We had an older ceiling fan in the living room that my wife no longer liked.  She went and bought a new one and I was tasked with hanging it.  I turned off the power at the breaker.  Removed old fan and only messed with the one black (hot) wire and one white (ground) wire.  If you look in the box there are a total of 4 black wires.  3 of which are kept together with a wire nut, the other was connected to old fan.  Then there are a total of 3 white wires, 2 are wire nutted together and the last was connected to old fan.  It should be noted that every once in awhile the light on the old fan would flicker a few times and then work normal...it was apparent when the fan would be spinning.

I installed the new fan and wired it up the way I was supposed to.  Turned breaker back on and NOTHING.  No light...no spinning fan blade.  Killed power, checked the wires and then rechecked.  Turned power back on at the breaker box.  Still nothing.  I went and cut a power cord off an old DVD player and wired it up to the new fan.  Took it to a kitchen outlet with power and the fan and light began working.  Now I know its not the fan.  Its the not the breaker either, this particular fuse powers the rest of the outlets in my living room and they all had juice according to my multimeter.

I then took the new fan down and used the multimeter.  There was nothing on the black and white wires that I had been dealing with.  I uncapped the three black wires and 2 of those were dead.  The 3rd showed there was about 50 volts running through it.  I only used the original white wire to check these with.  

I have no idea what to do.  I am in no way an electrical expert!!



The black #1 is pointing to the original black wire connected to the old fan.  The red #2 is point to the black wire that has 50 volts running though it.

Does the new fan have a remote control?
Is there more than just the black and white wires on the new fan, like a red or blue.  Did the old fan have a light kit installed ?  New fan have a light kit?  How is he switch wired?

LOOKS like the switch is fed from the ceiling box, Thus you will have to get your neutral from the group of Wh. wires in the ceiling.  ie, you are going to have to send the hot to the switch on a wh. wire, come back to fan on black.

You can do a quick check of the switch with your meter, via the two wires that were connected to the old fan.

Swich at wall could be bad.

Not an electrician but it sounds like the box was used as a junction box or there's something going on because they had the switch wired to a outlet at some time.

Maybe get in the attic and start tracking conduit and wires?

That popcorn ceiling hints Florida. LOL

I used the multimeter at the wall switch.  It was only getting 50 volts there.  I went to another wall switch not connected to the ceiling fan switch fuse.  Was getting 120ish there.

South Georgia now!

But a ton of houses up north have this stuff to.

I would try twisting those wires in the ceiling box together like they should have been in the past. If that doesn't resolve the problem post a pick looking straight up into the box.

Some multi-meters will pick up phantom voltage so I wouldn't worry about that yet..

Don't worry to much about the 50v, make sure you are getting 120 v to the fan wire box when the switch is on.

I'm not an electrician, just a guy who fixes his own stuff and the above was my initial thought.   Test the unpaired lines with a multimeter set to test ohms, make sure  the power is off, but the switch is set in the on position. You should read zero.

Also with the breaker off, figure out what else is on that circuit. Does the switch control any of the wall outlets? Check the top and bottom sockets.


Was the free white wire tied into the black group? What was the white (neutral)  of the old fan wired to, the group of white wired.

That is old school wiring. In the ceiling box you have hot and neutral in and out. The ceiling fan gets the neutral from the ones in the box. The black and white wire running down to the switch are just a way to send hot/120V down to switch and get it back up to fan. Just breaking the hot wire to fan. So the black or the white going to the switch hooks to the hot wires and the other wire in that romex going to switch hooks to fan. You can send power down to switch on the black and back up to fan on the white, or vice versa. If you have trouble IM me and I will call you and walk you through it. I am a licensed Master Electrician and a State Electrical contractor.

That makes sense.

What's screwing with my head is the lack of a fourth white wire in the pics...  The OP should post another pic showing the interior of the box so everyone see what's inside.

Hook the new one up the same way.

I appreciate that Zoe!  I may take you up on that offer tomorrow afternoon.  Have to work this evening til midnight.

ETA..I see Billhw1 caught this too
Am I missing something here? Branch circuit in and outs plus a switch loop=switch loop (1 black +1 white conductor) + branch ckt ( 3 blacks + 3 2 white conductors). Total conductors showing in pic is 7 wires. Where is the other white (neutral)? Or if its a single in and out branch ckt and a switch loop, where did the extra black conductor come from? I thought maybe one was red but looked black to me except in the OP it states 4 black wires total

In my neck of the woods its common switchloop practice to send power down on the re-identified white so you'll come back with a black wire  to the outlet or you would have only white conductors (in color) terminating to the device

I was taught and have always used the "back on black" method.  Like others have said, it looks like you have a switch loop there and the white wire for the loop should be reidentified by coloring it with a sharpie or electrical tape.  Past flickering could have been a loose connection or a faulty switch.  If the lines are feeding outlets that have stuff plugged in you can get some funky readings on a multi meter.  I have found reading to ground in that situation to be a little simpler.

By using the white as the hot lead to the switch if you look in the ceiling (originating box) it makes sense.
It does not matter in the switch box since it is obviously a switch loop if you look there.

PM me with where you are in S. GA, I don't mind swinging by if you are close.