I have a combination ceiling fan/light fixture in my living room.

Twila W
by Twila W
It also has a remote hand held feature. When I flicked it on at the switch plate it made a little noise and each of four little light bulbs when out all at once. The fan part is still working. New light bulbs didn't work either.
  6 answers
  • You may have/had a short in the wiring, or it is connected wrong. Either way, you should look into it quickly. You can test for shorts if you have a voltmeter. Otherwise you should call in a pro to have it checked out if you don't feel comfortable doing things yourself.
  • 3po3 3po3 on Dec 12, 2011
    I always err on the side of pros for electric stuff. I'm willing to try my hand at most other things, but I don't think this is something you want to mess with. Search for an electrician at the top of the page and have them come out to look.
  • Depending on the type of fan system you have it may have burned out the remote sensor located in the light housing. I just had the same thing happen to a client of mine. Although her lights come on and off, the ability to dim them stopped working. I looked into the fixture and found that there is a electronic device inside that can be programed to match up with the remote system she uses. Once this electronic device fails it needs to be replaced. The issue with that is, the device costs almost as much as the whole light fixture does new. So were removing the light side of the fixture and installing the light elsewhere in the home where no light is needed and putting in a new fan light combo where this one exists now. But I would also check the switch in the wall. Perhaps a wire came loose and shorted out, or simply the switch may have gone bad. If you do not fee comfortable in checking this out, you need either a handyman or electrical contractor to do this for you.
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Dec 15, 2011
    I just did a repair to a clients fan light combo a few days ago. In this case there was no remote , but a light "assembly" that hung below the fan. It was an older unit and in the course of replacing a bulb a massive short occurred. The base assembly of the light housing was pretty fried. The person who was installing the bulbs said flames and smoke were involved, and from the degree of carbon I would agree. To make things safe I removed the entire light assembly and converted the unit to a fan only one. This is located in a rental property and the owner has plans to upgrade at a later date. Next week I am replacing a number of basic light fixture that are also equally "dated"...many have components... better safe than sorry.
  • Take the fixture off the fan, only three little screws usually, and test for power on the wire feeding the light. If not, it's probably the remote setup. New ones run around $38 at Lowe,s or Home Depot. Only problem is you pretty much have to take the fan apart to install it.
  • The remote module has definetly gone bad, if you love the fan, it can be replaced. If you don't love the fan by a new one sometimes there could be something internal in the fan causing it to burn through remotes sensors quickly.