What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Odd Home Electrical Problem

Chief Brody said:
Won't the fan be fused by the breaker still?
Click to expand...


Yep, if you get the power from the same source as now, assuming that its fused now.
Tell the truth, I would check that given what we see now.

I was talking on the phone while typing that last, helping someone else out, and I was thinking that you might be planning on running a new power line into the attic.

But you are probably just planning on tying the hot wire directly to the fan inside that box.
 
Fordum said:
Yep, if you get the power from the same source as now, assuming that its fused now.
Tell the truth, I would check that given what we see now.

I was talking on the phone while typing that last, helping someone else out, and I was thinking that you might be planning on running a new power line into the attic.

But you are probably just planning on tying the hot wire directly to the fan inside that box.
Click to expand...

I have tripped the breaker and it turns the power off to those wires.

Now...I have figured out which 2 wires go to the fan and which two go to the light and which two are from the breaker box...how do I hardwire the fan and how do I hook the dimmer back up?
 
Chief, I am a little nervous about giving you detailed wiring instructions based on a couple of pictures.
If I were standing there, it would be a piece of cake.
But lets try this.

Leave the white wires alone. All three of them should be wire nutted together.

Now comes the tricky part. I have studied the pictures, and this is what you should have.
If you don't, stop and tell me what you do.

You should have one black wire going to one black wire coming out of the dimmer.

You should have another black wire coming out of the dimmer going to two black wires.

If not, disregard the rest of this and tell me what you have.

Leave the single black wire going to the single black dimmer wire alone for now. That should be the hot wire coming from the breaker.

Take one of the two black wires hooked to the one dimmer wire loose, and move it out of the way. Leave the other black wire hooked to the dimmer.

Go turn the breaker back on, and the dimmer should run either the fan or the lights. The wire you took loose runs the other.

If the lights came on and were run by the dimmer, then that part is done. Turn the breaker off again either way.
If the fan was run by the dimmer, then exchange the black wire you left loose with the wire you left hooked to the dimmer, still leaving one wire loose, just the other one.

Remember, do not bother the single wire we said was the hot wire above.

After you get the lights running off the dimmer, without the motor running, let me know.
 
OK I got it.....

All the white wires together

The black main with the fan black and one of the black wires on the dimmer

Then the other black wire from the dimmer connected to the black wire of the light...

It's working...nothing is smoking...
 
Sounds like you hit the SCUBA tank with the Garand that time.

It should be fine now.

I just basically distrust attic fans in general. I helped install one at a friend's house he was building, and I made him go explosion proof on the motor and power box.

He was not happy when he got the bill, but after a few months, he said he did sleep better at night.

In my house in PC, I was having a new roof put on many years ago, and was hunting with some professional roofers.
They could not do my roof, since they lived too far away, but they told me what to ask for.

The attic got so hot in the summer, the cooler air coming down out of the ceiling door in the garage would knock you down.

I asked them for the best brand name for those roof turbines you see, figuring they would take the heat out with no danger of fire.

They informed me that they had seen me shoot, and they were not going to recommend any kind of those things as long as I had a gun handy.

Said sooner or later I would regret putting them on. Either due to noise, replacement cost, or water leaks during a storm.

Said for me to tell the roofers to put in ridge vents. Instead of the roof shingles going up to the peak of the ridge, the ridge is raised up slightly with baffled slots just under the edge.
No electricity, no moving parts, and other than sweeping some pine straw out every couple of years no maintenance.

Made a heck of a difference in my air conditioning bill.

But they don't retrofit worth a darn. You have to install them when you are putting on a new roof.

Now that you have that fan working, I would suggest you go up and look at the motor.
Imagine it suddenly shooting out hot molten droplets of copper, and see what might catch on fire.

Then take steps to make sure that it will not set the place on fire. Fiberglas will not burn, but the dust on it might if thick enough.

You could place some thin sheets of sheet metal over anything that might ignite. And if its mounted to wood close enough to smoke it if it got hot, then they sell some fire retardant for wood that you just spray on and let soak in and dry.

Just some thoughts to make you sleep better at night.......................
 
I plan on getting the ridge vent put in...I just needed to do something quick with the heat wave coming...

they will have to retro fit the ridge vent...I got it roofed 2 years ago...
 
That fan isn't likely to shut off any time soon....maybe at 4:00 in the morning .... I guess they are made to run for weeks on end?
 
Chief Brody said:
That fan isn't likely to shut off any time soon....maybe at 4:00 in the morning .... I guess they are made to run for weeks on end?
Click to expand...

Well, that depends.
They were made that way from the factory..........
But after seeing that dimmer hooked to it.............

Next time you are up there, feel the bearings on the fan its self if its belt driven, just to make sure they don't need oil or about to seize.

Then look on the motor for the duty rating. You will see voltage, FLA, LRA, but somewhere on the plate it will say something along the lines of duty rating, or duty cycle.

It should have Cont. or Continuous stamped in the block. I'm pretty sure it will have, but if the motor went out one day, someone might have cut corners and put in a cheaper motor without a continuous duty cycle.
 
Sorry chief went to dinner with the wife. From your picture yes the fan was wired to to load side of the dimmer making it a switch leg. A switch leg is anything that a switch controls (lights, fans, etc.). You actually need to tie it to the line side or the power coming in. Nuetrals all stay together. Sounds like fordum got you taken care of.

I usually make $65 and hour for those service calls but we would rather see you spend it on paint for the k5. Give is a holler if you have any more troubles.
 
Fordum said:
Well, that depends.
They were made that way from the factory..........
But after seeing that dimmer hooked to it.............

Next time you are up there, feel the bearings on the fan its self if its belt driven, just to make sure they don't need oil or about to seize.

Then look on the motor for the duty rating. You will see voltage, FLA, LRA, but somewhere on the plate it will say something along the lines of duty rating, or duty cycle.

It should have Cont. or Continuous stamped in the block. I'm pretty sure it will have, but if the motor went out one day, someone might have cut corners and put in a cheaper motor without a continuous duty cycle.
Click to expand...

it's not belt driven...its a little tiny self contained electric motor with a shaft that the fan blades connect to...with a brown mushroom shaped cover on top...
 
I spun the blades with my hand when I was on the roof...they felt ok...smooth...but I did try to remove the blades so I could see better and I just couldn't get the thing off...I completely removed the set screw and it still wouldn't come off...

I slightly bent two of the blades as I was yanking upward on them...I pushed the back as best I could but they aren't perfect...it didn't have much warble...but I probably need to replace the blades...

Anyway...it's already making a difference...it's much cooler in here...ac is working better...

if it did melt red hot copper it would land on lumpy blown in insulation and if it got through that it would be the ceiling board or drywall...whatever it is made out of....

I'm not 100% comfortable with the fan now though....but maybe it will be ok till I can get the ridge vent...
 
Chief Brody said:

it's not belt driven...its a little tiny self contained electric motor with a shaft that the fan blades connect to...with a brown mushroom shaped cover on top...
Click to expand...

UhOh, you got one of the mushroom ones???

Don't sweat it. I don't even recognize that one. Its very unlikely that the motor was changed to the wrong thing.


If it went out, they would have just thrown it away and bought a new one.

That does explain why the dimmer did not burn up. I was expecting at least a 1/4 horse motor.

The big one out in my barn to exhaust the smoke from my genset was 1/4 horse belt drive which I upped to 1.5 horse to get the volume of air up to the point it would not choke the genset down.

And now that Jester brings it up, I think I see what happened. I was thinking some idiot wanted to slow the fan down to keep the noise down, but it sounds like they just hooked it to the wrong side of the dimmer by mistake.

The dimmer was probably full on when they tried the fan, and they did not realize they had done it.
 
I'm looking at stats anyway....

over 8000 fires a year are caused by air conditioning units, heat pumps, fans etc...
Of that 8000, roughly 2000 are attributed to "fans"

Of that 2000, 49% are bathroom fans

17% are attic fans, that's 340 fires a year

of those 17% attic fan fires, the cause is almost entirely faulty wiring....with the fire starting the "jacket" of the wiring....
 
Sounds like the smaller type exhaust fans like a bath fart fan. I don't think you will have any problems with it, and it will not burn down your home. They generally burn out just like a light bulb if anything is wrong with it. Should be fine for years. Most newer larger attic fans usually have thermal protection built in anyway and pop an internal cut out.
 
Huh....340 fires from attic fans.

Let's see 300,000,000.00+/- people in us.

Probably 100,000,000.00+/- homes.

Let's say 25,000,000.00+/- may have attic fans....

Better get some more insurance chief...:haha:
 
when you think about it...you have a better chance of getting struck by lighting twice while surfing and being the victim of a shark attack at the same time....:eek1:
 
I just had a gable fan installed and the only thing worth mentioning now is that the directions recommend oiling/lubricating it twice a year. I am not sure how yours works, but mine has a hole to drip in some oil. If yours has been sitting a while, you may want to see if you can find the manual online and how to lubricate it.
 
I used to work maintenance at 3 hotels, a convention center and restaraunt. LOTS of rooftop stuff.

The vast majority from what I've seen of the little fan motors like that arent able to be lubricated. I would definitly be worth checking though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom