Electric problem, not getting power...?

Question

I had a ceiling fan in my room. I woke up and it was not functioning anymore. The switch was on and the fan was also on. I took the fan out and tested the wires in the ceiling for power. It showed 13V, I then took out the switch and tested it for continuity, the switch is fine, all other power in my room works, I reset all the breakers just to make sure it wasn't that. Does anyone know what the problem could be, why would it show 13V? I thought it would be 115V or 0V, but 13V seems strange to me...Does this mean that there is a short circuit or chewed up wire somewhere? Please let me know what you think...

Thanks!

Erik

Answer 1

Have had electrical problems in your area? I'm not a electrician, now you say the switch was on and the fan was on but not moving? Did you have 120v at the switch? or 13v. or was it at the box in the ceiling you had 13v? if that's the case the wire going to the fan/light could be the problem, but I don't understand why the volts would drop, even if the wire was chewed on it should still get 120v maybe you should check the breaker it could be woren out contacts, pull the breaker out of the service panel and shake it, if it rattles replace it. Hope this helps

www.frankawitz.net

Answer 2

I honestly have never heard anything like that before...but, lucky for you I work at an industrial and electrical supply house. So I talked to one of our Gurus and he said to go in your attic and trace that line back. If you find a 4 x 4 junction box, check it and make sure you have good connections on your wires. If it is ok, continue on until you get to the breaker. If everything in between your fan and the breaker is ok, you have a bad or burnt out breaker. The 13 volts you're pulling are more or less "phantom voltage" it is there but it isn't. Kinda hard to explain. But your fan is not getting any power.

So there you have it. Hope this helps.