the "not worthy of it's own thread" thread

I am trying to pick a ceiling fan and light for a bedroom in my house, which is wired to a two-gang box intended for a dimmer switch on the light and a switch for the fan. But it seems that every ceiling fan on the market is designed to get unswitched line power and give you an ugly remote control to turn the lights and fan on and off.

I'm a little OCD about buttons that don't do anything. I notoriously put a yaw damper servo in my RV-14 for the sole reason that the Garmin autopilot control panel has a YD button. I can't rightly leave a two-gang box on the wall with zero switches in it. I can probably live with a fan remote control that has an inop sticker on the button for the lights. So I'll probably end up cutting a wire in the fan so I can have the lights on a separate switch.

I wish I had bought a couple extra ceiling fans when I did the other bedrooms a decade ago. I don't suppose anyone has a lead on a ceiling fan that can be purchased today and is actually intended to be wired to separate switches.
 
I put two in last year (or year before?) that I bought from HD that had no remote. I had to rewire to replace the 2 wire with a 3 wire, as well as remove the old one gang box and replace with a two gang box.

Here you go: Fan and Light with no remote
www.homedepot.com

PRIVATE BRAND UNBRANDED Trice 44 in. LED Matte White Ceiling Fan YG269AP-MWH - The Home Depot

Providing your space with attractive illumination, the Hampton Bay Trice 44 in. Matte White Ceiling Fan brings transitional and sophisticated styling to your decor. Boasting a frosted-opal schoolhouse
www.homedepot.com
 
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iamtheari said:
I am trying to pick a ceiling fan and light for a bedroom in my house, which is wired to a two-gang box intended for a dimmer switch on the light and a switch for the fan. But it seems that every ceiling fan on the market is designed to get unswitched line power and give you an ugly remote control to turn the lights and fan on and off.

I'm a little OCD about buttons that don't do anything. I notoriously put a yaw damper servo in my RV-14 for the sole reason that the Garmin autopilot control panel has a YD button. I can't rightly leave a two-gang box on the wall with zero switches in it. I can probably live with a fan remote control that has an inop sticker on the button for the lights. So I'll probably end up cutting a wire in the fan so I can have the lights on a separate switch.

I wish I had bought a couple extra ceiling fans when I did the other bedrooms a decade ago. I don't suppose anyone has a lead on a ceiling fan that can be purchased today and is actually intended to be wired to separate switches.
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Are you saying the fan doesn't have a 3-wire harness? Usually the wiring is there, but runs through a wireless receiver box for the remote. I'd just ditch the remote receiver and run the regular dimmer/fan switch you have.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
Are you saying the fan doesn't have a 3-wire harness? Usually the wiring is there, but runs through a wireless receiver box for the remote. I'd just ditch the remote receiver and run the regular dimmer/fan switch you have.
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I can't find a current-production ceiling fan that has separate light and fan hot leads. They have 3-wire harnesses for hot, neutral, and ground. Some of them have a wire nut or at least a snippable wire, usually blue, between the control box and the light, so you could separate that and control the lights from a wall switch. But some do not even have that, for example the Minka Skyhawk that the aviation nut in me wants (and that my wife likes). That one appears to be a black box situation for the fan control without any passthrough or bypass options.
 
iamtheari said:
I can't find a current-production ceiling fan that has separate light and fan hot leads. They have 3-wire harnesses for hot, neutral, and ground. Some of them have a wire nut or at least a snippable wire, usually blue, between the control box and the light, so you could separate that and control the lights from a wall switch. But some do not even have that, for example the Minka Skyhawk that the aviation nut in me wants (and that my wife likes). That one appears to be a black box situation for the fan control without any passthrough or bypass options.
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The fan I listed has a hot (red) for the light, and a hot (black) for the fan. It could be that you're looking at fans with a bit more "style" than the basic white ceiling fan? If so - maybe build your own? Buy a basic one with the separate hots for light an fan, and add your own blades, light kit, etc?
 
WDD said:
The fan I listed has a hot (red) for the light, and a hot (black) for the fan. It could be that you're looking at fans with a bit more "style" than the basic white ceiling fan? If so - maybe build your own? Buy a basic one with the separate hots for light an fan, and add your own blades, light kit, etc?
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I'm only capable of building airplanes and guitar amplifiers. Custom ceiling fans are outside my wheelhouse. :cool:
 
If there is uncertainty regarding which wire color connects to different wire colors, then the work of a professional electrician on your ceiling fan installation may help you sleep better on those dark and stormy nights.
 
Capngrog said:
If there is uncertainty regarding which wire color connects to different wire colors, then the work of a professional electrician on your ceiling fan installation may help you sleep better on those dark and stormy nights.
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This is about choosing a fixture, not installing it. I trust electricians for the latter, but not the former. :)
 
OK..... Then hot wire the fan unit to a constant hot, and fabricate a new light switch plate that houses your remote and use it as a permanent light and fan switch.
 
WDD said:
OK..... Then hot wire the fan unit to a constant hot, and fabricate a new light switch plate that houses your remote and use it as a permanent light and fan switch.
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If you saw the light switches in my house, you would (a) understand why this is not an option and (b) not even notice them because only insane people notice light switches.
 
iamtheari said:
If you saw the light switches in my house, you would (a) understand why this is not an option and (b) not even notice them because only insane people notice light switches.
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Which style are they, Decora or toggle?
 
asicer said:
Which style are they, Decora or toggle?
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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I went off road. Legrand “Adorne” - generally the square style rather than the slim “whisper” type. Some tap switches around the house, but mostly paddles from that collection.
 
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iamtheari said:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I went off road. Legrand “Adorne” - generally the square style rather than the slim “whisper” type. Some tap switched around the house, but mostly paddles from that collection.
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Gee, and I thought my Decora's were fancy... :)
 
iamtheari said:
If you saw the light switches in my house, you would (a) understand why this is not an option and (b) not even notice them because only insane people notice light switches.
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This thread is worthless without pictures!
 
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iamtheari said:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I went off road. Legrand “Adorne” - generally the square style rather than the slim “whisper” type. Some tap switches around the house, but mostly paddles from that collection.
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Come to POA for the airplane, stay for the high style indoor decorator lesson!

The only place to find people who are on the cover of Flying and Architectural Hangar Digest at the same time.
 
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iamtheari said:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I went off road. Legrand “Adorne” - generally the square style rather than the slim “whisper” type. Some tap switches around the house, but mostly paddles from that collection.
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I’ve one set of Adorne switches in one room. They are definitely beautiful but be careful to not let the magic smoke out - mixed up a switched leg with a constant hot, oops. Paying 5x normal switch pricing twice really zapped me.

Otherwise, see if you can find a manufacturer with real customer support, and they can tell you the SKUs with a traditional wiring for special order, or schematics to bypass. Think commercial/professional grade fans where flexibility is designed in.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
All I can tell you is to buy a Hunter ceiling fan because that helps my stock price.
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You may be in luck. I've found a couple of their nicer fans that have dual switch installation instructions.

masloki said:
Otherwise, see if you can find a manufacturer with real customer support
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Good idea. Unfortunately, I talked to American Champion and they very politely informed me that they won't make me a custom ceiling fan. About those Adorne switches, I've only had one die on me over the years. I do have one motion switch that is possessed: the laundry room lights turn on anytime we get a moderate wind outside.
 
The light just needs a hot - that should be easy to wire. The fan motor should be a stepper ac motor? A simple fan speed switch should work (I think). I do think you have a good shot at pulling the rc controllers out of the unit and re wire it yourself.

Buy the thing, open it up, take a look!
 
WDD said:
The light just needs a hot - that should be easy to wire. The fan motor should be a stepper ac motor? A simple fan speed switch should work (I think). I do think you have a good shot at pulling the rc controllers out of the unit and re wire it yourself.

Buy the thing, open it up, take a look!
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A lot of the new fans are DC motors. And a lot of them are black box wiring: Hot, neutral, and ground on one side and fancy connectors on the other for the fan motor and light assembly. Some of them are better, with a blue wire between the controller and the light that is clearly a hot AC lead and not some fancy LED control signal so you could snip it if you are brave. I found a handful of decent-looking Hunter fans that have explicit instructions for two-switch installations, so that's good. Now to narrow it down to N of them that my wife approves of after reading the online reviews. If N > 0, then we're in business. Otherwise I guess I'll void the warranty on a pricy ceiling fan.
 
Apropos of nothing...

Most people that watch cop shows know what BOLO is.

But, why isn't it BOTL rather than BOLO?

(and a few geeks know what Bolo is)
 
So the VOR I used for practicing holds...
1708118276090.png

Had it's compass rose disappear off the map... But the identification box surrounding it didn't.
1708118308320.png

What has PLL "Polo" become?
I'm probably being stupid and missing something, but nothing seems to match this?
1708118616450.png
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
So the VOR I used for practicing holds...
View attachment 125490

Had it's compass rose disappear off the map... But the identification box surrounding it didn't.
View attachment 125491

What has PLL "Polo" become?
I'm probably being stupid and missing something, but nothing seems to match this?
View attachment 125492
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The open box denotes that now it's just a DME station. Not much good to you & me, but bigger aircraft often have nav systems that can triangulate position based on DME. Also still useful as a GPS waypoint.
 
Jim K said:
The open box denotes that now it's just a DME station. Not much good to you & me, but bigger aircraft often have nav systems that can triangulate position based on DME. Also still useful as a GPS waypoint.
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Interesting. O'Hare has a DME (108.25) that I use for monitoring proximity to B airspace. But it actually says "DME" on the id box. This one just has nothing...

Also, I think you've answered like my last 3 questions I've put on PoA so thank you! Maybe I'll just file my questions with you from now on :D
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Interesting. O'Hare has a DME (108.25) that I use for monitoring proximity to B airspace. But it actually says "DME" on the id box. This one just has nothing...

Also, I think you've answered like my last 3 questions I've put on PoA so thank you! Maybe I'll just file my questions with you from now on :D
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I think that's because the station is on the airport, so there's no square icon. BMI is the same way.

Don't be too impressed... I'm just on here too much o_O
 
No way, they got rid of Polo? I used to file to that fix for air work.
 
Got night current this evening. First time seeing my new landing lights at night. Pretty awesome. Unfortunately they didn't help my picture taking skills.

IMG_20240220_182713563.jpg
 
Jim K said:
Got night current this evening. First time seeing my new landing lights at night. Pretty awesome. Unfortunately they didn't help my picture taking skills.

View attachment 125661
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They did help with your picture taking, just not as much as you wanted. The older lights would have been dimmer, which would have made your camera take the pic with even longer exposure.
 
Racerx said:
Did you take that with a potato? Or was that vibration that bad?
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I dunno. I think asicer has it... long exposure due to it being dark coupled with my tendency to taxi at southwest speeds.
 
So the other night I’m on a night XC to KBFR, and on the way back I got bored and started listening to KBMG tower as I was passing overhead. Some plane flew in and on the taxi in asked where the restroom facilities were. Tower mentioned everything was closed. The pilot then proceeded to ask where a good place would be to park out of the way and relieve themselves in a dark part of the airport somewhere.

Probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. The tower just responded with “cleared to the ramp via… [whatever taxi route]”
 
kaiser said:
So the other night I’m on a night XC to KBFR, and on the way back I got bored and started listening to KBMG tower as I was passing overhead. Some plane flew in and on the taxi in asked where the restroom facilities were. Tower mentioned everything was closed. The pilot then proceeded to ask where a good place would be to park out of the way and relieve themselves in a dark part of the airport somewhere.

Probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. The tower just responded with “cleared to the ramp via… [whatever taxi route]”
Click to expand...

 
kaiser said:
So the other night I’m on a night XC to KBFR, and on the way back I got bored and started listening to KBMG tower as I was passing overhead. Some plane flew in and on the taxi in asked where the restroom facilities were. Tower mentioned everything was closed. The pilot then proceeded to ask where a good place would be to park out of the way and relieve themselves in a dark part of the airport somewhere.

Probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. The tower just responded with “cleared to the ramp via… [whatever taxi route]”
Click to expand...
Any guesses on 1 or 2?
 
masloki said:
Otherwise, see if you can find a manufacturer with real customer support, and they can tell you the SKUs with a traditional wiring for special order, or schematics to bypass. Think commercial/professional grade fans where flexibility is designed in.
Click to expand...

Modern Fan Company fits this bill.

Steven Munson | Technical Support
The Modern Fan Co.
709 Washington Street | Ashland, OR 97520 | 888.588.3267or 541.482.8545 | steven@modernfan.com
modernfan.com
 
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