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ceiling fan 3 way switch

P

Paul Mars

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am looking for a schematic for a fan manu. "A.C. Ceiling fan". I need, but
can't find on the net.
Can anyone help?

Fan does not work, I suspect the switch is broken, but do not want to buy
another until I test the fan/switch.

there are two caps that are connected to the switch. The switch has 4 wires.
The 2 power wires go into the top of the motor unit and come out the bottom
along with 4 other wires. The black power wire goes to one side of both
caps.

tks,
paul
 
J

John Mianowski

Jan 1, 1970
0
Paul said:
I am looking for a schematic for a fan manu. "A.C. Ceiling fan". I need, but
can't find on the net.
Can anyone help?

Fan does not work, I suspect the switch is broken, but do not want to buy
another until I test the fan/switch.

there are two caps that are connected to the switch. The switch has 4 wires.
The 2 power wires go into the top of the motor unit and come out the bottom
along with 4 other wires. The black power wire goes to one side of both
caps.

tks,
paul

Use your voltmeter to measure on the motor side of the switch, in all
its states. If you don't see 120VAC, then the switch is bad.

JM
 
P

Paul Mars

Jan 1, 1970
0
thanks. Three speeds plus off, so 4 position switch. Each of the four
positions has 120vac on one or more of the motor side of switch. Two of the
four positions have the same output leads high. That's with just the red
connected to the switch. The red comes from the white wire thru the
directional two position switch. However when I re-connect the black to the
switch then neither of the other two leads from the switch are high. Also
there is no voltage between the red and black while connected to the switch,
and the motor is humming, but not turning. When I disconnect the black and
red from the switch then I get 120 between them.
 
J

John Mianowski

Jan 1, 1970
0
Paul said:
thanks. Three speeds plus off, so 4 position switch. Each of the four
positions has 120vac on one or more of the motor side of switch. Two of the
four positions have the same output leads high. That's with just the red
connected to the switch. The red comes from the white wire thru the
directional two position switch. However when I re-connect the black to the
switch then neither of the other two leads from the switch are high. Also
there is no voltage between the red and black while connected to the switch,
and the motor is humming, but not turning. When I disconnect the black and
red from the switch then I get 120 between them.

Sounds like bad motor to me.

What should be going on there is that, depending on which of the 3 "ON"
positions is selected by the switch, a different set of motor windings
is selected. Rather than add resistance to the circuit, & generate
heat like with a DC motor, different windings give different speeds.
That's why I asked about the voltages between the switch & motor. If
the switch was bad, there would be no voltage between switch & motor.
Also, it's possible that 1 or more speed might still work. The humming
motor, not turning, isn't good.

JM
 
C

CheapscateDave

Jan 1, 1970
0
Paul said:
I am looking for a schematic for a fan manu. "A.C. Ceiling fan". I need, but
can't find on the net.
Can anyone help?

Fan does not work, I suspect the switch is broken, but do not want to buy
another until I test the fan/switch.

there are two caps that are connected to the switch. The switch has 4 wires.
The 2 power wires go into the top of the motor unit and come out the bottom
along with 4 other wires. The black power wire goes to one side of both
caps.

tks,
paul
I would suspect the capacator. Cheap, $2 to $5 if you have an
electrical supply dealer nearby.
Dave
 
P

Paul Mars

Jan 1, 1970
0
I just cut and touched some switch wires and I got the fan to spin. So, I
think I can hardwire for single speed. Your thoughts?
 
H

Homer J Simpson

Jan 1, 1970
0
What should be going on there is that, depending on which of the 3 "ON"
positions is selected by the switch, a different set of motor windings
is selected. Rather than add resistance to the circuit, & generate
heat like with a DC motor, different windings give different speeds.

Be clear about this. The extra windings add series inductance which drops
the effective motor voltage and hence the speed. This works like resistance
or capacitance but it is easier and cheaper to do, although series
capacitance now has come into favor.















....
 
J

John Mianowski

Jan 1, 1970
0
Paul said:
I just cut and touched some switch wires and I got the fan to spin. So, I
think I can hardwire for single speed. Your thoughts?

Sounds like 1 or more of the windings are shorted. If single-speed is
OK with you, wire it up as it works.

JM
 
J

John Mianowski

Jan 1, 1970
0
Homer said:
Be clear about this. The extra windings add series inductance which drops
the effective motor voltage and hence the speed. This works like resistance
or capacitance but it is easier and cheaper to do, although series
capacitance now has come into favor.

Right. My point was that there isn't some sort of variable-voltage
speed control in front of the motor.

JM
 
P

Paul Mars

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am trying to fugure out how this fan worked and I am lost. The four wire
switch had red power and the black common both connected to it. Why?

Also the other two connections on the switch went to the two caps. The other
side of the caps were connected and went to the fan. Does that make sence?
 
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