1. Home
  2. Home Repair
  3. Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker

Turning on the ceiling fan started tripping the breaker

Exactly what it says. We bought the house in February. Fan and light worked fine. In the beginning of August, the breaker would trip every time we turned the switch. I've taken the light fixture off the fan to check for a short, nothing visible. I've taken the fan off the ceiling and check for a short or bad connection, nothing visible. I've opened the switch box on the wall, nothing visible. I went into the attic to check for signs of rats or other varmints eating the wires, nothing visible.

My first inclination is to replace the switch. Replace the fan if the switch isn't the problem. Then call an electrician if the fan isn't the problem.

Any advice?

Reply to
MS
Loading thread data ...

you did not check the fans amp draw....its iether a bad fan motor or a short in the wiring, you dont check that visibly... you use an ohmeter.

its risky...dont run it and have a competent friend do your checkout.

Phil scott

Reply to
phil scott

Is it a cheapo multi-speed switch? I've had those arc on me when they begin to wear out.

Reply to
RickH

1) The breaker could be defective. Can you replace the breaker?

2) The breaker could be overloaded. How big is the breaker? Do you know what else is on that breaker? Can you bring power from another circuit to that fan?

3) The fan is bad. Can you temporarily replace that ceiling fan with another one just to try?

If you're not comfortable with any of these call an electrician...

Reply to
Chris

------------------------------------------ Here is a possibility: Usually the fan casing has two switches: One for the fan and the other for the light. Do the following: (1) Turn both switches on the casing off. (2) Turn the wall switch on. If the CB trips, replace the wall switch. Else, (3) In succession, turn wall switch off, turn fan switch on, turn the wall switch on. If CB trips, the fan motor has short. Else, (4) repeat step (3) this time with the light switch. HTH.

Reply to
hat
1) This particular fan has lights attached, but there is only one simple on/off switch for the fan/light.

2) The front half of the house loses power when the fan trips the breaker. (It is only one breaker which trips)

3) I'm not quite sure how big the breaker is. I'll have to check.
Reply to
MS

This must be "ancient" fan and it is time for replacement. But to be sure, remove/disconnect the fan altogether, then turn on the wall switch to see what happens. I suspect the fan is the culprit.

Reply to
hat

*I would remove the fan and attach a pigtail light socket with a bulb to the wires. Then turn on the switch and see what happens. If the breaker doesn't trip it would be a save assumption that the fan is bad.
Reply to
John Grabowski

1) are you saying that 1 switch turns on/off both lights and fan? IE there are no separated switch on the fan? Odd. But you could still remove the bulbs to leave just the fan motor working. 2) What's in the front half of the house, only lights and empty wall sockets? You can add up the watts (the Amps if they are shown) of all the devices/lights and see if that total exceeds or is very close to the capacity of the breaker (see below). Don't forget the fan. In case you forgot --> Amps = Watts/Volts 3) There is a number on the breaker that shows the amps. Something like 15, 20, 30 etc...
Reply to
Chris

"or a

He was talking about the short professor.

Reply to
ithejury
1) One switch does it all.

2) The front of the house includes the living room and two bedrooms.

I've even tried turning off and unplugging everything else in the house, but the fan still trips the breaker. I'll have to run to Lowes and get a light socket to test.

Reply to
MS

.. and may be look around for a new ceiling fan? All the clues point in that direction.

Reply to
Chris

The front HALF of the house???

Take stock of what exactly loses power when you turn on the fan. What is running, then shuts off?

The answer may be very simple: Your house is wired poorly, too much on one circuit. You moved in recently. As you unpacked over the last several months, you have set up rooms and electrical appliances, increasing the load on this single circuit that serves HALF your house. The fan worked when you moved in because you hadn't plugged in all that other stuff. Now it's the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Each room should have its own circuit, and some rooms should have two.

I'm in a similar situation. The wiring is totally asinine. Many circuits run from room to room to room, each serving 1-2 outlets or fixtures in each room. To shut off power to a single room, I may as well pull the main breaker because I have to shut off several circuits to get all the outlets and fixtures.

Reply to
mkirsch1

I checked the breakers last night. It seems most are seriously underloaded, as if to say the electrician started by trying to put each receptacle on it's own breaker, then ran our of breakers so he put the rest on one altogether. The oven/stove has it's own, the refrigerator has it's own, the dryer has it's own. I'll have to make a list. I don't even think they're labeled correctly, because the one which the fan trips is something like "front and back light". I'll have to check.

Reply to
MS

My fan is tripping electricity. The wall switch is working fine cos I removed then fan and the switch is working fine. Could it be the fan motor and if so can I repair it or should dispose the fan

Reply to
King Zacs

Since we have no idea of your mechanical abilities we don't know if you can fix it. Could be a motor with a short. Good chance you won't find a part or you have to take it to a motor shop.

Probably just as easy and cheap to get a new fan.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

He might also consider what else is on the circuit. It could be the fan is OK but exceeding the amperage of the breaker when turned on. Removing the fan motor and attaching it to a different circuit would be one way to evaluate the fan motor.

Reply to
Ken

Easier test first would be to disconnect the wires at the motor, put the switch back in, turn it on and see if the breaker holds and there is 120V at the wires at the fan end. If it's the typical home fan, not worth trying to fix the motor, they aren't that expensive, get a new one.

Reply to
trader_4

Breakers are cheap but if he doesn't want to buy one for no good reason, he could swap with another circuit. He might even have a circuit that not used and he could swipe it from there and not replace it until he knows if the first one is bad or not. Twice as much work, twice as much chance of electrocuting himself ;-) but less money.

Hint: turn off the power to the whole house and use a flashlight to replace the breaker. (Or would wearing good rubber gloves work?)

Reply to
micky

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.