Hi There,

Totally newbie here ... I'm posting this from Canada, so color coding of wires may be different here than in US and abroad. I've taken down my ceiling fan/light fixture and am replacing it with a chandelier. The attached images show the junction box wires and document the previous wire connections from the junction box to the ceiling fan. The 5th image shows the wiring for the new chandelier.

The chandelier instructions state:

"Make the following connections:

White (Neutral) Supply Wire to Ribbed fixture wire
Black (Hot) Supply Wire to Smooth Fixture Wire
Supply Ground Wire to Fixture Ground Wire"

My questions are:

1) With so many wires, how do I connect these all together?

2) Are the beige wires the same as the specified "White (Neutral) Supply Wire"?

3) In the 1st and 2nd photos it seems to me that the fan was controlled by "Connection #1" (as depicted in "Image 1") and the light was controlled by "Connection #2" (as depicted in "Image 2"). Would it be advisable to color-group and cap off all the wires for the fan control (as fan is no longer needed) and then just deal with the lighting wires, or do I have to connect the chandelier to ALL wires in a color group? (Example: If I connect the smooth fixture wire to all the black wires, I will be trying to stuff 5 wires into one merrett wire connector.)

Thanks!

 

All the wires you call beige are to be considered white.
The black is the HOT AC.
If you have a red wire, it is usually HOT AC from a switch. If the switch is off you have no voltage on it.
Get a meter and check the wires in your ceiling junction box.
You do not want a hot wire that is always hot connected to the lamp. You need to find the wire that is hot only with the wall switch on.

 

Hi Kermit. Thanks for your reply. I'll get the meter and test. So am I connecting all 4 "beige" (white) wires to the Ribbed fixture wire for a total of 5 wires within one merrett? (If so I'm definitely going to need a large one!)

 

That many neutral twist connections in one junction box?

I'd have an electrician check it at this point. If you feel anything is unsafe stop.

Now, let's investigate those white wires.
Check with your meter, from the one hot wire to each white wire individually. If it is an open ended jumper wire carrying neutral to a more distant circuit there should be no voltage or only a small 10-30 VAC ghost reading some meters will show. It may have been that the installer added some short jumpers tied together in a nearby junction box because he needed more than one straight uncut neutral wire run to the combo fan-light fixture you removed.
Duplicate wires could be removed. Have you been in the attic above the fixture? A trip up there may be required

 

Thanks for the advice, Kermit. I won't be able to get the meter till tomorrow, and the attic access was (unfortunately) sealed off by former home owner. Yes, if it gets too dicey, I'll have a pro come in!

If you enlarge the 3rd thumbnail image you can see the text documentation on the twist connections: (I temporarily untwisted the beige wires to move them out of the way for photos.)

4 black wires joining in one merrett
4 white (beige) wires twisted together
4 copper grounding wires connected to JB ground screw

(2 wires of each color emerging from "Box Connection #1" (shown in 1st image), and 2 wires of each color emerging from "Box Connection #2" (shown in 2nd image).

 

All those wires lead me to believe that there is another light fixture or two in the ceiling (or once was), or switched outlets in the wall.

 

Hi SLK, I assumed (perhaps erroneously) that all the wires are there because the ceiling fan light turned on from the wall with the option to turn off the light at the fixture via a pull chain, plus the variable-speed fan pull chain controls as well. ...

Just wondering what to do with them all! Would like to be able to cap off 2 at a time if possible rather than stuffing each color group of 4-5 wires into one merrett, but not sure what effect that will have. Is that possible to do without messing things up?

 

Hi SLK, I assumed (perhaps erroneously) that all the wires are there because the ceiling fan light turned on from the wall with the option to turn off the light at the fixture via a pull chain, plus the variable-speed fan pull chain controls as well.

Way too many wires for that. And it's either turned on via the wall, OR turned on via the pull chain - not both (although, you CAN use the chain when the wall switch is ON). The fan uses different windings for the speed control via the pull chain.

 

here where i am at in the states, usually if there is a red wire in a light box, that red is usually always hot, not switched. the black is typically switch.
in this fashion you can use the wall switch to turn the light on or off, and the fan remains on.
now in some cases with new homes they have 2 wall switches, and in this case the red is switched..
you'd have 1 switch for fan and 1 for the light..

i have in special cases where there was no red wire to use.. i'd locate the hot wire in the box, usually there is a wire nut ( merrett ) and the other side usually goes to the wall switch.. at this point i'd just add in another wire to that connection, so that i have constant power to the fan, and then you can still connect the light as normal.
hope this helps some..