Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.

On Jun 21, 10:25*am, (Restless) wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. *The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. *I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? *The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. *Thank you.

The wall switch obviously had a loose connection, which causes arcing,
heat and possible fire. A light bulb flicker is normally caused by
the bulb being loose in the socket or a bad filament. Irregardless
the bulb is only on when you open the door, therefore not long enough
to cause any safety problem.

(Restless) wrote in :

Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.


it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected.

He couldn't tell you that until he looked at it and made a determination.

Is this the same type of electrical situation?

Can't tell until it's looked at and the cause determined.


Just the facts. No one can tell you for sure here.

Restless wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.

Not dangerous.

If it were mine, I'd ignore it.

Wearing rubber gloves when dealing with the fridge can't hurt.

"Restless" wrote in message
...
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.


Yes, it's exactly the same situation, a loose connection in the lamp
circuit. The faulty connection can be anywhere in the circuit, including the
door switch contact or the socket or any wiring between. Typically loose
connections get worse over time and eventually don't work at all.

On Jun 21, 11:25*am, (Restless) wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. *The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.


The light has been doing this for almost 25 years and you're worried
about it now?

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:27:54 -0700 (PDT), kato
wrote:

On Jun 21, 11:25=A0am, (Restless) wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. =A0The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.


The light has been doing this for almost 25 years and you're worried
about it now?

Never gave it a second thought until the electrician said the other
day that flickering or a delayed response with incandescent lighting
*could* be dangerous.

(Restless) wrote in :

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:27:54 -0700 (PDT), kato
wrote:

On Jun 21, 11:25=A0am, (Restless) wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. =A0The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.


The light has been doing this for almost 25 years and you're worried
about it now?

Never gave it a second thought until the electrician said the other
day that flickering or a delayed response with incandescent lighting
*could* be dangerous.

That's why they say to only store ether in explosion-proof refrigerators.


--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

Restless wrote:

Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.


Sounds like a classic case of a "loose disconnection".

Did you try changing the bulb?

What happens when you depress and release the door operated switch?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. Thank you.

It is only dangerous when it flickers. If it stays lit or stays dark, it's
not dangerous.

This is because flickering light is often caused by a poor contact between
two conductors, and this area of poor contact could generate heat that over
time may develop into a fire.

If after 25 years nothing has happened, then nothing is probably going to
happen. But just for the peace of mind, it's better if you fix it. If you
don't want to, then remove the bulb.

On Jun 21, 11:25*am, (Restless) wrote:
Small, old fashioned basement refrigerator that requires periodic
defrosting. *The fridge has worked great for 25 yrs. but almost from
the beginning, the light inside flickers and then goes out, or else
doesn't even flicker, just stays dark inside when the door is opened.

The other day an electrician fixed a vestibule light that flickered.
He made his fix in the wall switch, and said that it could have been
dangerous if left uncorrected. *I forgot to mention to him the
refrigerator light problem.

Is this the same type of electrical situation? *The fridge kicks on
immediately when plugged in after defrosting and works great; it's
just the light that is the problem. *Thank you.

My dad put up with that same problem for a couple of years in his #2
refridgerator. When the bulb finaly blew he replaced the bulb and that
fixed the problem. The problem you have is probably going to be at
either the bulb or the door switch. I would tap on the bulb and see if
this effects it, If it does the problem is either the bulb or the lamp
socket, if not the problem is probably in the switch. Sockets arent
usually that hard to replace but the door switches can be nearly
impossible to get at even to check the connections.

JImmie