stumped!!!!!!!!

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zapped 1

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good afternoon i am trying to make 1 exhaust fan work from 2 different bathrooms both are single pole switches also controlling the 2/4 lay ins this is a restraunt and they want it so either bathroom can turn the fan on or off i was thinking a contactor but am unsure thanks for any feedback
 
Can't be done with SP switches.

Are the lights & fan on the same circuit?

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Otherwise,

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slick 50 said:
this would make no sense because someone could turn the fan off from girls bath when someone is using boys bath and vise verse
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That would only occur if the boys were peeing in the dark. If either of the switches are on the fan will be on until they are both off.
 
zapped 1 said:
good afternoon i am trying to make 1 exhaust fan work from 2 different bathrooms both are single pole switches also controlling the 2/4 lay ins this is a restraunt and they want it so either bathroom can turn the fan on or off i was thinking a contactor but am unsure thanks for any feedback
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if all the lights and the fan are on the same circuit then you can do it with two single pole switches wired in parallel
 
iand74 said:
if all the lights and the fan are on the same circuit then you can do it with two single pole switches wired in parallel
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If either switch is on, lights in both rooms are on.

Now imagine you go into one room, and the lights are already on because the switch in the other room is on. You go to do, well, 'your business', and the person in the other room leaves, turning the lights off. Now you're in the dark.
 
The only way I can see this working without a contactor, and your using the same circuit, is to run your ungrounded conductor to the line side of each SP switch. Then out of the load side of the switchs to the lights and fan. The problem with that is the room you turn the lights on is the same room you would need to turn them off, and vise versa. I think another problem is this could be dangerous, and would be violating 310.4, because if both switches were on then you would have parralled the switch legs. Also, why would you want the lights on if nobody is in the other room. Mybe I'm not seeing the full picture, but it seems like this needs to be thought out better.
 
480sparky said:
If either switch is on, lights in both rooms are on.

Now imagine you go into one room, and the lights are already on because the switch in the other room is on. You go to do, well, 'your business', and the person in the other room leaves, turning the lights off. Now you're in the dark.
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i'm not saying its a good design, but you could do it

you could probably do it with a relay that turns the fan on when either set of lights is turned on
 
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iand74 said:
i'm not saying its a good design, but you could do it

you could probably do it with a relay that turns the fan on when either set of lights is turned on
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The relay will cause the same problem. The switch legs will still be tied together at the coil instead of the fan. It's just substituting one load for another.

Using 2 SP switches will only cause both lights to come on when either switch is turned on.

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It is a crappy design to switch the same fan from two rooms so don't even think about it.

It's a restaurant bathroom exhaust fan! Let it run during business hours. It's worth the expense.
 
This was a spec in all of the jimmy johns i have done. I always used 2 2pole switches. Yes you could be "backfeeding " the switch if one light is on but if it is the same ciruit it doesn't matter. This setup could be very onfusing to trouble shoot if you didn't know about it.
 
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