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I'm trying to replace my ceiling fan and can't seem to figure out what wire is which ?

My house is 70 years old and it's a bit confusing.

EDIT from the comments:

Four outlets are connected as well as the porch light and the ceiling fan are on the circuit.

I have tools and I've replaced ceiling light fixtures before.

The problem I ran into with this one is that I didn't pay attention to where the wires were connected on the old ceiling fan.

It appears that the power to the box comes in on the left side of the pic in the box and the right side supplies the power to the ceiling fan.

Thanks for any help!

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Alaska Man
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Kate Powers
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  • I am also try to figure it out but i can not see it from here. We can not help you unless you add every detail you think of and photos. – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:04
  • Sorry! I thought the image had attached to my original post! – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:08
  • Better, but we still need more information. Such as, are there other fixtures or outlets on the circuit, what level of knowledge, experience and what tools do you have ? Do you know how to switch the breaker off for this circuit ? **We need as much info as possible**. – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:15
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    Don't touch anything except what the fan was previously attached to. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 09 '20 at 20:20
  • Four outlets are connected as well as the porch light and the ceiling fan are on the circuit. I have tools and I've replaced ceiling light fixtures before. The problem I ran into with this one is that I didn't pay attention to where the wires were connected on the old ceiling fan. It appears that the power to the box comes in on the left side of the pic in the box and the right side supplies the power to the ceiling fan. – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:23
  • @kate In the last photo you show two pigtails, a black/hot and white/neutral without wire nuts on them. Were those the wires that were connected to the old fixture ? – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:33
  • Yes, that's what was connected to the old one. – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:38
  • I guess an addition to my original question is where the ground wire is? If I don't have one, where do I attach the ground wire from the ceiling fan? – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:39
  • @KatePowers So did you try to connect those to there corresponding wires on the new fan ? Black to black, white to white. **So all of that was just to ask where the ground goes, or is there more to it. ???** If that was/is the question then why did you not just say it up front ? – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:39
  • @AlaskaMan I haven't attached anything yet. I think my main concern was to make sure all of the wiring looked correct and where the ground wire is. – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:41
  • @AlaskaMan in that very first picture there is a wire with an orange wire nut on it. I don't know what that wire is! Sorry I wasn't thorough enough in my communication! – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:44
  • Did you search this site for info pertaining to the info you need ? https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/186443/what-should-i-do-with-the-ground-wire-from-my-light-fixture-when-theres-no-grou https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/29459/what-do-i-do-if-there-are-only-two-wires-coming-from-my-ceiling-electrical-box – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:47
  • **Like pulling teeth**. *I have lost my patients*. I do not know what you want for sure. is there one question or two questions or more. Search this site to find related questions. Or ask the darn questions that you have and be clear and informative. – Alaska Man May 09 '20 at 20:49
  • Sorry I wasted your time. – Kate Powers May 09 '20 at 20:51

1 Answers1

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OK. Based on what you said about the black and white pigtails without wire nuts on them being the wires that were connected to the old fan, connect them to the white and black wires on your new fan. The box isn't grounded so you don't need to connect your green wire from the fan. Don't try to figure out where all the wires go. You can't determine that unless you start disconnecting them and take reading... and you do not want to do that.

The really bad news is that the box you want to install the fan on is not rated for a ceiling fan and needs to be replace with one that is.

JACK
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