Need house wiring help

[superdave]

I have a switch and light in each of 2 rooms. In the living room there was a ceiling fan and light and I took it down months ago to put it in another house. There are 2 black 2 white and 1 bare wire in the ceiling. At the wall switch there is one black, one white, one bare.

Previously the light worked off the switch and the fan worked off the pull chain (had power all the time, switch did not turn it on/off). When I removed the fan I thought I put the wire nuts back on the wires like they were. It had 2 black twisted together and the white wires going to the fan motor and one to the light. Wiring the new fan and light the same way gets me power to the fan only, no power at all to the switch or the light. I tried following the instructions with the fan which said connect the light and the motor to each of the black wires and the white to the neutral of the fan. Well, that gave me a setup that I had to use the pull chains for both. Didn't seem to matter which black went to light and which went to motor. Neither way gets me power to the switch.

Now it gets weirder. Similar setup in the bedroom right next to the living room. I took the fan down and relocated it. In the ceiling there are 2 white and 1 black wires. Wall switch has one black, one white. No power to the switch regardless of how the fan and light are wired. This one previously we had to use the pull chains to work the light and fan and the switch would shut the whole thing off.

SO.....somehow the living room ceiling light and the switch are related to the bedroom switch, but I have no idea how. I have a pretty sweet electrical meter, but I don't have a clue what I need to be testing for or looking for.

I have no tripped breakers either and far as I can tell the rest of the house works fine, outlets, lights, etc.

Help!!!

 

[bails85]

The blacks are your power and the whites are neutral. Some times in houses they will use a white for.the switch leg. You need to find you hot wire going to your switch in the living room. From there you power the fan to your living room and it will jump to the bed room from there in the ceiling. It will then run the switch leg to the box where your switch is in the room and back up to the fan. So it will go this order.... Wall switch in living room to fan in living room, to bedroom fan and then down to bedroom switch. You just have to find out ager your hot wire is. They will change from being in circuit or not with the wall switches being on and off. Whites are neutral and bare are grounds. In the boxes hook up all the blacks together and all the whites together. That should do it.

 

[seanR]

You need a test light or a volt meter.
Using clips put one lead to the ground and the other to one of the blacks, if there is power, turn the switch, if it goes out, or vice versa, that is your switch leg. If it is hot regaurdles of the switch position it is a hot. If nothing happens when hooked to a white it is a neutral. Try it with all the wires until you figure it out.

 

[hubs97xj]

http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/0971977976

Has a lot of info that will make doing your own electrical work a little easier, IMO.

 

[seanR]

As an electrician, i suggest hiring me.

 

[zr2toxj]

Yes, as another electrician, hire Sean. :eeks1:

It sounds like you have a switch loop. I bet you'll find the feed to the circuit is in the ceiling box and you need to hook up the feed to the black on the fan and the white going to the switch which should be marked with black tape to indicate that it is not a grounded conductor. At the switch, hook the black to one screw, white to the other. The black returning to the ceiling box gets hooked to one side of the light as does the white from the feed. The white from the fan gets hooked to the white from the feed as well.

This is a pretty good pic of it, just in your case the fan would be where the receptacle is.