two wire 250 V 5uF four wire 250 V 5uF / 5uF

thanks

Little of what I did above would have been possible without Ray Franco’s generous work on the schematics, whose website I’ve linked to numerous times above. Thus, I in turn must give him thanks!

If it was my fan, I’d just replace the switch, and made sure I wired it the same way the old one was wired.

If I didn’t mind the fan running in one direction only, either blowing up or down, then I could bypass the switch by hardwiring it. The only way to reverse the fan direction would then be to rewire the bypass once again. One of my comments above has some links to several DPDT switch schematics, which, coupled with an examination of a disassembled switch to understand how the contacts slide, should help you. Several other folks also made relevant comments.

One of the problems with these fans appears to be getting your hands on an accurate schematic. The several schematics I found, each of which is somewhat different, may or may not be accurate for your fan, that is something that only you can judge. So, there’s a certain amount of guesswork involved, short of tracing each wire on a bench and drawing your own schematic. There’s the additional difficulty that the schematics are idealized or simplified versus how the wires and parts appear in the fan itself.

Because of that, I could not give you precise instructions. Wire colors may be different, etc.

Additionally, there are the unknowns regarding what your parents’ friend did when she or he put it back together without the switch. If s/he didn’t try to bypass the switch, then that would be why the fan doesn’t work, as the electrical current going to one set of motor coils flows through it. You noted this when you wrote, “it would work its way into the neutral or middle position. When it did this, the fan would cut off.” However, if your parents’ friend did try to bypass it, then perhaps he or she miswired it, and the question arises of whether any damage was done as a result of turning on the power.

Presumably this creates a problem for you, as you may no longer know what wire went on which terminal of the old reverse switch. If you study the wiring diagrams and the reverse switch diagrams over the course of several days, with sleep cycles in between, you can probably devise some method of back-tracing the wires and finding their correct positions on a replaced reverse switch.

On the other hand, if you study the fan and switch schematics for a few days, and just feel lost and not sure what to do, it’s probably best to entrust the work to someone more familiar with such repairs.

Good Luck!

I have read through all of your interesting data….and I do understand it a little. Maybe you can help me with the problem I am having with my elderly parent’s ceiling fan. I would appreciate any help…and detailed explanations on how to fix it.

Here is the problem: The reverse switch (black switch on the fan that is either pushed up or down), was evidentally jarred loose or something and it would work its way into the neutral or middle position. When it did this, the fan would cut off. A friend of my parents had the bright idea of taking out the screws, exposing the part where the wires are…and when they did, the reverse switch broke to pieces. I wasn’t there when this happened, but this person put everything back (except the broken switch) and now the fan doesn’t work. The lights on the fan work fine, but the fan itself will not turn.

My questions: Is there a way to bypass the reverse switch wires so that the fan will work again?

If so, can someone give me a detailed explanation of what wires need to be disconnected or cut, and where and if they need to be spliced to other wires in the fan?

I am very good at following instructions, and am savvy about turning off electricity at the electrical box, etc. Any help is appreciated!

If I need to take pictures of the wiring and post it here, I can do that as well.

Thank you!

Laurie

When my ceilng fan went out, my fist suspicion was the 3-speed switch, but after dismounting the light kit it was obvious the the capacitor was blown (thanks for your photos).

Now my only interest is finding a replacement capacitor (not really how one works) and from where. So, the reason I got to this site was the hope of finding a supplier as well as how to install it.

Just the same, thanks again CJ for this valuable information. Gotta find a capacitor now!

I had problems with capacitors not lasting and expensive to replace.

Nowdays I run two wires through centre piping and mount microwave oven capacitors on top of motor either series or paralel depending on what values you need.

Microwave caps are more or less [2000 working voltage] and therefore outlasts the motor.

It does look a bit awkward when you know they are mounted there, but hey, who looks up to your ceiling fan.