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I couldn't find someone with the same problem so here goes:

I've replaced a ceiling fan (the old one had some parts missing), but as soon as I put the power back, the light and fan turn themselves on even when the light switch on the wall is off. Playing with the light switch (on and off and on and off) does nothing either. They respond when I pull their chains, though.

The new fan is a canarm Neptune 42" with no remote (product page: http://www.canarm.com/Residential/Ceiling_Fans/CeilingFans/42/CF42NEP4BN)

I have two wires coming out of the ceiling outlet: a black and a white I have four wires from the fan: green, white, black and blue

I shut off the power (breaker off) and then, as per instructions in the manual, I left the green (ground) by itself, connected the two white wires, connected the two black wires together then added the blue to the connection. As soon as I restored the power (aka put the breaker on), the light and fan were on and not responding to their switch on the wall.

I started googling and found a video where I was told to first connect the fan's black and blue wires together and then to connect them to the ceiling's black wire. Sadly, the problem remains as before.

I would gladly accept suggestions, thank you in advance for your help!

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  • Did you do anything with the switch wiring? Because if the only two wires in the ceiling box are black and white, then the problem is with the switch. – longneck Feb 10 '16 at 21:21
  • No, I didn't touch it. There are other wires in the ceiling box, but...they're deeper in there and weren't connected to the old ceiling fan so I haven't attempted to pull them out. – Jurie Feb 10 '16 at 21:51
  • First I would check the switch it is possible it is bad; If there are only 2 wires connected to the switch + the green ground the skip the next part. If 3 wires + ground on the switch there is another switch and this is a miswired 3 way setup we would need no know what wires / colors in the locations at both switches to help you correct it. – Ed Beal Feb 10 '16 at 23:18
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It sounds like you have a hot wire that is bypassing the wall switch. Be very careful because you make think you have a dead circuit when you actually have a live one. Make sure you are using a circuit tester before you grab a wire.

You are going to have to determine that you have both the black (hot) and the White (neutral) wires that are actually connected to the light switch. You can do this fairly easily if you have a multi meter. First, make sure you gave opened the circuit breaker and test for voltage at the switch. Once you determine that you have no electricity to the switch disconnect the black and white wire that leads to the çeiling box. from the switch. Connect these 2 ends together using a wire nut. Then take your multi meter to the ceiling box and set it to measure ohms resistance. Touch one lead to the black wire and the other lead to the White. You should get a reading of almost 0. If you get a reading off scale high then one of those wires does not go directly to the switch. - List item

then

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