Need help with my chandelier wiring

[Brent]

The dimmer was used to dim and turn off 3 lights that were connected to the ceiling fan. The speed of the fan was controled by hanging chains from the fan. I'd like to be able to use the dimmer on the new chandelier. Here is a pick of the the light switch / dimmer.

Any help getting this thing working would be great.

Thanks, Brent

----- Original Message ----- From: "mwlogs" Newsgroups: alt.home.repair Sent: February 12, 2004 8:44 PM Subject: Re: Need help with new chandelier

yes, it certainly looks from this picture like there are too many blacks and > whites tied together to make the kind of cuircut you are describing. Were > these all wirenuted together like this in the beginning? > > How may switches control the light/fan? Is it a 3-way with the dimmer on > one switch? If the fan worked before and you connected the light to the > same leads, it should work. It also looks like you have somethign other > than the light tied in here. I wouldn't think a new chandelier would be > using what appears to be lamp cord for wire. > > Send some more > > > I took down a ceiling fan and put up a new chandelier, but I can't > > > turn off the the thing using the switch ... and my finger prints are > > > slowly fading because I burn them every time I "turn off" the fan :) > > > It is a dial switch and I'm wondering if I need to change it, or > > > re-wire the chandelier. > > > > > > Here is a picture of the wiring: > > > > > > > > I have circled an additional wire cap in the back because it's hard > > > to see. Any help would be great. > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Brent > > > > Let's start with a question. How many wires of what colors are coming > > into the box in the ceiling? It looks like three black and three white as > > well as one red and a ground. How many cables are coming into that box? > > How many wires of what colors are coming from the new fixture? (they look > > all white plus a possible ground). > > > > Next go to the box with the fan switch. What do you have there? How > > many cables and what color wires in each cable? > > > > Are you aware of other fixtures or outlets that are directly connected > > to either of these boxes? > > > > Are you trying to use the fan speed control switch to control the > > lights? > > > > > > -- > > Joseph E. Meehan > > > > 26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math > > > > > > > >

[m Ransley]

You still didnt explain it , and the Photo shows Nada to me ,. but maybe im just not to smart

[Joseph Meehan]

So did you follow the advice that was given to you the last time???? What kind of help are you expecting?

[HA HA Budys Here]

Looks like you must have 3 colors and ground at the chandiler box.

The lights (or a chandiler) get connected to white and red.

Black is constant power and when mounting a chandiler only, leave these black wires capped together.

(red is your switchleg, white is neutral)

[Chris Lewis]

According to HA HA Budys Here :

Remember that the originally dimmed lights were mounted on the fan. Thus, there's a black/red/white cable (12/3 or 14/3) going from the switch&dimmer to the fan box, and, yes, in the fan box, the lights were (probably) on the white and red, and fan (probably) on black and white.

So I agree with you - provided the assumptions that we're both using are correct. They may not be. You and I use red for switched legs for example, but, _both_ of the hots to the fan box are switched...

First:

The question is _where_ is the chandelier being mounted? Probably not on the fan, but in another box. So he's going to need to run a new cable from the fan box to a new box to mount the chandelier. So, just telling him "white and red, leave the other stuff alone" is probably inadequate.

Second:

What's really worrying me is that the switch in the picture _appears_ to be a three way switch, with two white and one black wires on it.

So, ghod knows how this thing is really wired.

Unless the chandelier is on the same box as the fan (mounted _on_ the fan, in which case he just swaps the existing light wires over to the chandelier), I don't think he has any business fooling with this mess. His "understanding" of the wiring appears limited to taking one highly confusing picture of the switch and not the box (or was that previous picture from him and the same circuit?). He should hire someone IMHO.

He'd have been better off making a hand-sketch of the wires in the boxes in question showing what colors were connected to what, and which conductors were bundled in each of the cables. Better still would be to use a volt or ohm-meter to figure out exactly which "wire end" was connected to which.