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carbos5

Need Help Replacing Ceiling Fan Switch

carbos
13 years ago

Last night I started to smell that awful burning smell that alerts you to an electrical problem. When I realized it was the ceiling fan switch I turned it off. It was very hot and I'd say I was not far from a fire. When I pulled the switch this morning one side of it had begun to melt down and one of the wire caps was melted, too.

Bought a replacement switch today and I have a few questions to be sure I am wiring it correctly. Not at all astute when it comes to these things, I figure where better to come for the answer than here.

This is a dual switch that controls both the fan and the light. The old switch has three wires: yellow, red, and black. There is no green ground wire. The new switch does have a green ground wire.

Coming out of the wall is a red wire, and two black wires.

First question: what do I do with the green wire?

Second question: the old switch was connected as such: yellow wire from the switch was connected to the red wire from the wall; the red wire from the switch was connected to one of the black wires; and the black wire from the switch was connected to the other black wire from the wall.

Do I just repeat that setup with the new switch?

Thank you!

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