Older Home Ceiling Fan Replaces Existing Light Fixture

I put up a ceiling fan w/a light in a bedroom with just a light switch. A two bulb light fixture was up prior which only had a black and white wire.after putting up the fan the lights were dim and the fan appears to not be going at it’s correct speeds…

Electrical Question from Mark about Ceiling Fan Wiring In an Older Home
Background: Mark, a Other from New Milford, CT
Question: Hi- I put up a ceiling fan w/a light in a bedroom with just a light switch. A two bulb light fixture was up prior which only had a black and white wire. After putting up the fan the lights were dim and the fan appears to not be going at it’s correct speeds. The wires from the ceiling were as:2 white wires twisted together attached to one wire and 1 single white wire attached to the other wire from the previous light fixture(all wires from the ceiling are white except the one capped red. The box also had a red one which had a cap on it. Could I of mis-wired the negative & positive wires for the fan & light not work properly?the house is old. The circuit breaker is the screw in type 30amps which appear fine.

Dave’s Reply:

Thanks for your electrical question Mark.Yes Mark, you may have reversed the two wires. Try swapping the ceiling fan connections as connected to the existing ceiling fixture boxÂ and see if that works.

Older homes may have wiring that may be difficult to identify the colors, so before removing the existing light fixture be sure to identify which wires are connected to the wiring coming from the ceiling.

By the way – is the ceiling fixture box rated for a ceiling fan? Ceiling Fans requireÂ approved Ceiling Fan Boxes which support up to 70 lbs.

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