Thread: Lights dimming
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Andrew Gabriel
 
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Default Lights dimming

In article ,
Ian Stirling writes:
Can2002 can2002@nospammaildotnet wrote:
We moved into a new place last December and our surveyor warned us to get an
electrical inspection done.

The outcome of the report showed a number of areas that needed attention,
but one thing that did not come up on the report is that if any high power
device is switched on (e.g. electric shower, drill, oven, etc.) the lights
dim slightly. The dimming is not huge, but definitely noticeable.


Are you capable of safely connecting up a voltmeter to the line, and
measuring the voltage while a shower is turned on, and how much it drops
from when it's off?
Combined with the loads nominal wattage, this gives a very good idea
of how much resistance the line has.

Some dimming is normal.
It's probably going to be perceptible on most houses.


Filament lamps produce an amplified change in light output for
small changes in voltage supply. Changing to compact fluorescents
might make the effect unobservable.

--
Andrew Gabriel