How to: Add a remote to (almost) any Ceiling Fan 

I appreciate it fam, if I would've known this video was going to be in the algorithm I would have worked harder on it. I made this back when I was averaging 10 views a video and didn't expect anyone to watch it. Means alot to hear I helped someone

@@WAEMIDIVExcuse me bro what’s the name of this fan because I don’t know the name of it either

I am aware it's possible but I assumed most people searching for a tutorial prefer a quick basic rundown of the procedure

Yes but they act as master switches. For example, if you turn off the light with the pull chain, the remote will not turn it back on. You'd have to use the pull chain again, and then the remote can operate it as well

@@WAEMIDIV Ok. Thank you. 👍

Sometimes, the fan and light are wired separately. This is done so that one wall switch operates the fan, and one switch operates the light. Usually, (not always) Black is the hot wire for the fan, and Red is the hot wire for the light. White is still Neutral and Green is still Ground. If that's the case, you should be able to cap off the red wire and you'll just have an extra wall switch that has no function. However, it is also possible that this fan is in a series of lights, meaning electricity is sent to the fan, and then to another light fixture somewhere else through the red wire. If this is the case, attach the red wire to the same cap as the black wire. So in short, do you have 2 wall switches that control separate functions on the fan, or are there multiple fixtures running off one switch? Or neither?

@@WAEMIDIV Great info! There is a 3-switch wall plate: Light, fan, power to a far wall table lamp. I would like to - if you suggest it's okay - cap off the red, turn the breaker back on and see if it works. Then it sounds like I should turn the breaker back off, connect the red to the black/black at the remote antenna, and turn on the breaker again to test. Thoughts?

Mostly correct - don't attach the red wire to anything. 1 Switch controls the fan, 1 Switch controls the light on the fan and 1 switch is for an outlet (separate circuit) Because the remote is now responsible for the separate functions of the fan, it makes the second switch on the wall redundant. (red wire). All you need to do is wire black to the remote, cap off the red wire, and everything should work. The second wall switch just won't do anything, because it doesn't need to. Test and make sure

@@WAEMIDIV Almost there. I had left the light and fan on high as instructed in various videos. When I flipped the breaker, the fan works but the light does not: I tried turning the light off at the wall and off at the pull chain. Nothing made it work.

I need to go out and buy some other parts for other things. Be back in a while ...

Exactly theres a fan like that in my moms house that has a remote

Not that I've ever heard of, that function is kind of its own thing on its own circuit and I'm sure it's possible to do wirelessly, but you'd need to take apart the light kit housing and put something in there.

Are you talking about multiple single-pole switches controlling the light/fan separately, or 3-way switches controlling all functions from multiple locations in the room? If the functions are divided amongst multiple single-pole switches, I'm not sure if a remote would work. It might, but you'd have to ask someone with more experience than me If there are multiple switches controlling all fan functions, a remote can be installed, an activation at one of these switches will enable the remote's receiver.

@@WAEMIDIV You used some terminology that I'm sooo unfamiliar with. You know how walk in a room and turn the lights on - many houses have 3 of those right next to each other but ours will only have 2. So I was wondering if your tutorial will work for it.

@@adtsetful Well, what does each switch control? Is there one for the fan and one for the light [on the fan] Or does one control the entire fan+light and the other one does something else

@@WAEMIDIV one will control the light/fan. The other is one of those that control a lamp in the room.. depending on what's plugged into the corresponding socket.

@@adtsetful Excellent, because there's only 1 switch for the fan, you'll have only 1 hot wire [input] in the fan housing. Should be exactly like the video, the second switch is on it's own circuit and shouldn't interfere with the fan or remote.

yes, the wall switch needs to be on for the remote to work, so it acts as a master switch.

It should, ceiling fan wiring is pretty universal The only brand I've ever had problems with is Hunter

The channel the remote is set to by the mini switches inside it could have been accidentally reconfigured, or someone could have pulled the chains on the fan, setting them to a different speed. The remote needs the fan to be on High, and the light to be on. Otherwise it's not unheard of for the receiver to give out by internal failure, you might have to replace it and see what happens

ｌｏｗ ａｎｄ ｓｌｏｗ

the weird dual sided one I had served both purposes a flathead can be a phillips if you try hard enough lol

In my personal experience, I've had bad luck with Hunter fans. They're always the first ones to develop problems and are cheaply made, but I understand they're rated one of the top fan brands. Perhaps I've just had a bad batch

WAEMID IV I second it, my parents have a Highbury model, its from 2012, IT DIED IN 2017! Like wtf? Not only that, my grandparents have a Brookline model, and my grandma said it didn’t even work for 3 years before it died.

@@WAEMIDIV This is only true of their spinner motor fans. USA Hunter Originals are second to none in quality and performance.

I concur

WAEMID IV all hunters before 2010 are good, after that however, like the person above said, they are crap