Quick 240 volt question

[jimdana1942]

Would it be okay to wire a ceiling fan with 2 separate 120 volt circuits, 2 separate breakers, having one leg going to the fan and one leg to the lights from 2 wall switches,. In effect there is a total of 249 volts at the fan. This is something I found on a friends fan that quit working. They stated that the lights have been unusually brighter lately. Now, the fan doesn't work nor the lights but there are no tripped breakers. The wiring setup doesn't make sense to me. Any ideas will be appreciated.

Is it possible somehow internally in the fan there is some sorta voltage crossover taking place that maybe caused an internal thermal fuse to open? Is there such a thing in ceiling fans?

 

[Leadfoot]

In a typical home wiring system you have Single Phase 220v. Single phase is actually two phase, two 120v phases or legs.

To get 220v, you pull 1 leg from each phase and then the neutral.

The fan and light should all be on one phase. Its possible to have the fan on one phase and the light on the other, but that's confusing and I never wire that way.

This is the problem with house wiring. Seems like every "electrician" has their own way of doing things and they disregard code all together. This is especially true of older houses.

To answer your question, yes, you can do it that way.


Basically what you have now is a seperate breaker feeding each switch, which happen to be on opposite phases.

Would have been much easier just to feed both switches from the same breaker, but you can work with what you've got.

Also, you should check on the new fan to be sure that there is a seperate circuit for the light and fan. Many of them only have one hot wire coming into the fan and the light jumps off it. If this is the case, you won't be able to use a seperate switch for each.

For instance the fans in my house are operated by the single switch by the door and you pull the chain to turn the light off/on and a seperate chain for the fan speed and on/off.

 

[courtneydj]

There isn't really 220v at the fan, but rather 2 110v circuits. If you were to measure across both 'hot' leads at the fan, you would read 0v (zero), you would need to measure from one hot usually (black) to the neutral (usually white) to get 110v, actually other than the stove(s), and the A/C, there are no 220v circuits in the house. In answer to your question is this alright, I can assure you that ALL of my fans are wired to 2 separate switches, 1 for the light, and one for the fan, that's a perfectly normal way to wire them. chances are the fan is Kaput.

 

[autogateman]

There isn't really 220v at the fan, but rather 2 110v circuits. If you were to measure across both 'hot' leads at the fan, you would read 0v (zero), you would need to measure from one hot usually (black) to the neutral (usually white) to get 110v, actually other than the stove(s), and the A/C, there are no 220v circuits in the house. In answer to your question is this alright, I can assure you that ALL of my fans are wired to 2 separate switches, 1 for the light, and one for the fan, that's a perfectly normal way to wire them. chances are the fan is Kaput.

Im sorry but thats not true. If the breakers are right above each other, they would be on two seperate phases and would read 220v. Its the same as a 220v breaker, its just two 110v breakers built together as one, but pulling from two phases. I would combine the two breakers in to one, as long as the rest of the circuits of those two breakers combined doesnt exceed the capacity of the wire.

 

[edman87k5]

They didnt put 220v thru a normal 110v bulb, guaranteed. It would be really bright for a split second and that is it.

 

[Barney88PDC]

My house is 120/240

 

[Robbie]

I'd step back and call an electrician!

 

[tupperware9mm]

WOW

 

[cajun 22]

It is possible to wire the fan that way. I don't know why you would do it but you could. The code allows two circuits to share a neutral but it must be fed from a two pole breaker so that both phases will be turned off when servicing the device. The scene you are describing sounds like you have switches in different locations feeding the same device on two separate circuits and getting feedback on the neutral. This will cause the lights to get bright and the fan capacitor to burn up. Best thing is to get it all on one circuit and swap the fan out with a new one. Oh, if you're not sure about any of this call a pro.

Good Luck.

 

[sparky_benton]

Im sorry but thats not true. If the breakers are right above each other, they would be on two seperate phases and would read 220v. Its the same as a 220v breaker, its just two 110v breakers built together as one, but pulling from two phases. I would combine the two breakers in to one, as long as the rest of the circuits of those two breakers combined doesnt exceed the capacity of the wire.

The breakers do not have to be right above one another either , just on opposite phases.
The serious problem I see here if you are feeding the fan/light with two different circuits what neutral is carrying the unbalanced load back to the panel?? if they are using multi wire branch circuits you could really overload a neutral .

 

[jimdana1942]

What it is is 2 side by side wall switches feeding the fan and light. I think they did it like this is because it is a 12 ceiling height and the pull cords on the fan aren't reachable. It's been like this since house was new, about 6 years. I also think the fan may be kaput but why both the lights and fan at same time? I'm kinds bumfuzzled over the symptoms.

 

[mike84z28]

It is possible to wire the fan that way. I don't know why you would do it but you could. The code allows two circuits to share a neutral but it must be fed from a two pole breaker so that both phases will be turned off when servicing the device. The scene you are describing sounds like you have switches in different locations feeding the same device on two separate circuits and getting feedback on the neutral. This will cause the lights to get bright and the fan capacitor to burn up. Best thing is to get it all on one circuit and swap the fan out with a new one. Oh, if you're not sure about any of this call a pro.

Good Luck.

What He said !!!!

 

[VeedUp]

I always ran a 12/3 when wiring ceiling fans, so you can have independent switch for light and fan, some people run two wires, and some people put the light on a three-way switch to be used by two switches on either side of the room. But I have never saw a fan on one breaker and the light on another breaker. The power supply should share the same breaker, in other words one breaker should feed power to that room, and just have separate switch legs to the fan/light. But if your not familiar with doing this you should call someone who knows, I wouldn't play with electricity.