# Did I wreck my new ceiling fan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-wreck-my-new-ceiling-fan/421567 "2007-10-04T23:40:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fozzie\_Bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Fozzie\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fozzie_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-wreck-my-new-ceiling-fan/421567/1 "2007-10-04T23:40:03Z")
This afternoon I installed a new ceiling fan in my bedroom. Everything went okay, but I had a really hard time getting the canopy to fit over the bracket, because the canopy had gotten a little bent - of course, right where it was supposed to screw into the bracket. I straightened it out best I could, and with some jiggling finally got the fan mounted. So I plugged the fuse back in and flipped the switch… only to hear a “pop” and see a spark of electricity come out of the canopy. So, off went the switch, and I unplugged the fuse again (it hadn’t burnt out), and took the fan down again. It seems that with the jiggling I did to get the fan on the bracket, the black wire (for the fan motor?) got pinched by the bracket and the insulation was scraped away. There is a nice little sooty mark on the bracket where the contact took place. My question is, is this fan probably hosed now? Or can I cut back the black wire to where the insulation was scraped away, and try connecting it again? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-wreck-my-new-ceiling-fan/421567/2 "2007-10-05T00:17:59Z")
You’re probably ok. Shorting the hot lead to ground shouldn’t pull any damaging current through the fan motor or its control circuitry. If you cut it back and re-strip it as you suggest, it ought to be fine.