I recently had a contractor/handyman install a Hunter ceiling fan for me. It worked great, but my wife came home and thought it was too big. I ordered a different Hunter fan, and figured I could install the new one myself, using his wiring as a guide while also following the manual.
My experience with electrical wiring is pretty minimal, but I feel comfortable following the directions, using wire connectors, etc.
The directions call for connecting 3 wires from the ceiling box, but there appears to be only 2. The contractor connected the black ("ungrounded") ceiling wire to the black and blue wire (light and motor) of the fan. He also connencted a composite of 3 white wires ("grounded") from the ceiling to the white wire of the fan.
However, the directions also call for connecting a "grounding" wire from the ceiling (supposedly green, green/yellow, or bare copper) to a green/yellow striped wire from the fan and a green/yellow striped wire from the metal hanging bracket. The contractor connected the 2 green/yellow wires of the fan and metal hanging bracket together, but did not connect anything to the ceiling box. From what I can tell, this was not an omission, as I couldn't find any other wires coming from the box.
This surprised me. The fan worked fine like this, but I'm afraid the fan may not be adequately grounded. Or is grounding the fan to the metal bracket sufficient?
My plan was to hook it back up the way he had it, but I just want to make sure this is safe.
Thanks.
Best Answer
In a perfect world, with perfect electronics, there would be no need for a grounding conductor. It's there to deal with imperfections. The most likely case for a ground fault in this installation would be if the black conductor lost some insulation and shorted itself against the frame of the fan. In such a situation, the casing could become electrified, and a grounded person, touching the fan body could receive a shock.
If it were properly grounded, you'd get a short circuit to the ground wire, and the breaker would trip.
However, the fan is mounted to the ceiling, and the possibility of someone touching it is low. (Unlike, for example, the frame of a fridge or stove, where human contact is part of normal operation.)
So, Is it safe? Quite likely. For added safety, turn the wall switch off when changing bulbs. Is it to code? No. -- Unless, as others have suggested in comments, the mounting box is grounded on the other side.
You can however, locate the breaker, and replace it with a Ground Fault Interrupt breaker, which would trip should a ground fault occur. This isn't something you should do yourself unless you have experience working in the panel.
Another possibility, if your switch happens to be chained off of an outlet, which is quite possible, depending on the routing of the wiring on that circuit, is to replace the outlet with a GFCI outlet, and wire the switch to the load side of it.