# Ceiling fan - bypass variable speed?



## jamesdensley (May 27, 2015)

I have a ceiling fan with a wall-mounted variable speed control (4 settings). The fan itself has an on/off pull chain and capacitor.

Is it possible to bypass the capacitor in the fan, i.e. remove the variable speed option by taking the capacitor out of the loop and wiring the motor directly to a simple wall switch?

Thanks,

J


----------



## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

The fan needs the capacitor to run. Set it to the speed you want and take the chain off.


----------



## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

Is the wall controller wireless? Is it a capacitor in the fan, or a wireless receiver?


----------



## jamesdensley (May 27, 2015)

Figured as much but wanted to make sure. I'm in China so finding the right replacement capacitor is going to be a tough one.
Thanks for the quick response, nice site.



ratherbefishing said:


> Is the wall controller wireless? Is it a capacitor in the fan, or a wireless receiver?


In the fan, no wireless.


----------



## InPhase277 (Feb 9, 2008)

The capacitor doesn't set the speed, the pull chain switch does. There are 4 wires going to the chain: a hot and a wire for each speed. If you really want to do it then you have to identify the wires on the pull chain and connect the hot wire and high speed wire together, capping the other two.


----------



## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

In some fans that I have seen the capacitor does set the speed. The cap is three part and depending on which part or parts are connected to the fan determines what speed it runs.


----------



## InPhase277 (Feb 9, 2008)

joed said:


> In some fans that I have seen the capacitor does set the speed. The cap is three part and depending on which part or parts are connected to the fan determines what speed it runs.


I'll take your word for it. I have never seen anything but a 2-wire capacitor in them.


----------



## MrElectricianTV (Nov 13, 2014)

jamesdensley said:


> I have a ceiling fan with a wall-mounted variable speed control (4 settings). The fan itself has an on/off pull chain and capacitor.
> 
> Is it possible to bypass the capacitor in the fan, i.e. remove the variable speed option by taking the capacitor out of the loop and wiring the motor directly to a simple wall switch?
> 
> ...


Can't you just remove the wall mount speed control and install a wall switch in its place?


----------



## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

Here is a elementary schematic for a capacitive speed control fan.
From what I have seen, more and more of the fans are using them.


----------



## tylernt (Jul 5, 2012)

joed said:


> The fan needs the capacitor to run. Set it to the speed you want and take the chain off.


So, I did this and the combination of wall feed control and canopy speed control (always set to High mode) works poorly for me. At the wall, the High setting is more like Medium, Medium is more like Low, and the fan barely turns at all in Low. :icon_sad:

But I suppose this all depends on the type of canopy and wall speed controls, perhaps this works just fine for most people.


----------

