Replace three-speed box fan switch

white - nuetral

black - zap the junk out of you positive

if you can test continuity then test for source power, check both black wires and the red. the white wire better be neutral



set your volt ohm meter to 200 VAC if you have a cheap dial one or if you have a nice auto range one, set it to AC volts and test. red to the three wires, black lead on white...

pretty sure its the 3 speed pull chain switch.$4.50 to $6.00 at home depot or lowes or hardware/elecrtical store.
how 2 replace switch.
1.turn off breaker to fan/fan lights,probably that whole room.
may need extension cord & floor lamp from closest room with electric, so u can see.
2.need 6ft step ladder to get up to fan.look see how to get to fan speed switch. speed switch unscrews from outside but body of switch is inside fan cover.
3. need to take fan off ceiling to replace switch.
4.switch has 4 wires, power feed into switch and 3 selector
wires that go to high speed winding,medium speed winding and low speed winding.
speed selector switch has 4 settings, off, low,medium,high.

about ac circuits , black wire is 120 volts, hot.
white wires are neutral return wire. an ac voltmeter will read 120volts ac with its red and black probes between black,hot and
white,neutral.
white= neutal=ground which is green. If wired properly and polarity was observed, white and green ground wires both connect to the neutral ground buss bar in the circuit breaker panel box and are the same electrical point.

black wires,and the selector handle getting the hot juice into the fan and white returns the used juice to the circuit breaker panel box.
If polarity was observed, you can touch white and ground without getting a shock.
black will jolt or even fry you dead, so make sure the breaker to the fan is off, so that the circuit is de-energized before you touch it.

PLEASE NOTE--- make drawing on paper of what color wires from the fan motor go to what color wires on the selector switch.
If the switch has 4 black wires, you need to put different color electrical tape as a marker, on each wire. or ,to be cheap, you can use white paper,scissors to cut paper,and pencil and write 1,2,3,4 on the paper and tape to the 4 switch wires.

that is: wire # 1 from the switch goes to the black wire from the wall--ac hot
wire #2 from switch goes to yellow fan motor winding,
wire # 3 from switch goes to orange wire from fan motor

wires are specific and NOT interchangeable.

go to www.ehow.com & type into search engine box
how to replace fan motor speed selector switch.

Fan is wired wrong, but you need to test using multi-meter.
Buy cheap multimet from hardware, install battery, set to read ohms or the upside down horseshoe symbol
Copy following link for testing wires:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-3-speed-fan-switch.html

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

Copy following link for possible assistance:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-3-speed-fan-switch.html

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

What was the original reason why you changed the switch? Sounds like you got the hot wire and high speed wire swapped. The hot wire coming from the upper part of the fan should go to 'L' and then the three other wires going down to the little black boxes for the speeds should go to the corresponding 1,2,3 on the switch.

Jim,

You have a special fan there. Hunter Originals are my specialty.

There are two ways to accomplish a slower speed with this fan.

1. A wall variable speed control, solid state, rated for 3 or more amps, regular fan controls will not work as your fan draws 2.5amps on high, not even new ones that are labeled for the Original.

2. Retrofit the fan to make it a three speed. If you're good with wiring, it's really simple. What you need is, a standard 3 speed pull chain switch, not a double pole one like cheaper/new fans have that use capacitor speed control, we are using cap. speed control, but not the same way they do. So you want an "SP3T" switch. You also need an 9 10 or 11 or 12 MFD capacitor (depending on how fast you want your low to be 8 is 20rpm, 11 is 75 approximately). You will remove the switch cap to your fan, and you will find your switch has a black, blue and red wire connected to it. Remove all wires, attach the black to L on your new switch, attach blue to 1, then you need 2 extra pieces of wire. Stick one wire in 2 and the second wire in 3. Now, get your capacitor and hook one side of it to the red wire and position 2, then hook the other side to the wire you put in position three.

Remember to get the Single pole switch for non capacitor speed control fans, if you get the double pole, both winding sets in your fan will be activated, which will draw double current and burn your motor out.


Also, are you aware that your fan uses oil (like an engine) ? and is not permanently lubricated?

Most likely the color codes are not the same as your original. There should be one wire that is common to each position (except off) If you have a continuity tester or ohm meter, test the new switch before connecting. Start with the black wire and one of the others. Keep pulling the switch until it goes on. Then try the black wire and a different wire. Keep pulling the chain until another goes on. If you can do this for all three, then the black wire should be connected to the black wire in the outlet box to your house wiring. Then connect the remaining three. If your speeds are not in the correct order, you can exchange connections until you have low, med , high. off. The black wire may not be the common wire and if not start over using say the red wire, and test to each of the remaining three.

you have 3 control wires (the 3 speeds) and a common wire. the common wire will go directly from the fan motor to the power source/cord and the other 3 leads will run through the switch. you could even use a standard dimmer-style lighting rheostat and connect it to the common and "high" fan speed wire and have infinitely variable fan speeds. hope that helps.

if you indeed have a 23852 hunter original...

Black goes to L, High is Red, Gray is medium and yellow is low. Make sure you have the right switch.

I saved this text I found when I was researching this a while ago.
Let us know how you do.

Wiring a three speed fan switch
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My daughter called me the other day and said Dad the ceiling fan in the kitchen is not working only the light works. I went over and removed the three screws that hold the light and pull chain for the fan down and found that the fan control switch had snapped open and all 4 wires had popped out. The snap clips on each side of the switch had broken off. I went down to Home Depot in the ceiling department and found the switch I was looking for. It said for a four wire ceiling fan. OK, know lets put it back together. First of all if you look at the new switch you should see four holds were the wires will be pushed into. The black wire in the fan is the hot or load wire, this wire is hot whenever the wall switch to the fan is turned on. Put this wire in the hole that is marked “L” this stands for load. Now with this switch in the off position the fan will not work until you pull the chain. The other three holes are marked #1, #2 and #3. On most fans #1 is usually high speed. # 2 medium and #3 low speed. What you now have to determine is what wires are high medium and low. The easiest way to do this is before you put any of the wires back into the new switch is to FIRST MAKE SURE NO POWER IS GOING TO THE FAN. Then simply take one of the colored wires at a time and twist it together with the black hot wire.
Turn the power back on to the fan and knot the fans speed. Do this with all three wires one at a time until you can determine which wire is high speed. Note the color of the wire and mark it down on paper.(Example; blue wire high speed.) Do this with the other two wires to determine there speed. Once you have the speed of each wire you can reassemble the new switch.
Black wire (Load) goes in hole marked L. High speed wire goes in hole marked # 1. Medium speed goes in hole marked #2 and low speed goes in hole # 3. MAKE SURE THE POWER TO THE FAN IS TURNED OFF WHILE YOU ASSEMBLE THE NEW SWITCH.
For those of you that have all these wired hooked up right and still the fan won't work I would then look for an open neutral wire. It should be a white wire. Check to see if all the wires are securly attached.
Good luck. One more word of advice. If you're not sure on what you are doing when it comes to electrical wiring then please do not attempt to do this or any other electrial work yourself. Call a licensed electrian. Any mistakes on your part could void your home owners insurance in case of a fire.