit and fan are on the same line, separated in the fan by the remote control receiver. On the hunter, it's two different wires going into the fan.).



It stumps me.. I'll just turn the fan on one day, it will spin a little bit, then stop. Nothing gets it to work. I can hear a small hum in its motor, like it's getting power, but it won't spin. Then a week later I may accidentally turn it on again and it will run. Two and three years ago I had repeated on/off problems with both fans. Last year, both worked perfectly the entire year. This year one of them has started acting up again.



Any hints would be appreciated.
      

I installed 3 ceiling fans today, with the help of an electrician friend.  Two are Hampton Bay and one is westinghouse.  I am also using Lutron Maestro dimmer wall switches.  One of the Hampton Bay and the Westinghouse have developed apulsing hum when the fan is on.  Interestingly, one HB does not.



In the instruction manuals for both brands, it says that it takes 24 hours for most noises to go away.  However, it also says that I should not have used a solid state variable speed control.



I really hate the thought of having to take these down.  Any advice?
      

I just bought a couple of Hunter Stratford II 44" ceiling fans from Home Depot, and I've run across a problem in the installation. The downrod screws into the motor housing, and the manual says it is normal for 2-3 threads to remain visible when done. Well, both of mine started off easy enough, but I ended up with more like 5-6 threads remaining visible. This means only 4-5 threads secure the downrod to the fan, which amounts to 1 cm or a little less. There is a set screw that comes in from the side, and while it will touch the downrod, by design it does not go through the downrod. There is a "coating" on the threads inside the motor housing which I guess is a thread-lock adhesive. I'm going to call Hunter tomorrow to ask if this is all OK, but I'm curious if this is SOP for ceiling fans. Does it sound safe and secure for a fan to mount to the downrod simply by screwing in 1 cm or a little less with some thread-lock adhesive, further secured by a set-screw that applies pressure to the downrod but doesn't go through it?
      

Hello,



I currently have one light switch which operates an outlet in one of my bedrooms.  I want to add a ceiling fan that has independent switches for the fan and light - but I want to make sure i'm wiring it correctly and safely.



Current (First Pic)- Live hot feeds into bottom of switch (bottom insert hole) and the all of the bedroom outlets (pig-tailed) tie into the bottom of the switch on the screw.  Coming out of the top of the switch is one hot which feeds to a single outlet.  All of the neutral and grounds are tied together.



New Plan (Second Pic)- Remove the constant outlet hot from the screw, add a new hot wire to the top of new switch and run a wire up to the attic for fan.  Add another hot wire from the bottom of that switch to the third switch and run another wire up to the attic for the lights.  Re-connect the constant outlet wire to the screw of the last switch.  Connect all the neutrals and all of the grounds together.



At the top of the ceiling, connect the neutrals and grounds together with the fans neutral and ground.  Connect the fan hot to the fan switch hot, and the fan light hot to the light switch hot.
      

i have 3 switch sets in my house that are giving me absolute fits.



#1  kitchen switch, controls the light over the outside door




    Code:

   

3 sets of lines coming in,



line from the breaker panel (power)



line to the ceiling lights 



line to the outside porch light.

i cannot get this 3 line to work without tripping the breaker every time i turn the switch off



#2 bathroom switches




    Code:

   

power feed line



line to the light over the medicine cabinet



line to the second switch to control the exhaust fan.

same issue as the first set, flip the switch and trip the breaker (different breaker from the kitchen switch)



#3 living room switch and plug controlled via switch




    Code:

   

 power feed line



outside porch light line



line to wall switch to control the lower wall outlet

flip switch, trip breaker



the switches i have are "1 pole" am i using the wrong switches for this job?
      

Greetings,



I am looking to wire a sub-panel in my barn to support a general workshop.  Loads would include standard woodworking tools (including 220V table saw), welding, air compressor, etc.



The house has 200AMP main breaker and minimal in-house loads.  Dryer is gas, Oven and cooktop are gas.  Water heater is off the oil furnace.  I think the biggest single load is the well-pump and/or fridge compressor.  We do have sporadic toaster oven, hairdryers etc.  Otherwise its just lights, ceiling fans, flat-panel tv, stereo...



We had 4" conduit installed to the barn, so there is plenty of room to pull a big cable.  The entire run from the house panel to the barn totals around 155' (probably less, but rounding up)



My questions a



Can I pull a 100AMP sub-panel from my main house panel as described?


Would 4/0,4/0,4/0,2/0 aluminum service entrance cable be a good choice for this run?  Could I do it with something lighter?


Could I put an additional sub-panel in the garage (about halfway to the barn) by interrupting the run?  The garage subpanel would have a 220V plug for possible welding and/or electric car charging.  Would this require a separate run?


Are there any other considerations I should be thinking about in planning this?




Thanks for any thoughts you can share on this! 



Cheers,



pete
      

I have 3 bedrooms on 15 amp circuits, 14 gauge wire. Original wiring is one bedroom is on one circuit and the other 2 bedrooms on another circuit. The wall switches in each switched the top half of an outlet in each room. I converted the wire at the wall switch to a 110V feed from the outlet and ran 14/3 from the switch to the ceiling for a ceiling fan. I replaced the outlets since the jumper was cut to isolate the 2 plug ins for switching. Is this whole scenario code compliant?
      

We are just beginning to start with our kitchen remodel. Today, I mapped out all the circuits and this is what I found.



Circuit # 7 - 20 amp circuit to 1 back splash outlet then to 3 kitchen wall outlets, then to a closet outlet and closet ceiling light and then to a side  porch light!



Circuit # 8 - 20 amp to Dishwasher and Disposal



Circuit # 9 - 20 amp circuit to microwave and kitchen ceiling lights. 2 patio recessed lights and dining room ceiling light.



Circuit # 12 - 20 amp circuit to another back splash outlet then to 2 dining room wall outlets.



Circuit # 14 - 20 amp to Refrigerator only



Circuit # 18 - 15 amp to GFCI outlet in garage then that feeds 3 outlets for 3 bathroom outlets and 1 outside patio outlet.



I going to have to add 1 more back splash outlet due to increase in counter space. I'll put the microwave on a dedicated circuit. So I need 2 additional breakers but I only have 1 blank spot in the breaker panel. I guess I can add one of those slim tandem breakers.



So my question, is it ok to have additional wall outlets on the same circuit as a back splash outlet?  If it's ok I'll lighten up circuit # 7 by putting some of those wall outlets on the additional back splash outlet.

Oh, I have 2 20 amp circuits I did not get identified yet! I'll get to those tomorrow.



thanks!
      

I am trying to replace a rocker switch that runs my Panasonic bathroom exhaust fan with a programmable switch that allows me to run the thing automatically several times a day to help suck moisture out of the condo (it's a 1962 condo with concrete walls, aluminum windows, and no central air).



I initially bought a GE SunSmart Timer but it requires a neutral, which I don't think I have. I understand there are some other switches like Intermatic ones that don't require neutrals.



I don't think I have a neutral because the condo is old and I don't see a white wire in the box, but what's strange is that I do see an unconnected orange wire in there. Does anybody know what that could be? Image is attached. Essentially there are 2 blues, 1 red, 1 black, and 1 orange (unconnected) in there. The only thing I can find about orange wires is something called a "high leg delta" circuit, which seems reasonable because it's supposedly used to control fans and lights off the same circuit, which is exactly what's going on here (one can light, one heat lamp, and one fan).



Any ideas?
      

Help!  We decided to raise the ceiling in our kitchen for some new taller cabinets. We have 30" cabinets with a 7' drop ceiling. By taking out the drop ceiling we can go to an 8' ceiling with 36" cabinets.  We just had the ceiling taken out and now I see I got a problem!



This is a 2 story home, the wall in question is a load bearing wall (runs through the center of the house) The main breaker panel is in this wall (the panel opening is in the adjacent family room)



As you can see in the photos I cannot extend the wall up because all of the home wiring is in the way!  I expected I might have to run longer wires but not this. 



Some ideas we've thought about...

notch the double 2x4s (not sure how much I need to notch or allowed to)



build a cove (box) and leave the wires like they are (might be an eyesore in our new kitchen)



put up a large crown moulding along the entire wall (would be the only crown moulding in the house)



extend the ceiling up 6-7" instead of 12" (should leave enough room for wire to stay)



I'm leaning to the notching option if I can find a way to reinforce that section.



Any ideas?



thanks!