All I can tell you about working that high is to have an adult spotter at the bottom of the ladder, preferably someone who is strong enough to steady the ladder if you make any kind of move that might cause you to lose your balance. He/she/it doesn't have to be The Amazing Hulk, just someone strong enough to assist you with transporting and setting up the ladder. ^_^
TDD
Thanks Oren, that diagram was very helpful as I have never worked on fans before.
I will remove one of the canopies of the easier fans.
Surprisingly, since this fan is located in a foyer which has four side entrances, the number of unknown wall switches is astounding. There are roughly a dozen wall switches in that foyer, scattered about, only about 3/4 of which I have identified what they do (most turn on lights and some turn on outlets - but a few don't do anything that I know of).
They should make it mandatory that houses come with wiring diagrams!
Does anyone know if these remotes inside the canopy need batteries? (it might be *that* simple?)
I see. Thanks. Two of my inoperative fans look heavy, so, the hanging of the motor on the hook under the canopy will be important.
The main fan to get working is the foyer fan, 25 feet up (or so).
So, I'll first determine how the similarly looking working fan works with the white Emerson remote, and, then, I'll try all the combinations of the 4-pin DIP switch to guess at the code.
Interestingly, the problem will be compounded by not knowing which of the dozen or so wall switches in the foyer actually operate the fan.
There is also a cryptic switch with LEDs mounted at the front door, which I will snap a photo of to ask if anyone recognizes what it is.
(It's hard to get photos off my phone and my camera busted.)
Hi Oren, Wow. You're a saint. That looks exactly like the one I have.
The most important non-operating fan is the high one in the foyer. Luckily, the high foyer fan and the working fan appear to be in the original section of the house, and they appear to be of similar construction - so - I'm going to assume they work the same.
Unfortunately, this one working fan is still in a very tall location (I'm going to guess 15 to 18 feet) on a center beam of the original house - so - it's still up there (compared to the other two non-working fans which I think are in a remodel or additional construction area of the house).
Neither of the two original fans are accessible through a stepladder of any decent size (mine is about 10 feet tall), but I *might* be able to get an extension ladder on the
8 inches or so of center beam shown in this picture:
now, that idea is truly dangerous, especially without a spotter holding the bottom of the ladder quite well.
Unfortunately, of the 3 inoperative fans, only one has a light, and, that light works to (but the switch still doesn't operate the fan).
No, this one doesn't look like a casablanca, at least not their standard canopy
This one also, doesn't look like a Casablanca. Any of these fans can have either a built in remote control receiver, or a retro-fitted one, which is likely if there isn't any wall control for them. On non Casablanca fans, you need to drop the canopy to access whatever remote receiver is in there. It will be an obvious little plastic box with 5 or
6 wires and an antenna coming out of it.
This fan is also, not a Casablanca, so it appears that only one of them is. On this particular fan, just the canopy against the ceiling needs to be dropped to access any remote receiver.
Only a Casablanca fan, which it appears you only have on the high ceiling, has to be dropped entirely, to access the remote receiver. All the other fans, you only have to drop the canopy off of the ceiling to get to it. The one large ceiling hugger would need to have the blades removed before the canopy will come down.
Hi Oren, That's what I'll do, but, it's actually harder to do than you may think.
The reason is that there isn't a single switch in the house (except in the garage) that is your typical on/off switch.
They're all unmarked paddle switches. Entire arrays of them. Worse yet, since the house is a wide-open design with many entrances in the main foyer, there are a plethora of 3-way switches.
So, the hunt-and-peck approach, which I am forced to do, won't be so easy as just flipping a switch. :)
Some fans will have a built in remote receiver, which is part of the circuit board inside the large body (motor) of the fan. I think in your case, you are looking for "universal" remote receivers, which reside under the ceiling canopy
Thanks. Makes sense. I'm just trying to figure out *why* three of four don't work.
It *seems* to be the center beam for the entire house, so, I'm going to assume it's sturdy; but I did recognize the inherent danger.
The problem is that it's the most important fan, because (a) it's the only one working, and (b) it looks similar to the main fan in the tall foyer.
But, I think PLAN A will simply be to try all permutations and combinations of the remote DIP switch + the fan pull switch + any wall switches to see if I can jump start the fan high up in the tall foyer.
That's the only one that really matters anyway, as the other two non-working ones are in areas of much less concern.
Thanks again for the advice of experience.
Your answer brings up a secondary question.
Q: Do all these fans work off the same frequency and codes?
That is, if I have a Brand X fan, can I use the supposedly "universal"
4-PIN DIP Switch transmitter that I know to be working on that brand-X fan?
Thanks!
Will do and report back. But I will concentrate on the tall foyer fan first, as this is the critical fan to get working.
The hint that the universal Emerson remote control has that 4-place DIP switch is the key to running through the 16 frequencies, hoping one of them will enervate the fan without me having to take it apart.
Agreed.
Assuming the one working fan is similar to the non-working foyer fan, I'll figure out how that one working fan works (without taking it down because it too is high up in the air).
Once I get the hang of how the pull cord and light switch affect the remote control operation, I'll try to see if I can "trick" the tall foyer fan into working.
Once I get that tall foyer fan working, I'll work on the two non-working fans. I'll probably tackle the one with the light first as I KNOW the wall switch enervates that light.
Drat! If that's not a Casablanca, then this foyer fan, which is the critical fan, might not work the same way, nor with the same remote.
Right?
Oh. I see. And that happens to be the hardest fan of all to access. Do you think the "universal" Emerson remote will work on the Casablanca?
This is good to know! Thanks. I was wholly unaware of this until this thread.
Interesting. Good to know that's a pre-requisite step. This is the least important fan so it will likely be fixed last.
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