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Need help with wires - Replacing bedroom light fixture with ceiling fan

Home Improvement Asked by Nugents04 on January 29, 2021

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Hello, first time here and I’m in need of some help. I am trying to replace my simple light fixture in my bedroom with a ceiling fan.
First thing I want to do is take off the original ceiling box and install one that is rated for fans. I was able to install a new light fixture in the kitchen with ease, only 1 set of black, red, and copper wires. However, the bedroom has 2 sets coming from both directions of the box with everything twisted together (black-black, white-white, single red, and copper-copper with a nut grounded to the box). The original light fixture only had 2 wires, black and white. The black wire was connected to the red, and the white wire was joined with the other 2 whites. The black-black and copper were not used?
Am I suppposed to untwist and separate all the wires, knock the box out, then reconnect them again the same way? Why are there 2 sets of wires like this? The bare copper is twisted on pretty hard and tight.

Thanks everyoneenter image description here

2 Answers

It's a switch loop with neutral. If you look behind the switch you will see a white/black/red cable, with white capped off and red and black through the switch. The white/black in the ceiling blox comes from the breaker and will be unswitched hot.

So yeah reconnect everything the same way it was, black going through, red to the new fixture and branching off the white and copper to the neutral and ground connections resp.

However it may be that the existing ceiling box is adequate for the fan already.

Answered by ratchet freak on January 29, 2021

It could be that the blacks are hot in and down to switch and red is the switch leg back for light and fan or they could have used a white as a switch leg or to feed the switch hot and then you would have 2 switch legs there already. One for light and one for fan. Checking in the switch box as mentioned will be sure way to tell.

Answered by Jo2ker on January 29, 2021

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