Lost fan remote....Can I just change the to a wall-switch to turn it on?
July 23, 2016 9:10 PM
Sadly, hard to get constructive help at our large hardware stores (US).
But, would appreciate if anyone could offer guidance....
Lost our fan remote and would like to just forgo the remote fan option. Can I go to the hardware store and just get an on/off (preferably sliding) wall switch and will the fan turn on without the remote if I do?
Thanks for any help -- think it's a new one after a quick check in the archives but please excuse if not.
Lost our fan remote and would like to just forgo the remote fan option. Can I go to the hardware store and just get an on/off (preferably sliding) wall switch and will the fan turn on without the remote if I do?
Thanks for any help -- think it's a new one after a quick check in the archives but please excuse if not.
I'd be surprised if a wall switch worked. Fans (and motorized equipment in general) defaults to off after power is cycled. Having a fan come back on automatically could be a safety hazard.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 9:48 PM on July 23, 2016
posted by Confess, Fletch at 9:48 PM on July 23, 2016
Fans (and motorized equipment in general) defaults to off after power is cycled.
Hmm, I have a remote-controlled ceiling fan with a wall switch, and it keeps its on/off state if I switch the wall switch. In other words, I turn it on with the remote and turn it off at the wall, next time I turn on the wall switch, the fan comes back on.
However, if you don't already have a switch for the fan, it's going to involve wiring that is probably more difficult and expensive than just getting a new remote...
posted by primethyme at 9:54 PM on July 23, 2016
Hmm, I have a remote-controlled ceiling fan with a wall switch, and it keeps its on/off state if I switch the wall switch. In other words, I turn it on with the remote and turn it off at the wall, next time I turn on the wall switch, the fan comes back on.
However, if you don't already have a switch for the fan, it's going to involve wiring that is probably more difficult and expensive than just getting a new remote...
posted by primethyme at 9:54 PM on July 23, 2016
My US house is full of Minka fans, and my other (European) house has Westinghouse (German) fans. You can get replacement remotes from the manufacturers, and since the manufacturers try to appeal to many buyers, you may be able to substitute a multi-way, dedicated wall switch for each remote. Minka and Westinghouse are both excellent in that regard.
posted by jet_silver at 10:22 PM on July 23, 2016
posted by jet_silver at 10:22 PM on July 23, 2016
If you do try and go that way you can't get a switch with a dimmer of any kind, as far as I know. There's no chain speed switch on yours at all?
posted by bongo_x at 11:42 PM on July 23, 2016
posted by bongo_x at 11:42 PM on July 23, 2016
What's the model number for the fan?
You can usually find documentation based on the model number that will sometimes tell you stuff like this.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:45 AM on July 24, 2016
You can usually find documentation based on the model number that will sometimes tell you stuff like this.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:45 AM on July 24, 2016
My husband is an electrical man. He said you'd need to bypass the thing that the remote talks to. Involves re-wiring. You'd have to go into the ceiling and also drop a new line down to where you want the switch. Can be done but if you get a new remote it would be far less trouble.
posted by stellathon at 3:53 AM on July 24, 2016
posted by stellathon at 3:53 AM on July 24, 2016
My husband is an electrical man. He said you'd need to bypass the thing that the remote talks to. Involves re-wiring. You'd have to go into the ceiling and also drop a new line down to where you want the switch. Can be done but if you get a new remote it would be far less trouble.
If this is an older house, I would guess that the remote was installed in the first place to avoid the expense & hassle of running a wire from the ceiling fixture to a wall switch. Many ceiling fixtures were originally installed with pull chains - in fact I'm typing under a pull-chain fixture right now - so there is no switch wiring in place.
If you wire in a switch, in addition to the cost of the electrician, you'll probably be left with holes in the wall and/or ceiling to repair.
In fact, there might already be a pull-chain on the fan. If so, all you have to do is get an electrician to bypass the remote switch, and install a proper pull chain on the fan.
posted by mr vino at 4:27 AM on July 24, 2016
If this is an older house, I would guess that the remote was installed in the first place to avoid the expense & hassle of running a wire from the ceiling fixture to a wall switch. Many ceiling fixtures were originally installed with pull chains - in fact I'm typing under a pull-chain fixture right now - so there is no switch wiring in place.
If you wire in a switch, in addition to the cost of the electrician, you'll probably be left with holes in the wall and/or ceiling to repair.
In fact, there might already be a pull-chain on the fan. If so, all you have to do is get an electrician to bypass the remote switch, and install a proper pull chain on the fan.
posted by mr vino at 4:27 AM on July 24, 2016
Does your fan currently not have any pull chains? If so, I agree with Mr Vino, you're probably dealing with an "always hot" ceiling box. If you want to ditch the remote, buy a cheap ceiling fan with pull chains. It's not worth the hassle of running a wire for a wall switch in an older home. Otherwise, you can order replacement remotes off amazon. Find one that matches your brand/model of fan. Be aware that there are little switches inside the remote that control what frequency it talks to the fan on. If you want to avoid opening the ceiling box, just try every combination of switch settings until you get one that works. It's usually a 4 dipswitch setup, so there are limited combinations to try.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:25 AM on July 24, 2016
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:25 AM on July 24, 2016
The Fan should already be wired to a wall switch.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:31 AM on July 24, 2016
posted by humboldt32 at 8:31 AM on July 24, 2016
Thanks for the input so far....nice to wake up (and after getting the kids situation hear so many kind answers).
It's a Casablanca -- Airflow fan.
The remote is CHQ8BT7053T
It's a 5-switch up/down thing -- but I think that's like 240 combinations. Not crazy, but also a bit time consuming.
Also, would rather get rid of another remote.
Think, based off the above, I won't try to switch out the wall mount to a sliding type thing. I think you guys are right -- it' wont turn on.
Looks like brute combination switching versus re-wiring.
posted by skepticallypleased at 8:32 AM on July 24, 2016
It's a Casablanca -- Airflow fan.
The remote is CHQ8BT7053T
It's a 5-switch up/down thing -- but I think that's like 240 combinations. Not crazy, but also a bit time consuming.
Also, would rather get rid of another remote.
Think, based off the above, I won't try to switch out the wall mount to a sliding type thing. I think you guys are right -- it' wont turn on.
Looks like brute combination switching versus re-wiring.
posted by skepticallypleased at 8:32 AM on July 24, 2016
I wonder if they make a wall switch that can talk to it just like the remote? No hardwiring.
posted by amanda at 8:45 AM on July 24, 2016
posted by amanda at 8:45 AM on July 24, 2016
Try these links:
https://www.fanmanlighting.com/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=42
http://www.casablancafanco.com/Parts-Manuals
(The second one should also have the instruction manual.)
posted by Seeking Direction at 9:17 AM on July 24, 2016
https://www.fanmanlighting.com/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=42
http://www.casablancafanco.com/Parts-Manuals
(The second one should also have the instruction manual.)
posted by Seeking Direction at 9:17 AM on July 24, 2016
The receiver is hard-wired to the fan. You can't operate the fan without using it. You also can't upgrade, which is too bad. Casa (and Hunter, which owns Casa and uses a lot of the same remotes nowadays) are like 3 remote technology generations past that one, so you can't really buy a replacement in retail.
It's new transmitter or new fan.
Do you have any other remotes? If so you could try combinations with them. If not, don't worry. It's highly likely that it will be one of the first combinations you try.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:48 AM on July 24, 2016
It's new transmitter or new fan.
Do you have any other remotes? If so you could try combinations with them. If not, don't worry. It's highly likely that it will be one of the first combinations you try.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:48 AM on July 24, 2016
This happened to us when our remote broke. An electrician can rewire for a switch with almost every model. But you can also buy generic remotes which work with many models. I wouldn't try rewiring yourself, it didn't cost us too much.
posted by smoke at 3:55 PM on July 24, 2016
posted by smoke at 3:55 PM on July 24, 2016
So, here's how ceiling fans work:
There's a motor, a start capacitor, a set of speed capacitors, and a reverse switch. And a light.
There are typically 4 wires that run from the reverse switch and start capacitor to the motor coils, that don't do anything else. Those are usually packaged as close to the motor as possible, either in an integrated remote control receiver or in the switch housing (which the pull chain is sticking out of).
The speed capacitors switch in in series with the main power line, and basically work as resistors to reduce the power in the fan. They can live anywhere convenient (wall control, remote control receiver in the canopy, or in the switch housing). Ditto, basically, with the light switch. If your light controller (pull chain or receiver) lives in the fan, you don't have to run an extra power line from the wall switch to the electrical box to turn the lights on. If you want independent wall switches, or to use a wall control without a receiver, you do.
(The sliding-switch wall controls have speed capacitors and a light control in them, so they need separate power wires from them to the fan and the light.)
So: Your remote has a reverse switch on it. That means the receiver has an electronic reverse switch in it, which means it's connected directly to the motor (either adjacent in the fan body, or connected by like 9 wires running through the downrod). The receiver will also have all the capacitors in it (which vary by fan motor), so it can't be replaced without re-wiring the whole fan.
If the remote only controlled the speeds and the lights, and it lived up in the canopy, then you'd have a chance of upgrading to a new aftermarket transmitter/receiver, but you aren't going to replace an obsolete dedicated receiver without a hell of a lot of work. Plus you'd have to fit it back in the fan somehow.
Nowadays, they've gotten a little better about being able to physically separate electronic reverse switches from canopy remotes, but that old Airflow fan won't be built for that.
Bonus: If you get a new transmitter, turn the power off to the fan, wait a few minutes, then turn it back on. Push "High", "Medium", "Low", "Off" on the transmitter. That may program the receiver to the DIP switch settings of the transmitter, if you're lucky and it's a programmable receiver.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:58 PM on July 24, 2016
There's a motor, a start capacitor, a set of speed capacitors, and a reverse switch. And a light.
There are typically 4 wires that run from the reverse switch and start capacitor to the motor coils, that don't do anything else. Those are usually packaged as close to the motor as possible, either in an integrated remote control receiver or in the switch housing (which the pull chain is sticking out of).
The speed capacitors switch in in series with the main power line, and basically work as resistors to reduce the power in the fan. They can live anywhere convenient (wall control, remote control receiver in the canopy, or in the switch housing). Ditto, basically, with the light switch. If your light controller (pull chain or receiver) lives in the fan, you don't have to run an extra power line from the wall switch to the electrical box to turn the lights on. If you want independent wall switches, or to use a wall control without a receiver, you do.
(The sliding-switch wall controls have speed capacitors and a light control in them, so they need separate power wires from them to the fan and the light.)
So: Your remote has a reverse switch on it. That means the receiver has an electronic reverse switch in it, which means it's connected directly to the motor (either adjacent in the fan body, or connected by like 9 wires running through the downrod). The receiver will also have all the capacitors in it (which vary by fan motor), so it can't be replaced without re-wiring the whole fan.
If the remote only controlled the speeds and the lights, and it lived up in the canopy, then you'd have a chance of upgrading to a new aftermarket transmitter/receiver, but you aren't going to replace an obsolete dedicated receiver without a hell of a lot of work. Plus you'd have to fit it back in the fan somehow.
Nowadays, they've gotten a little better about being able to physically separate electronic reverse switches from canopy remotes, but that old Airflow fan won't be built for that.
Bonus: If you get a new transmitter, turn the power off to the fan, wait a few minutes, then turn it back on. Push "High", "Medium", "Low", "Off" on the transmitter. That may program the receiver to the DIP switch settings of the transmitter, if you're lucky and it's a programmable receiver.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:58 PM on July 24, 2016
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posted by Seeking Direction at 9:37 PM on July 23, 2016