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I'm trying to wire a new ceiling fan.

The outlet box wires are White, Red, and Black.

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The ceiling fan wires are Black, Blue, White, and Green.

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The installation manual states to connect both Blue and Black ceiling fan wires to the Black outlet box wire.

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Shouldn't the connections be:

Outlet     Ceiling
-------    --------
Black      Black
Red        Blue
White      White

Also, where am I supposed to "connect" the ground wire to?

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  • Does the fan have a light? Does the building have one switch or two to control the fan?
    – wallyk
    Commented Aug 25, 2013 at 17:57
  • The fan has a light and the wall has a single switch. The previous fan's light was controlled by the switch and the fan controlled by the pull chain.
    – Kermit
    Commented Aug 25, 2013 at 18:02

2 Answers 2

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If you want the fan and light to operate separately, then connecting the wires as you described is the way to go. If you want the whole fixture to be controlled from a single switch, the manual is describing the proper wiring.

As for the green grounding wire, simply attach it to the green grounding wire in the ceiling. You should use an appropriately sized ring or fork terminal, to connect the ground under the same screw as the ground from the ceiling.

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  • What if there is no green ground wire in the ceiling?
    – Kermit
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 1:05
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    But there is, I see it in the photo. If there isn't a ground, you could simply leave it disconnected or connect it as if there were a ground. The proper thing to do, would be to pull a grounding conductor for the circuit, but that's not likely going to happen for a ceiling fan replacement.
    – Tester101
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 11:34
  • The green wire you see in the photo is from the mounting bracket. I just slid it through into the outlet box. Am I understanding correctly that this green wire should be connected to the green wire from the fan motor?
    – Kermit
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 12:55
  • So the other end of that green wire isn't connected to anything!? It should be connected to the grounding wire of the branch circuit. The grounding conductor from the circuit should be bonded to the metal box (if it's a metal box), the fan ceiling bracket, and the fixture itself.
    – Tester101
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 13:43
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    Yes, you can sleep peacefully. Just don't touch any metal parts on the fan if there's a ground fault. The grounding conductor is only there as a safety measure. If nothing goes wrong, it should never be used.
    – Tester101
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 15:36
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Assuming your new fan has a pull chain control and your house wiring is wired conventionally, and you want the same function as before, your assessment of connections is correct. The fan's green ground connects to the green wire at the outlet that is bonded to the hanger plate. Use a crimp-on ring connector and connect the fan to the bonding screw of the plate.

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