How to Wire a Ceiling Fan
Ceiling fans are nothing short of a blessing especially in rooms or areas of your home where air conditioning is not possible. However, before a ceiling fan can be turned on, you will need to properly wire it. If you are not confident at working with electrical appliances, it will be wise to hire an electrician for this task. However, if you have the skills and some basic knowledge about electricity, wiring a ceiling fan can be easy.
Things Required:
– Non-contact circuit tester
– Ladder
– Utility knife
– Wire stripper
– Slip-joint pliers
– Wire nuts
Instructions
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1
Before you start, establish a safe, risk free working environment. The most important thing you will need to do is interrupt the flow of electricity to the power outlet from where you will supply current to the ceiling fan. This can be accomplished by turning off the main power breaker in your home. Just to be sure, use a non-contact circuit tester to check for flashes or chirps which in turn indicate the flow of electricity through the circuit.
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2
Pull electrical wires emerging from the motor’s base through the downrod. When you have pulled out the wires, you will need to screw the downrod into the motor housing by hand. Ensure that the downrod is properly secured to the housing before moving on. Slide on the canopy that came along with the ceiling fan over the downrod.
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3
Carefully climb a ladder and take a hold of the power supply cable emerging emerging from the outlet. Use a utility knife to peel away about 6 inches of the cable sheathing and thus reveal the bare copper wires. To make the process easier, peel away the top sheathing and then treat each individual insulated wire.
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4
Ask a family member to hand you the ceiling fan and carefully hook the motor in place. The hook to which you attach the motor will temporarily hold the motor sideways so that you can easily wire the ceiling fan without having to worry about supporting the weight while you are working.
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5
Connect the power supply wires to the leads emerging from the ceiling fan’s motor by twisting them together. Be sure to take the colour coding in to account as you will have to connect white to white, black to black and bare copper to copper. Use slip-joint pliers to pinch tips of the paired wires. Slowly twist wire nuts in a clockwise direction onto each of the wire pairings and complete the process by folding the pairs into the junction box.
