dimmer in bathroom - fan doesn't work while lights are on


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Old 12-01-17, 07:49 AM
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Cool dimmer in bathroom - fan doesn't work while lights are on

I am new here, and I am excited to learn a lot. I wired up an exhaust fan in my bathroom. I already had a Dimmer switch for the lights in the bathroom. When the lights are off in the bathroom, the exhaust fan works perfectly. If the lights are on, you just here a buzzing coming from the fan, but it doesn't function. As you start to dim the lights the fan starts up slowly. It seems as if the dimmer switch is affecting the power to the fan as well.

I wired it up by connecting all of the neutrals together in the box. I then hooked all the hot wires together and put a pigtail that connects to the bottom of the fan switch. Then the hot wire going to the fan is on the top of the fan switch. Everything is also grounded together as well.

Any suggestions/ideas as to how to allow both swithes to have full power?

Thanks in advance!
Chris
 
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Old 12-01-17, 08:09 AM
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You have all the neutrals hooked together. That much makes sense. Then you said you have all the hots connected together. How is the light switch wired. You also mentioned a pigtail to the fan switch but didn't say where that wire came from.
 
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Old 12-01-17, 08:33 AM
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Hi, you need one Hot to dimmer and one hot to the fan switch,then the conductor from the fan to the other side of the fan switch,sounds like you have the hot to the fan switch somehow connected through the dimmer,they both need separate hots.
Geo
 
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Old 12-01-17, 09:04 AM
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Where the Hot comes in, I have that Pigtailed to both of the switches hots. Then all of the neutrals are hooked together. I hope that makes sense. I only have 1 hot wire coming into the box feeding both of the switches.
 
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Old 12-01-17, 10:21 AM
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How many wires originally in the box ? One cable with two wires ?

If white wire is on one screw terminal and black is on the other screw terminal then you have a switch loop and cannot connect there as there is no neutral.
 
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Old 12-01-17, 10:29 AM
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Did you break any splices apart when you started?
Geo
 
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Old 12-01-17, 02:29 PM
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There was 2 Wires in the box originally. There was a single pole switch with a hot wire and the light fixture wire hooked to it. I cut a bigger hole in the wall and put in a double box and installed a dimmer switch and a 2nd switch for the fan. I took the hot wire that came in to the box and put 2 pig tails on it. 1 goes to the bottom of the dimmer switch and the 2nd to the bottom of the fan switch. Then I ganged the whites together and hooked up the respective components to the tops of the switches.
 
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Old 12-01-17, 04:26 PM
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The two wires in the box are the end of a switch loop. Technically white is always live and the black is switched back to the light. You CANNOT add anything to that wire as it stands. You do not have a neutral.

This is what your wiring looks like.......
Name:  switchloop+.jpg
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You need three wires between the light and that switch..... always live, switched back to the light and neutral.
 

Last edited by PJmax; 12-01-17 at 05:48 PM.
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Old 12-04-17, 05:49 PM
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So there is no way to feed multiple switches from the hot wire coming into the box?
 
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Old 12-04-17, 07:18 PM
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No.... because you need a neutral to go along with the hot and there is no neutral.

That wire is white but is not a neutral. That wire should have been taped black or another color like red or blue to signify that is is not a neutral.
 
 

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