Anyone good with home electrical?

[DarkoNova]

Last time I was at my girlfriend's house the lights in the ceiling fan started turning off and on every few seconds. After about a half hour they went off and never came back on. The next day I flipped the switch and nothing happened, but about 5 minutes later they started turning on/off again. After another 5-ish minutes they turned on and stayed on.



Now she says they don't work again.

I'm not 100% sure but I think I tried to turn the fan on and it still worked. I pulled one of the bulbs and it was still good. Did the fan internals just take a dump or is it possibly something with the wiring? Any ideas? I've installed ceiling fans a few times so I don't have a problem changing it out, but I just want to be sure before I do that.

[smoke96]

probably a loose wire, take it off the mount, for the lights there should only be a live wire and something called a neutral, usually white in color, get yourself 2 new wirenuts, and replace the old ones ensuring the wires are properly secured together. of course, before anything, make sure the switch is set in the off position.

[shortrack]

Last time I was at my girlfriend's house the lights in the ceiling fan started turning off and on every few seconds.

Were you watching Saturday Night Fever?

[axisg]

First turn off the power at the beaker box before you go digging around and end up shocking yourself. Easiest would be to pull the wall switch first and pull it out to inspect and see if any leads are loose or for broken wires. The internals on a dimmer switch can get dirty over time. If you are OK with the switch then check the ceiling fan. If both check out OK there may be a problem with the wiring which would have to be addressed ASAP as an electrical short can often cause a fire.
BTW What age is the house ? Homes built in the 70's some times used alum wiring ( my house does ) and the alum expands and contracts with fixture use ( ei turning lights on and off ) and because aluminum expands faster than the copper leads on switches it causes the terminal lugs to back off, spark, short, and eventually stop or pull more amperage and pop the fuse because of poor contact.

[77thor]

My bet would also be on a loose connection... check all wirenuts and screw terminals at the switch.

[Bryce]

First turn off the power at the beaker box before you go digging around and end up shocking yourself. Easiest would be to pull the wall switch first and pull it out to inspect and see if any leads are loose or for broken wires. The internals on a dimmer switch can get dirty over time. If you are OK with the switch then check the ceiling fan. If both check out OK there may be a problem with the wiring which would have to be addressed ASAP as an electrical short can often cause a fire.
BTW What age is the house ? Homes built in the 70's some times used alum wiring ( my house does ) and the alum expands and contracts with fixture use ( ei turning lights on and off ) and because aluminum expands faster than the copper leads on switches it causes the terminal lugs to back off, spark, short, and eventually stop or pull more amperage and pop the fuse because of poor contact.

Do this. Also some houses used an aluminum core copper clad wire, which has the same expansion problems.

[solarguy09]

For sure verify that the power is off , then check all the wire nuts to be sure that they are tight and there are no broken wires... Then the dimmer switch is suspect too.. Also if you use the CFL Granola Bar Bulbs, they may not be compatible with your dimmer. But the fan being intermitten , is most likely wiring connections.

THE ABOVE INFO IS TO BE USED AT THE READERS RISK......CYA,haha

[DarkoNova]

I asked her and she said the fan never worked ever since her sister's friend installed it. I could have sworn I got it working the last time I was there, but my memory is pretty bad lol.

I'll start with the switch and see what I find and report back. Thanks guys.

[72nova]

Turn the breaker off. If that neutral is tied in with another light that is on your going to get shocked even if you have the switch to the fan off. I would say you have a loose neutral, either in the fan or the box it is mounted to.