Troubleshooting Ceiling Fans

Neutral wires carries currents back to a power source to regulate voltage. The ground helps to “ground“ excess power to prevent a shock hazard. Once you figure that out its hard to screw up connecting the rest.

When you tighten wire nuts, make sure you handle it consistently; turning the wire nut the same direction you twisted the wires. This prevents unnecessary mistakes from happening. It’s annoying to take apart a brand new fan that didn’t get installed properly.

Troubleshooting

When you discover a ceiling fan light doesn’t work, confirm that electricity is reaching the room.

Test your fan to see if the blades rotate when turned on.

If the blades turn, check the switch that controls the ceiling fan light. Depending on how the light was wired, a light switch in the room can control power to the light with a separate switch that controls the blades.

Check the pull chain on the fan assembly that operates the lights.

If the fan blades and the ceiling fan lights don’t work, the problem might be that power isn’t getting to the room. Check a nearby outlet to see if it has power.

If power is out for the entire room, go to your main electrical panel and locate the circuit breaker for the area. Reset the breaker and then test the ceiling fan light and blades.