A cheap fan light bulb separated between the base and glass and shorted when I was unscewing it. Now I am not getting power at the bulb or in the wall switch. None of the breakers appeared to be tripped and anyway I switched them all off and on but still no power. Whats up ? Am I right in assuming that its a breaker, and if so how can
I identify the right one. Thanks !
You can possibly assume it's a breaker if other things are still dead, other than the fan-light. If so, you need to open the panel and check each circuit breaker with a volt meter or test light
Thanks . I forgot to mention that the fan still has power but not the light circuit. ( in the wall switch) Would the fan and the fan lights usually be on the same, or separate breakers ?
You could have the part of the lamp still in the base. Does the fan work?
I had a similar experience once. It turned out that the livingroom outlet I was using had its feed from a bathroom (next-to-sink) outlet with a reset button. Whoever did the original wiring connected the feed line to the output (instead of input) end of the bathroom outlet, hence disconnecting supply to livingroom whenever the bathroom receptacle tripped.
Check the reset buttons in all bathroom plugs.
I would suspect the switch. Check all the wire connections as well.
Now if you have only one light on the fan, I would suspect the socket first.
Probably the easiest way to identify the bad breaker (assuming there is one) is with one of those little neon testers.
But there's also a possibility the overload resulted in an open circuit at a weak spot in the wiring.
A couple days ago, I spent ten minutes trying to get a spark plug into the engine. Eventually I climbed on the engine and was able to stick my fingers in far enough to reaize there was still a plug there. Someone had come by while I was working and talking to him ruined my routine.
I reread your message after it was quoted again. If there is no power at the switch then my guess would be a pinched wire that has melted.
You should not have power between the to screws on the switch. You should check each wire on the switch to the bare wire in the box.
If you have the switch out and it is still dead then most likely it is in the fan itself.
There is a chance that the breaker is on another circuit, but it would be unlikely. Turning off the breaker that stops the fan will most likely be the one to the lamp.
Thanks to all !
I have removed the complete light fixture from the fan. There is no power in the wires to the light fixture.
I also removed the lights dimmer/switch on the wall, and there is no power to it.
I identified the fan breaker and that is operating.
Also checked the overload breaker in the adjacent bathrooms wall outlet and there is power in the outlet.
Removed the breaker panel cover but no burnt wires are evident at a glance.
I agree probably some wire is burnt somewhere- but where ?
Removing the entire fan and checking the wires coming out of the ceiling is the only idea I have left Any other thoughts before I call an electrician ?
What do you mean by that? Is there voltage on the output line?
Are you certain it is on the line from the same breaker?
If there is voltage out of the breaker and there is no voltage at the switch to the fan there has to be an open in a box somewhere before it. If the one the next bathroom is indeed on the same circuit that might be a place to start. If it has those wires that plug in the one coming out might not be making good contact.
and if the outlet in the next bathroom is on the same line the open could be in that box.
I identified a breaker that has two switches on it and one of them cuts off power to the fan. It was suggested that usually the same breaker operated the fan and the fan light.... hence the breaker is not the problem ? I don't know what the other switch on the dual breaker operates, or how to find out.
Someone suggested that as a possibility. It is not on the fan breaker.
Opened it up - all wires well connected -power in switch and outlet.
switch to the fan there has to be an open in a box somewhere before it.
I don't know what breaker the light is on, and I don't know how to identify it. None of the breakers are 'popped' -the fan breaker is OK.
Thanks.
Ah, I don't read well :-). Or I don't read carefully. I see your problem now. The fan works but light doesn't!!
I can't imagine that the light and fan would be on different circuits.
I guess you are saying the fan is not operated from the switch area.
Obviously you already identified which breaker feeds the fan. It would tell you if the outlet in the bathroom is on the same circuit as the fan.
What is above the ceiling? An attic? Trying to think where they might have tapped off power for the light switch.
Are there more than one set of wires in the ceiling? What I might expect is to have a pair of wires bringing power to the light/fan box. Then a pair of wires running to the light switch.
You mentioned a DIMMER
If you shorted the output of a dimmer, it is probably toasted, it has an electronic SCR component that is probably damaged. You probably need a new dimmer.
Mark
Thanks but its not that Mark-
Taking the fan out would be the next step. It is much easier to take down with the blades off. Mark them so you can put them back in the same place. If you change them around you could get a balance problem.
Thanks Rich
Maybe my bad English (g)
Bathroom is on a different circuit from fan
Not going up there ! Too old !
The wall switch box has two wires coming up from below and they go up, out the top of the box . ie visualise two wires passing through the box. The light switch is connected to (tapped into) one leg , of one of these wires, and the other side of the switch is connected to a wire coming down into the box from above The only switch for the fan is on the fan itself. (Google needs to make it possible to post photos here)
No, they don't. And Google has nothing to do with it anyway. This isn't a binaries group, and most (if not all) news servers will strip attachments from posts in non-binary groups. There are hundreds of binary groups where you can post photos (though probably not through Google -- you'll need to download and install a real news reader to do that).
There also are loads of places on the web where you can get free web space and photo hosting.
OK, That is a clear picture. The way I would see it is that the wire that passes through the box is the fan. So your power is coming from below. Basement or from someplace in the wall. I suppose in the wall. So, if there is no voltage at the switch the problem is to find out where that wire goes, the one that goes down from the switch.
At this point a map of all the outlets in the house would be useful. I have such a thing posted inside my breaker box. I went through all the breakers, turning them off one at a time and made a map of all the outlets and lights and which breaker controls them.
You could do that now and perhaps find out what outlets are controlled by the fan (light?) breaker.
That double set of wires must have been installed at the same time. Normally there would be just the one set running through the switch.
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