Hello, I replaced a light fixture on my existing Emerson ceiling fan. The light worked right away but the blades didn't turn. I could hear power going to the motor so I went back into the switch cup and found the red wire had come loose from the multi-connector. Upon reinserting the red wire, the blades now turn at all three speeds but only in one direction (reversing switch "up".) If I move the reversing switch to the "down" position, I hear nothing from the motor and the blades refuse to start moving. I can see no other obvious loose wires. What color wires should I look at for this problem? Is it possible the reversing switch has failed?

Not understanding, three pole switch is a wrong switch, wires in the ceiling or wall electric box.
Needed: What switch is existing and what wires are in the switch box and runs or groups in each run coming in as wire groups. Same for ceiling box, colors and wires in each run coming in.
Basically, remove the existing ceiling fixture and connect the ceiling fan replacing the fixture to the same wires the fixture was connected to. White to white, green or bare to green or bare, colored wire to fan's blue and black. Wired like this one switch controls both fan and light, on and off at same time. Use fan pull chain switch for individual fan or light control.

I have replaced a couple ceiling light fixtures with ceiling fan/light combos in bedrooms where the light was basically in the center of the room. This was fairly straight forward and for me required replacing the electrical box that the light fixture was using with a heavier duty fan mounting box which you should make sure you use (that way the fan/light combo won't fall on your head later on -- literally). As far as the size of fan you can put there depends on whether the fan mounting electrical box can be mounted in the "exact" position of your original ceiling light fixture. I say this because the new box MUST be anchored to the ceiling joist structure in some way as a ceiling fan (usually) weighs more than a light fixture and tends to vibrate lending to more stress on the electrical box it's mounted to. Have someone who is an electrician or at the very least has a clear understanding of the importance of proper electrical work do the work or at least clearly explain what you need in your specific situation.

It is generally accepted that you should have at least 18" of space between a wall and the tip of your fan blade. In order to do this with the 32" figure you gave, ideally you should have a (32" - 18") x 2 = 28" fan. A fan in the 28" to 30" range is probably about as big as you should go in this area. You could technically place a 60" fan in that location and leave only about 2" of space between the fan blade and the wall, but that's asking for trouble and should NOT be done in my opinion. The smaller the fan, the less air you will be able to move, therefore you need to balance size, air flow requirements, and the restrictions of your particular location with what you can put there.

Do a quick internet search on "what size ceiling fan do I need" for more information on this topic.

It is entirely possible that the typical 3 screws that hold the blades to the fan arms have loosened up over the years. I would take a screw driver and tighten them. If they loosen they will sag at the ends and touch any frame under them.

The wiring on most paddle / ceiling fans id such:

White = Fan and Light neutral or "common"
Black = Fan line voltage or "hot"
Blue = Light line voltage or "hot"
Green = safety ground

If you are replacing an existing light fixture - be sure to replace the ceiling box with one designed for use with a fan - as per electrical code. If the existing box had only 2 wires (or 3 counting the ground) that connected to the old light fixture and it was controlled from a wall switch, the wiring would be fixture white to ceiling white, fixture black and fixture blue to ceiling black (or red) and fixture green to ceiling bare ground or connected to the metal box. This would power both the fan and light whenever the wall switch was on and the pull chains for each were also on. This is also the preferred wiring for replacement of a pull chain type light fixture (no wall switch present).

If there are other wires in the box that previously were not connected to the old light fixture, using a meter or tester - determine if there is constant power between the ceiling white wire and any of the these other wires (test with the wall switch on and off to be sure). If you do have constant power available, you might consider using the wall switch to control only the light, and using the pull chain to operate the fan (or vice-versa). Simply connect the black (for fan) or the blue (for light) to the "constant power on" wire and that part of the fixture will work by pull chain only - regardless of the wall switch position. If the fan can be shut off by the wall switch, it is very important that the wall switch remain a toggle (or on / off switch), do NOT replace with a dimmer type switch.

If you'd prefer to operate the fan and light completely independently of each other - you can purchase a 3rd party fan & light remote control device for between $30 - $50.

I hope this helps and good luck! Please rate my reply. Thanks!

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfimages/b0/b09306e2-256f-4c0f-a5bb-831eee21ddae.pdf

Can you hear the motor run even though the blades are not turning? If so, the manifold/flywheel may be bad and perhaps have broken away from the motor shaft.

One of the two cables in the ceiling box is power and the opther is a switch leg .. what you need to do is connect the two black wires together at the ceiling, connect the white power wire to the white fixture wire ,.,. connect the white switch wire to the black fixture wire .. put some black tape on that white to make it legal .

I was able to resolve the problem. It turned out that the light fixture part that I had received from the associate at The Home Depot was the wrong one. I needed a 3 speed not a 2 speed replacement part. However, I ended up not even needing that. Once I took the fan apart and watched it malfunction, I could see that the clear part holding the fixture rope on my older fan had another circular piece in the center that had become loose but had not fallen out. I simply used a very small piece of blue paint tape to seal back in place. Since the area doesn't get hot, I found this to be a suitable solution. Thanks for your help.

Sounds like the remote receiver units (located where the mains connect to the fans) took a surge and have failed.