Nutone Verandah PFDR-52 II Wiring

[satch503]

I have a client with two Nutone Verandah PFDR-52 II and both of the select touch switches have gone bad. I bought two new switches that have receivers... I was able to get the lights to work but the fan motor just clicked but didn't spin. Is there any way to tell what wire goes to where? I found a small diagram. It would make sense to have the speed control and the motor controls connected together? right???
any help would be appreciated

[fantasticfans]

Unfortunately it is not that simple. The SelecTouch control system is VERY fragile. It is a miracle that they have made it this long! These fans use the wall control paired with a circuit board inside. It is usually the board that goes bad. Replacements are practically impossible to find. Because of this more complex circuit board system, it is not as simple as just wiring up a new control set. Both fans need the original control systems to operate, nothing else will work. In order to make them functional you would need to take the fans down and and either hotwire them from the circuit board or totally redo the fans by taking out the boards and then adding capacitors, a reverse switch, a pullchain and much more. I don’t think anyone has even done that before. But it is definitely possible to hotwire them as I actually have one here that has been hotwired, except mine is actually fixable, hotwiring it was just a temporary fix. The person who hotwired it is on this forum so if that is the route you want to go, hopefully he will chime in and be able to describe how to do it. However the fans will no longer be able to be reversed. They will be stuck in downdraft, which is the preferred direction but it makes the fans more useless in the winter. Chances are the light works because that is a more simple connection, the fan really needs the original control to start, the clicking probably wasn't the motor, but the receiver saying it received the signal. If it was the motor, chances are it is because these fans can be started some weird way with pulses, similar to how the original control worked. But that way of operation will not work for day to day use.

To sum this all up, the fans need those original controls and remote/receiver kits will not work without taking the fans down and doing some internal work on the circuit board. Soldering will be required for this. If you go the full rewire route it will be even more complex and you will need to drill multiple holes in the switch housing.

I hate to even say this because I hate to see vintage fans go, especially ones like these that don’t show up often. But depending on the way your clients see this, it may be better to get new fans. No matter the route taken, it is going to be complex and time consuming.