Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things
going on with our electricity. The lights dim and flicker. When we try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten instead) and the microwave power drops low. When we use the vaccum the lights will brighten. We usually have to turn off all the lights in the house just to use the microwave. Other appliances don't seem to be affected but I am guessing they are and we just can't tell like we can with the microwave. We have had the power company come out and he checked the voltage ? coming into the house with the microwave off and with it on. They say it is normal and probably something with the wiring inside. We called an electrician and he came over and turned on the microwave and said yes that something was wrong but he couldn't say what until he started digging around. We're short on cash at the moment so we told him we'd call him. What is bugging us is this (which may mean nothing): we have made no changes to the load or appliances etc., it has been working fine the past two days but just started up again, and our neighbor who we share the pole with started working on some wood projects in his garage about the same time all this started. Could the neighbor somehow be causing this? The only thing I am not sure of on that is that this all also happens in the morning when he not working on anything. Any insight or ideas would greatly help! |
#3
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
wrote in message ... Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things going on with our electricity. The lights dim and flicker. When we try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten instead) and the microwave power drops low. When we use the vaccum the lights will brighten. We usually have to turn off all the lights in the house just to use the microwave. Other appliances don't seem to be affected but I am guessing they are and we just can't tell like we can with the microwave. We have had the power company come out and he checked the voltage ? coming into the house with the microwave off and with it on. They say it is normal and probably something with the wiring inside. We called an electrician and he came over and turned on the microwave and said yes that something was wrong but he couldn't say what until he started digging around. We're short on cash at the moment so we told him we'd call him. What is bugging us is this (which may mean nothing): we have made no changes to the load or appliances etc., it has been working fine the past two days but just started up again, and our neighbor who we share the pole with started working on some wood projects in his garage about the same time all this started. Could the neighbor somehow be causing this? The only thing I am not sure of on that is that this all also happens in the morning when he not working on anything. Any insight or ideas would greatly help! Whatever money you save on the electrician you will wind up spending to repair or replace your appliances. You could have loose connections in the meter, at the service mast, at the pole, or in your main panel. You could also have a bad main circuit breaker. Your neutral connections should also be checked at all points previously mentioned. Did the power company check the connections at the transformer? Just because the voltage is correct does not mean that their equipment and service feed is in good condition. While your at it check your grounding electrode conductor connections. My guess is a faulty neutral connection somewhere. If so this is not a healthy condition for humans as well as appliances. |
#4
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
Any insight or ideas would greatly help!
Once had a problem with a loose crimp splice on a the drop line from the pole. It was OK most of the time. When the wind blew a certain way, the wire would swing and the splice would cut in and out, causing symptoms like you describe. |
#5
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
|
#6
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
In article , "Joseph Meehan" wrote:
wrote in message ... Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things going on with our electricity. The lights dim and flicker. When we try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten instead) That means you have a poor or disconnected (open) neutral. (That should be the white wire) THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS AND CAUSE A FIRE OR DAMAGE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES. The fact that you did not know what it is leads me to suggest calling the electrician now. Yeah -- but I think I'd call a different electrician. The OP's description of the symptoms is a clear indication of an open neutral, and any competent electrician should have spotted that immediately. In my opinion, though, before calling an electrician, the OP should call the power company back first, and insist that they come out and check for loose connections on the neutral, all the way from the transformer to the meter base. Call an electrician only if the power company verifies that *their* side is all good. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
#7
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
On Dec 1, 1:08 pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , "Joseph Meehan" wrote: wrote in message ... Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things going on with our electricity. The lights dim and flicker. When we try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten instead) That means you have a poor or disconnected (open) neutral. (That should be the white wire) THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS AND CAUSE A FIRE OR DAMAGE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES. The fact that you did not know what it is leads me to suggest calling the electrician now. Yeah -- but I think I'd call a different electrician. The OP's description of the symptoms is a clear indication of an open neutral, and any competent electrician should have spotted that immediately. In my opinion, though, before calling an electrician, the OP should call the power company back first, and insist that they come out and check for loose connections on the neutral, all the way from the transformer to the meter base. Call an electrician only if the power company verifies that *their* side is all good. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Having the power company check all the way from the transformer to the meter base. I don't know if the OP's company will do it, but a few years back I had some flickering and the power company checked all the way to the main breaker in the panel for me. Maybe they just weren't that busy - nice quiet, spring night...they showed up within a half hour of my call. Turned out not to be anything related to the neutral, but at least they eliminated everything from the main breaker out which made my troubleshooting a whole easier. Turned out to be a bad breaker. |
#8
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
Start by looking for something warmer than normal. If you can get a handheld
non-contact infrared temp gun that's the easiest way. Somewhere you have a bad connection between the utility company transformer all the way to the power bars in your panel. So you're talking about connections at the transformer, the masthead, the meter base, the grounding electrode, the main breaker,the main breaker buss attachment, the neutral buss attachment. If you're not comfortable with exposed electrical equipment, hire a pro. Try the power company first, they'll have to check to the meter base anyway, downstream of that it requires an electrician. But the power company may have the infrared device I suggested and they can check your panel also pretty easily. wrote in message ... Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things going on with our electricity. The lights dim and flicker. When we try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten instead) and the microwave power drops low. When we use the vaccum the lights will brighten. We usually have to turn off all the lights in the house just to use the microwave. Other appliances don't seem to be affected but I am guessing they are and we just can't tell like we can with the microwave. We have had the power company come out and he checked the voltage ? coming into the house with the microwave off and with it on. They say it is normal and probably something with the wiring inside. We called an electrician and he came over and turned on the microwave and said yes that something was wrong but he couldn't say what until he started digging around. We're short on cash at the moment so we told him we'd call him. What is bugging us is this (which may mean nothing): we have made no changes to the load or appliances etc., it has been working fine the past two days but just started up again, and our neighbor who we share the pole with started working on some wood projects in his garage about the same time all this started. Could the neighbor somehow be causing this? The only thing I am not sure of on that is that this all also happens in the morning when he not working on anything. Any insight or ideas would greatly help! |
#9
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
Well,
It hasn't happened again since the time of this post a couple of nights ago. I came here to try and get an idea too of WHO to call next. I was told by the electric company that if they come out and it is not their problem then they will charge us a fee. And if the electrician comes out of course he charges a fee no matter who's problem it is. I already have one fee from the electric company because they said it wasn't their problem, I'm afraid I will call the electrician, he'll come out and charge a fee and say it is their problem and to call them back. I just have a bad feeling about all this! I can't afford to be paying fees for people to say it's someone else's problem. Plus I really don't see why I have to pay the electric company anything - I pay them plenty of money every month! And if it's not their fault, they did no work anyway so why the charge! Sorry to vent, just feeling a little frustrated! I guess we'll keep thinking on it and decide what to do tomorrow. Thanks for the help, atleast we know what the problem probably is and not to call that first electrician back. |
#10
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
|
#11
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
|
#12
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
wrote: Well, It hasn't happened again since the time of this post a couple of nights ago. I came here to try and get an idea too of WHO to call next. I was told by the electric company that if they come out and it is not their problem then they will charge us a fee. And if the electrician comes out of course he charges a fee no matter who's problem it is. I already have one fee from the electric company because they said it wasn't their problem, I'm afraid I will call the electrician, he'll come out and charge a fee and say it is their problem and to call them back. I just have a bad feeling about all this! I can't afford to be paying fees for people to say it's someone else's problem. Plus I really don't see why I have to pay the electric company anything - I pay them plenty of money every month! And if it's not their fault, they did no work anyway so why the charge! Sorry to vent, just feeling a little frustrated! I guess we'll keep thinking on it and decide what to do tomorrow. Thanks for the help, atleast we know what the problem probably is and not to call that first electrician back. Call another (i.e. better) electrician. If he says it is your problem, then you pay to fix it and it is over. If he is confident that it is the power company's problem, you call the power company and don't have to pay. PLUS you demand a refund for the first charge, since they were wrong and you never owed them money. You could even try and have them pay for the second electrician, since they told you that was what you needed to do and they again were wrong. -- John |
#13
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Lights dim, brighten & appliances slow
On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 05:09:13 -0800 (PST), John Ross
wrote: wrote: Well, It hasn't happened again since the time of this post a couple of nights ago. I came here to try and get an idea too of WHO to call next. I was told by the electric company that if they come out and it is not their problem then they will charge us a fee. And if the electrician comes out of course he charges a fee no matter who's problem it is. I already have one fee from the electric company because they said it wasn't their problem, I'm afraid I will call the electrician, he'll come out and charge a fee and say it is their problem and to call them back. I just have a bad feeling about all this! I can't afford to be paying fees for people to say it's someone else's problem. Plus I really don't see why I have to pay the electric company anything - I pay them plenty of money every month! And if it's not their fault, they did no work anyway so why the charge! Sorry to vent, just feeling a little frustrated! I guess we'll keep thinking on it and decide what to do tomorrow. Thanks for the help, atleast we know what the problem probably is and not to call that first electrician back. Call another (i.e. better) electrician. If he says it is your problem, then you pay to fix it and it is over. If he is confident that it is the power company's problem, you call the power company and don't have to pay. PLUS you demand a refund for the first charge, since they were wrong and you never owed them money. You could even try and have them pay for the second electrician, since they told you that was what you needed to do and they again were wrong. That first electrician sounded like a moron. I worked as a plumber and also as a general handyman for years. The first part of being a business person is to NOT leave the customer hanging, and then charge them. If I went to a job and determined I could not handle the job or simply did not want it, I clearly told them "I do not feel I am able to do this job for you", and would refer them to something..... There would not be a charge for this, because I did not charge for estimates, and this was considered an estimate. If I came and took the job seriously, I'd start to look for the problem, and go from there. If your electrician had opened your breaker box and actually done something, he should have found a problem, or at least isolated it to whether it's in the house, or the electric company's wiring. If he did not do this, he did NOTHING and you dont owe him a cent. Since you said the problem is only that one circuit, why not just replace that particular breaker, as I said before. Unless you got some oddball breakers, they cost under $10. If this solves it, you're done. If not you are only out a few bucks and have a good breaker to sit on top of your box for the next time you have a problem. From what you described, if the problem only exists on that one circuit, in otherwords, the rest of the house is OK and the problem is isolated to only ONE circuit, example, the one breaker that controls the microwave and a few lights, then the problem is not likely to be the outdoor wires that supply the house, which means it's either the breaker that furnishes that circuit, or a loose wire somewhere in there. If you want to save money, do some of your own testing. Shut off the power at the main. Look for loose screws or charred connections. Replace that breaker. Turn power back on, if problem is nit solved, determine if the problem is isolated to one particular circuit. If it is, then when you call an electrician they only have to check that one circuit. Good luck |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Toilet slow, very slow to refill | Home Repair | |||
How to Brighten Brick | Home Repair | |||
Need to Polish or Brighten some Aluminum | Metalworking | |||
Arc welder and house lights/appliances | Metalworking | |||
|
UK diy |