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"off" on remote fan control

Hope this is a proper group for this question. I just installed a ceiling fan/light that had a remote control receiver that is placed into the canopy of the fan. Installed fan and tested with remote transmitter for the 3 fan speeds on the control and all worked fine. Forgot to install a trim ring so turned fan "off" with the remote and unwired fan, added trim piece and proceded to hook wires back up when I received a shock on the load wire for the fan coming out of receiver. Checked voltage with dvm and sure enough it read 120volts. Apparently the receiver uses a triac which is always on in the "off" position but just not long enough to run the fan motor (dvm reads 120v in off,low,med and high settings). Is this permissible within the NEC? I can just see some poor dude installing a fan on a high ladder and ... Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Steve

Reply to
steve hulten
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Yes it is permissible. Triacs have a small leakage current in the off state. The same technology is used in lamp dimmers.

Anyone qualified to work on this would know that in addition to the load side wire, the power coming into the fan was also live. To work on the fan wiring, you must kill the breaker or remove the fuse feeding that circuit. Look at the instructions for the fan and remote receiver, probably on the first page after the words "Warning" or "Danger". Is there any mention of disconnecting power to the circuit before installing or wiring?

Ben Miller

Reply to
Ben Miller

I was surprised not long ago to blow a dimmer that was turned all the way down when I accidently shorted the load! There is a reason for the on-off switch on dimmers. --Phil

Reply to
Phil Munro

On the subject of fan speed control, if a fan has 4-wires going to it (black, red, blue, brown), can I disconnect one of these wires to make the fan work at maximum speed always?

Reply to
John Smith

Yeah, I knew the line side was live and took precautions when disconnecting. Yes I know the proper thing to do is to switch off the power at the breaker. Yes I know what Danger and Warning mean. Yes I was being lazy. Now I bow my head in shame.

Cheers, Steve

Reply to
steve hulten

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