Can 2 of these fans be wired together in a better way?

[RearAdmiral]

Fan Manual

Firstly I do not believe this is possible with my current situation unless I wanted to run additional wiring somehow, but figured I would ask.

I have two of these fans with wireless remotes/receivers in my living room. They work with a wall control or a remote to turn on/off the fan and the lights. The issue is that they are only really designed to operate singularly. So what I did was set each fan to the same frequency via the wall control toggle to be controlled by one remote. In theory this would work just fine, but in practice one fan might pick up the command but the other does not. I will then be in situations such as one fan has its light on and the other does not, I'll then have to spam the button and wave my arm around to try to get them "synced" up.

Ideally I'd like to only have one of the fans receive the signal, then send it along to the next fan via just the normal wiring, but I don't think this is possible since the white/black go into the receiver first then exit to the fan(so how could I get the signal to the next fan without new wires is the basic issue). You'll also see that the white/black wires run into the wireless receiver first, then white/black/blue(light) wires come out of the receiver, so it is not just a 1:1 wiring situation.

Many thanks for potential ideas.

 

[deadlyapp]

So ignore the fans - they are dumb. All the fans do are turn on and off based on voltage to a wire. You can absolutely use only one receiver to drive both fans, PROVIDED that the receiver can handle double the load. There may be a rating on the receiver indicating the load capability, or you might be able to find a cutsheet if you open up the receiver and look at the circuitry and do some googling.

Alternatively, you use the receiver as-is and you have to get a relay set up that can handle twice the capacity - use the receiver to trigger the relays and the relays drive the fans & lights. A little more complicated but shouldn't be an issue.

I have not looked into 120V home relays though so no idea what those cost.

 

[RearAdmiral]

So ignore the fans - they are dumb. All the fans do are turn on and off based on voltage to a wire. You can absolutely use only one receiver to drive both fans, PROVIDED that the receiver can handle double the load. There may be a rating on the receiver indicating the load capability, or you might be able to find a cutsheet if you open up the receiver and look at the circuitry and do some googling.

Alternatively, you use the receiver as-is and you have to get a relay set up that can handle twice the capacity - use the receiver to trigger the relays and the relays drive the fans & lights. A little more complicated but shouldn't be an issue.

I have not looked into 120V home relays though so no idea what those cost.

So that all logically makes sense, but I don't see how I could actually do that with the wiring in the manual. Are you able to take a look?

 

[deadlyapp]

So that all logically makes sense, but I don't see how I could actually do that with the wiring in the manual. Are you able to take a look?

Is the receiver mounted directly above the fan?

What you would need to do is have the the transmitter wired normally from the wall switch, you then have blue, red, and white wires that go to the fan. You would splice into these wires to run to both fans. You would need to possibly do some testing on the transmitter to see which wires are the switched ones - I assume that the white wire is a common neutral and the red and blue wires are switched hot leads for the fan and the lights.

If you need to use a relay, then you would use the red and blue wires from the receiver to each serve as the trigger for a separate relay - that relay would energize and switch a hot wire to the black and blue leads at the fan.

 

[NutBucket]

That should work as long as two fans don't overload the receiver.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Is the receiver mounted directly above the fan?

What you would need to do is have the the transmitter wired normally from the wall switch, you then have blue, red, and white wires that go to the fan. You would splice into these wires to run to both fans. You would need to possibly do some testing on the transmitter to see which wires are the switched ones - I assume that the white wire is a common neutral and the red and blue wires are switched hot leads for the fan and the lights.

If you need to use a relay, then you would use the red and blue wires from the receiver to each serve as the trigger for a separate relay - that relay would energize and switch a hot wire to the black and blue leads at the fan.

So it sounds like I'd have to run some additional wiring if I wanted this to work. I think I understand your solutions otherwise.

 

[deadlyapp]

So it sounds like I'd have to run some additional wiring if I wanted this to work. I think I understand your solutions otherwise.

Yes, you would need to run a set of wires between the receiver and the second fan. The only way to avoid running wires is if you already have a 4 conductor wire run to each fan from the switch box (black, red, white, ground) and if you put the receiver at the switch, rather than up at the fan.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Yes, you would need to run a set of wires between the receiver and the second fan. The only way to avoid running wires is if you already have a 4 conductor wire run to each fan from the switch box (black, red, white, ground) and if you put the receiver at the switch, rather than up at the fan.

I don't think the issue is enough of a problem to attempt running new wiring 🙁 Knowing this home's construction they smushed the wiring between the drywall and joists.

 

[deadlyapp]

I don't think the issue is enough of a problem to attempt running new wiring 🙁 Knowing this home's construction they smushed the wiring between the drywall and joists.

LOL wut??

If that's the case, and there isn't a 4 conductor to the switch box, then unfortunately you might be right. Perhaps your best option will be to try to mount the receivers at each fan in a way that they point a similar direction, and then magnetic or velcro the remote in a location where you can activate both together. Perhaps you'll get lucky and using the remote anywhere in the room will have very low chance of activating only one and not the other.

 

[RearAdmiral]

LOL wut??

If that's the case, and there isn't a 4 conductor to the switch box, then unfortunately you might be right. Perhaps your best option will be to try to mount the receivers at each fan in a way that they point a similar direction, and then magnetic or velcro the remote in a location where you can activate both together. Perhaps you'll get lucky and using the remote anywhere in the room will have very low chance of activating only one and not the other.

lol I sure hope not, but I am always surprised when I have to do a repair or open something up inside this house. The best thing I found so far was a bread pan sitting in my first floor ceiling catching leaks from my second floor jetted tub....

I like the idea of checking the receiver / antenna orientation, that is an easy check! I can have them both oriented to the center of the room.