Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a moderate
amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a brief (.5 sec)
dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is not limited to any one
outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the electrical
panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a current drawing
appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer

Matthew Plummer wrote:
Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a
moderate amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a
brief (.5 sec) dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is
not limited to any one outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the
electrical panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a
current drawing appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer

That could be a poor connection somewhere, likely the breaker box, or it
could be a transformer that supplies your home. Do the lights ever dim in
the same way at other times? Do any lights brighten?

You could contact your local power company. You will find out how
responsive they are. Some will do next to nothing and others will fix,
measure or find the problem. Note some drop would be normal so that is why
measuring the problem can be important.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

When motors start, they draw around four times their operating current,
briefly, so dimming is absolutely normal if its contained to the circuit
that the motor is on. When you plug a vacuum into a bedroom outlet, it would
be normal for that bedroom's lights to dim momentarily, if the lights and
outlets are on the same circuit. If the dimming occurs on circuits other
than the one with the vacuum, etc. on it, you may have a wiring problem


"Matthew Plummer" wrote in
message . net...
Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a
moderate amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a brief
(.5 sec) dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is not limited
to any one outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the electrical
panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a current drawing
appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer

Matthew Plummer wrote:
Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a moderate
amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a brief (.5 sec)
dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is not limited to any one
outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the electrical
panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a current drawing
appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer


I don't think it's normal. I can often detect (with a voltage meter) a
drop when a major appliance kicks on in our house, but it's only a volt
or two, and generally not enough to make a noticeable change in the
lights (although if I have a dimmer set near minimum, the drop will
sometimes be enough to extinguish that light).

Of course, the devil is in the details. Perhaps you're more sensitive
to changes in lighting levels than am I.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Matthew Plummer wrote:
Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a moderate
amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a brief (.5 sec)
dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is not limited to any one
outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the electrical
panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a current drawing
appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer

Jeepers. That doesn't sound normal.

We have a 100 amp service and the only time I have noticed the lights
dim is when the a/c unit kicks on in the summer. But, then again we're
not big users of electricity.

Check your breaker box and make sure you have at least 100 amp service.
Heck, being a newer home you probably have more than 100. It just
doesn't seem normal to me that a tv could dim the lights when you turn
it on.

-Felder

some fluroscents dim a lot when other devices are turned on.

check line voltage with analog meter, its probably nothing if
fluroscents are involved

On Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:26:56 GMT, "Matthew Plummer"
wrote:

Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a moderate
amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a brief (.5 sec)
dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is not limited to any one
outlet.

Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the electrical
panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a current drawing
appliance?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer



IMHO:

Today's modern vacuums and TV's draw a lot of current when first
started, so this can drop voltage throughout the house. The only safe
way to check if your electrical system has any pre-existing condition
is to have a qualified person to check it. This way you aren't
inendated with 'guesses'.

Keep us informed what happened.

tom @ www.BlankHelp.com

wrote:
some fluroscents dim a lot when other devices are turned on.

check line voltage with analog meter, its probably nothing if
fluroscents are involved

What? No, that's not so and it's silly.

Matthew Plummer wrote:
Hello-

In our current home, anytime we turn on an appliance which draws a
moderate amount of current (vacuum cleaner, TV, etc.) there is a
brief (.5 sec) dimming effect throughout the house. This effect is
not limited to any one outlet.

One caveat: IFF your line voltage (coming in from the pole) is too low,
that might explain what you describe. You didn't give a country location so
I'm not going to give you voltages, but your power company can check it and
should do so for free. Do NOT let them into your house though or they might
charge you for a service call.
Got any friends with a decent multimeter who can read the voltage for
you? That's the quickest way to find out; measure it.

Not "normal" under most circumstances though. Does it matter which outlet
the device is plugged into?
If so, then it could be an overloaded circuit and the voltage drops are
becoming noticeable. That's not good.
If not, then it could be several things, including improper grounding at
the breaker box or even out on the pole. You -might-, not necessarily will,
notice some other lights get bright when some dim, if it's a grounding
problem. If you see a light in one room get dim while another upstairs or
in another room gets bright, then it's about a 99% chance it's a grounding
problem.

A TV isn't really a power hog; it -might- draw a lot of current when you
plug it in, but not when you turn it on after being off. A TV never really
turns "off"; parts of it stay on with the switch off. Well, unless it's a
24 foot screen maybe ;-).
Most kitchen appliances, TV, radio, computer, things like that should not
cause a noticeable dimming of incandescent bulbs. Do not use flourescents
to make these judgements.
Dishwasher, vacuum, table saw, grinders, refrigerator, pumps, things with
motors of 1/3 HP or more especially might draw a lot of starting current,
and abt 5 S is about right for those motors, to "dim" lights under the right
circumstances. But they should nev er dim "all" lights in the house.

IMO if this is not limited to a single socket or at least sockets on the
same breaker, then you should have it looked into. If it is a single socket
or sockets on the same breaker, then check into switching some things from
that breaker circuit to a different one to stop it from happening. If that
doesn't help, then, again, it should be looked into.

However you look at it, it isn't normal, some equipment may not like the
voltage changes depending on their magnitudes, plus there is always the
possibility of overloaded electrical connections heating up which could
cause other problems, even be a fire hazard in some circumstances.


Our house is relatively new (5 year old) and thus meets modern code
standards. Is the problem related to improper wiring of the
electrical panel, or is it just 'normal' drop when turning on a
current drawing appliance?

It's not necessarily improper "wiring" but it could be improper loading. It
is not "normal" under the circumstances described above.

HTH
Pop`


Thanks in advance.

Matt Plummer