I hate these logic problems.
Two switches, I'll call them A and B. Both are 3-way switches. (either switch will turn a light on or off.) 2 fans. Fan 1 and Fan 2
Fan 2 has never worked. I replaced it today (got a display model at 1/2 price), and sure enough, when I took it down, one of the wires was loose.
So, I installed the ceiling fan (a clearance that had been the display model on an endcap)
It didn't work. I blamed the fan.
Long story short, here's where I'm at now. In the electric box for ceiling fan#2, the white wires were together with a wire nut, and both were wrapped with black electrical tape. The red wires were wire nutted together, and the black wires were wire nutted together.
Toggle either switch, and ceiling fan 1 turns on and off. HOWEVER, when ceiling fan 1 is on, there is no power to ceiling fan 2. No pair of the 3 wires shows 110V potential difference (I haven't checked against ground yet; I'm going to run out and get my multimeter from school in a few minutes.) But, when ceiling fan1 is turned off, suddenly, I have power to ceiling fan 2. i.e. toggle either switch and one turns on while the other turns off, and vice versa.
However, inside electrical box #2, if I separate the white wires while ceiling fan1 is on, ceiling fan 1 turns off. If I separate the black wires while ceiling fan1 is on, ceiling fan 1 turns off. But, there isn't 110V potential across the two. (As tested by sticking a lamp between the two wires; my cheapy electric tester is untrusted and doesn't seem to be working. AARRRGHHHH! both fans are (obviously) on the ceiling, and the switches are located at either end of the room. If it was wired with the two boxes between the ceiling fans, then there'd need to be a 4-wire cable (else 2 2-wire cables) between the two electrical boxes. But, the one I'm working in only has the two 12-3 w/g wires. Now, since one of the wires from the old ceiling fan was connected to the ground, I'm left wondering if the contractor who installed the wiring in that addition cut a corner.
This is going to take me forever to trouble shoot. I have no clue what the actual path is that the wiring takes.
If worse comes to worse, I'll just swap out one of the switches for a normal switch, eliminate the other switch, and ignore the carrier wire. But, it'd be nice to have the 3-way switch.
Anyone have any educated guesses?? (Heading out to get a multimeter; checking the thread when I return.)
Two switches, I'll call them A and B. Both are 3-way switches. (either switch will turn a light on or off.) 2 fans. Fan 1 and Fan 2
Fan 2 has never worked. I replaced it today (got a display model at 1/2 price), and sure enough, when I took it down, one of the wires was loose.
So, I installed the ceiling fan (a clearance that had been the display model on an endcap)
It didn't work. I blamed the fan.
Long story short, here's where I'm at now. In the electric box for ceiling fan#2, the white wires were together with a wire nut, and both were wrapped with black electrical tape. The red wires were wire nutted together, and the black wires were wire nutted together.
Toggle either switch, and ceiling fan 1 turns on and off. HOWEVER, when ceiling fan 1 is on, there is no power to ceiling fan 2. No pair of the 3 wires shows 110V potential difference (I haven't checked against ground yet; I'm going to run out and get my multimeter from school in a few minutes.) But, when ceiling fan1 is turned off, suddenly, I have power to ceiling fan 2. i.e. toggle either switch and one turns on while the other turns off, and vice versa.
However, inside electrical box #2, if I separate the white wires while ceiling fan1 is on, ceiling fan 1 turns off. If I separate the black wires while ceiling fan1 is on, ceiling fan 1 turns off. But, there isn't 110V potential across the two. (As tested by sticking a lamp between the two wires; my cheapy electric tester is untrusted and doesn't seem to be working. AARRRGHHHH! both fans are (obviously) on the ceiling, and the switches are located at either end of the room. If it was wired with the two boxes between the ceiling fans, then there'd need to be a 4-wire cable (else 2 2-wire cables) between the two electrical boxes. But, the one I'm working in only has the two 12-3 w/g wires. Now, since one of the wires from the old ceiling fan was connected to the ground, I'm left wondering if the contractor who installed the wiring in that addition cut a corner.
This is going to take me forever to trouble shoot. I have no clue what the actual path is that the wiring takes.
If worse comes to worse, I'll just swap out one of the switches for a normal switch, eliminate the other switch, and ignore the carrier wire. But, it'd be nice to have the 3-way switch.
Anyone have any educated guesses?? (Heading out to get a multimeter; checking the thread when I return.)