# Ceiling fan works but no lights?



## vw-head

Hello, well heres my situation. A few days ago I noticed in the spare bedroom #1 that the lights to the ceiling fan weren't working. So I removed the light part of the fan to check wires and everything seemed fine. So I took the light section off the same fan in another bedroom that was working fine and hooked it up to the fan and still the lights didn't work. So I decided to buy another fan. Well I hooked up the new fan and guess what? Yep, the fan works but no lights? I checked the breaker box to make sure a fuse hadn't tripped but there was none. So I'm stumped, where should I look or check first?


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## etaf

what country are you in ?
how are the lights switched on/off - some have a pull cord on the light - and can also be controlled from light switches 
how are yours set up - the switch is the first thing i would check


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## vw-head

Hey etaf:

I'm in the USA. The fan does have pull cords for the light and fan. I've checked that. The wall switch has two switches, one for the lights and one for the fan.


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## etaf

> The fan does have pull cords for the light and fan. I've checked that. The wall switch has two switches, one for the lights and one for the fan.


I do not know the USA electrical system, only UK system - but i would check out all those switches & cables to lights
I will wait for a US person to advise further , would not want to suggest you do something that may be dangerous in US


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## JohnWill

Sounds like the switch for the lights may have died. Time to pull it apart and check.


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## vw-head

Hey John, are you talking about the wall switch? If so, that's what my next move is going to be. I'll check that this evening.


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## Koot

Make sure the light circuit for the ceiling fan light is not on a tripped GFI receptacle that you don't use or haven't noticed or checked.

It's very odd what has happened. You mentioned that this problem is in a spare bedroom. Are you sure the ceiling fan light ever worked? If so, it's time to start troubleshooting.

If you have a multi-purpose [voltage] meter I would first check for voltage at the wall switch (check the feed side and the light fixture side) that supplies volatge to the light fixture's pull chain switch to make sure you [even] have voltage there. If you do I would then check the light fixture's pull chain switch to see if you have voltage feeding the pull chain switch (check the feed side and the light fixture side).

Let us know what you find...


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## JohnWill

As Koot says, I'd start there and work my way up. Obviously, if there's no juice at the wall switch, I'd work the other way!


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## vw-head

OK guys, well I replaced the wall switch to no avail. The same problem exist. Heres my situation:
Ceiling Wires: White, Red, Black & Green
Ceiling fan wires: Blue, Black, White & Green

The fan was hooked up as following: Blue to Red, Black to Black, White to White and Green to Green just as the old fan was and the new.

I checked the current and its as following:

Ceiling wires: Touching ground & then red wire (lights) =122v
Touching ground & then black wire = 122v

Wall switch: Touching ground & then red wire =122v
Touching ground & then black wire = 122v

Am I crazy or what? What the heck is going on. I have a good head of hair but I'm getting ready to pull my hair out? This is a problem that just all of a sudden happened. Surely the old ceiling didn't just die and then I bought a new lemon ceiling fan? HELP !!!!


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## Koot

vw-head said:


> OK guys, well I replaced the wall switch to no avail. The same problem exist. Heres my situation:
> Ceiling Wires: White, Red, Black & Green
> Ceiling fan wires: Blue, Black, White & Green
> 
> The fan was hooked up as following: Blue to Red, Black to Black, White to White and Green to Green just as the old fan was and the new.
> 
> I checked the current and its as following:
> 
> Ceiling wires: Touching ground & then red wire (lights) =122v
> Touching ground & then black wire = 122v
> 
> Wall switch: Touching ground & then red wire =122v
> Touching ground & then black wire = 122v
> 
> Am I crazy or what? What the heck is going on. I have a good head of hair but I'm getting ready to pull my hair out? This is a problem that just all of a sudden happened. Surely the old ceiling didn't just die and then I bought a new lemon ceiling fan? HELP !!!!


You never said whether you were sure that the ceiling fan light ever worked in this spare bedroom. Nevetheless, let's do some more troubleshooting. We know we have voltage! That's a good thing! But what we don't have is current...because current only flows when there is a load, and we don't have any lights burning to create a load. Okay, enough with the voltage versus current lesson.

Assuming the lamps (light bulbs) in the fixture are good, you have a few [other] possible things to check.

(1) Turn On the ceiling fan and then check to see if the lights work. (The light fixture may be hooked-up downstream from the ceiling fan's pull switch, which would prevent the lights from having voltage unless the fan was [also] On.)

(2) Turn On the wall switch for the ceiling fan and then check to see if the lights work. (The hot wire that feeds the light fixture may be hooked-up on the feed side of the wall switch that controls the ceiling fan, which like #1 would prevent the lights from having voltage unless the fan was [also] On.)

(3) Check the voltage at the lamp (light bulb) sockets - by touching the lamp socket's center button with one probe and the socket's threaded shell with the other probe. Be careful not to touch both the center botton and the socket shell at the same time with the probe or it will short 120V to Neutral (Ground) and could melt the socket's threading where you cannot screw in a lamp. (Sometimes the center buttons of sockets get pushed back too deep into the base of the socket where the lamp's base can't make contact with the button, thus no voltage for the lamp.)

(4) I don't know what type of lamps (light bulbs) you are using. You could be using a short neck style reflector flood lamp (or some other type of lamp) where the lamps' neck is not long enough and therefore the lamp's short flared neck (or bulging body) hits part of the socket or the socket holder preventing the lamp from being able to be screwed down far enough into the socket to make contact with the center button, thus, much like #3, no voltage for the lamp. If you think this may be a possibility you could try a different style lamp to to see.)

Lastly, when you tested the voltage at the "ceiling wires", I assume you tested at the wirenut joints in the round ceiling box. Have you dropped the light fixture down from the ceiling fan and checked the voltage somewhere closer to the sockets...or at the rear of the sockets? You may not have access to any more wirenut joints within the light fixture itself, which would make testing for voltage there more difficult. Do this last if one of the above doesn't turn up anything.


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## Koot

vw-head,

Did you ever get your ceiling fan lights working? 

We'd like to know what the problem was. Thanks!


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## vw-head

Hey Koot, no I've been out of town recently and haven't fooled with it again. To answer your question yes the lights did work with no problem then all of a sudden they quit working. I asked a guy at work who puts up ceiling fans on the side about it but he didn't know either. So basically I'm still scratching my head on this one. Well if worst comes to worst I'll call a electrician.


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## Koot

vw-head said:


> Hey Koot, no I've been out of town recently and haven't fooled with it again. To answer your question yes the lights did work with no problem then all of a sudden they quit working. I asked a guy at work who puts up ceiling fans on the side about it but he didn't know either. So basically I'm still scratching my head on this one. Well if worst comes to worst I'll call a electrician.


Do the troubleshooting I suggested: http://forums.techguy.org/7620803-post10.html


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## vw-head

OK guys, well I fixed the problem. Come to find out the switch on the wall for the fan must have been bad. Now the fan worked but the second black wire going into the switch in the back must have went out. I hadn't checked that switch because I figured if the fan was working then the switch must be OK? Well I guess the hole in the back of the switch for the second black wire must have went bad. I was getting ready to call the electrician...LOL. Hope this helps someone with the similar issue and save them alot of time, headache and loss of hair. Thanks guys.


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