"JC" wrote in message
m...
Here lately we have had the opposite of a power surge. The power takes a
dramatic downward dive. We sleep without air conditioning and use a small
"Patton" fan mainly to create some noise to drown out the trains and
highway traffic. For the last three or four days the fan would drag down
to almost a complete stop. One of us would wake up immediately and jump up
and turn it off.

Last night I decided to do some detective work. So, when it happened, I
just left it along and went through the house turning on lights and
things. Several lights, I'm assuming they are on the same circuit, were
very dim. (we use those curly cue florescent bulbs). Nothing I did changed
the fan speed. This morning I turned the fan on and it ran fine. I'm
wondering if a breaker could overheat and drag the power down. Also, we
have a terrific infestion of fire ants and those damn crazy rosemary ants
(I think that's the name---it's a new discovery here in south Texas and
they are taking over everything so fast it's unbelievable) But, I've dealt
with the ant problem before and this just doesn't act the same.

I'll be calling the local electrician but before I sprang for that 100
bucks up front, I thought I'd check and see if anyone else has had this
problem and might have an idea what's going on.

JC

Sounds like a brown out to me (upstate NY). Since the lights are dim at the
same time the fan runs slowly it doesn't sound like something inside your
house. Perhaps your electric company drops the available power at night
since there's less usage? You might try calling them and explaining the
situation.