Pull switches can be fixed.
Constant tugging on a ceiling fan light pull switch can damage the switch and not allow the light to be turned off or on any longer. A damaged light pull switch can be fixed quickly and economically by replacing the switch.
Instructions
1. Turn off the electrical circuit that powers the ceiling fan by turning off the breaker in the main electrical panel.
2. Remove the light kit from the ceiling fan. The light kit will attach to the light kit housing, located directly beneath the fan blades, with three to four screws on the side of the housing. Removing the kit will expose the wiring for the light kit and the light pull switch.
3. Disconnect the lighting wire and the white wire that connects the light kit to the ceiling fan. These wires will be connected by either wire nuts or a quick connect plug. If they connect with wire nuts, untwist the wire nuts and pull the wires apart. If the two wires connect by quick connect plugs, pull the plugs apart, disconnecting the two wires. Move the light kit to a stable work surface.
4. Remove the old ceiling fan light pull switch. The pull switch has two black wires attached to it, use wire cutter/strippers to cut the black wires as close to the old switch as possible, giving you some excess wire to connect the new switch onto. The switch threads through the light kit and is held in place by a screw collar. Remove the screw collar from the throat of the switch by turning it counterclockwise. This will release the old light pull switch from the light kit.
5. Strip the insulation from the wires you cut from the old light pull switch. Use the wire cutter/strippers to strip ½ inch of insulation off both the black wires.
6. Install the new ceiling fan switch. Thread the chain and the throat of the new switch though the opening left by the old ceiling fan light pull switch and secure it by screwing the screw collar onto the throat of the new switch.
7. Connect the new pull switch wiring to the light kit. Twist an orange wire nut onto one of the black wires from the switch and one of the black wires that you cut from the old switch in step four, connecting them together. Connect the other black wire from the switch to the remaining black wire with an orange wire nut in the same manner you connected the first set of black wires.
8. Reattach the light kit to the ceiling fan. Connect the light kit wire and the white wires back together in the manner you disconnected them in step three. If connected with wire nuts, reconnect with wire nuts. If connected by quick connect plugs, reconnect with the quick connect plugs. Using the screws you removed from the light kit in step two, reattach the light kit to the ceiling fan light kit housing.
9. Turn on the electrical circuit that powers the ceiling fan by turning on the breaker in the main electrical panel.
Tags: pull switch, light pull switch, black wires, light pull, wire nuts, ceiling light, quick connect