Mistral 5 Speed wall controller switch for a ceiling fan has failed and the fan is stuck on high speed and can't be turned off via the switch. Can it be replaced with a modern 3-speed wall switch?

Check the capacitor (black box with wires going to switch) and see if that's going bad. If it's not that, take the control out of the wall and just use the pull chain to see if it runs correctly. If it does, you need a new wall control. DO NOT USE A DIMMER SWITCH!

The most likely cause (and the one I've always encountered) is the switch/controller nit wears out from electrical arcing that burns the contacts or temperature kills electronics on "soft" speed controllers

Howdy,

Sounds like a good ol' American made Hunter Original to me. BEST and most powerful residential ceiling fan (high quality) ever made. The RPM spec is 200-160-50 for the respective speeds, moving 10,500 CFM on high speed. Most ceiling fans barely crack 5,000 CFM. they were built for Brute Force Air Movement and they really don't do well for small spaces. The best solution I have for you is if you have a Wall switch for this fan, to install a Hunter Original Wall control or remote control. http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=hunter+original+control&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Both controls will lower the Medium speed to about 100-110 rpm, which should be much more comfortable for you.

Because the Hunter Original (I know your fan is an American made unit by your wire colors) draws more current than other fans, the Original controls are the only controls that are designed to work with your fan. Other controls do not have the current capacity for the Original motor.

Also, are you aware your fan uses oil?

Hello .. you should be able to find a replacement for your fan control at any building supply store, a home depot type store. Look or ask for a variable speed fan control. This is slightly different from a normal liight dimmer . You might also look for a replacement knob before replacing the whole switch, or matbe getting a replacement just to replace the knob ..

I found out that the capacitor and switch is shortened. I un-shortened, and it got to low, mediium, and off.

Sounds like the fan is defective. All internal wiring from the switch to the motor is factory installed. The fan has power going to it. Just to make sure, double check the wiring from the ceiling fixture to the fan.
Problem could be a faulty switch on the fan or faulty motor(bad winding for med. speed). Try reverse switch on the fan to operate the opposite direction and see if medium speed works. If medium does work in opposite direction, it pretty much points to a defective fan. In any case, unless you discover that the ceiling wires were reversed going into the fan, I'd say new fan to the returns dept.

You have a rotating dimmer switch on the wall to control speed right? If so, it is the wrong type switch. The missed matched switch will cause the humming. Use a regular on/off switch and control speed with the pull string

If it has a chain, buy a light dimmer switch so it will not have 1 speed anymore. If it has a remote control, buy a new remote control like your old one. Try different numbers on remote control.

If this fan has a pullchain that also controls the fan speed, and you have a remote, the pullchain has to be set for the highest speed. If it is set at medium or low, it will mess with the remote operation. Note: usually high speed is the first pull after the "off" position.

I recently replaced my hampton bay fan for the same reason (slow at all speeds) and discovered scorched and melted capacitors and wiring inside the fan. My suggestion is to stop using fan and replace immediately.