If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

No, it removes the bulb, but leave an open socket and the same loose
connection that can still arc to something grounded.

It is also possible that the bulb itself has a loose filament and is causing
the flicker.

On Jul 5, 2:34*pm, (Gena) wrote:
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Change the bulb, You may have some other problem but I wouldnt call
the repairman without replacing the bulb first.

Jimmie

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

"Gena" wrote in message
...

If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


No, it removes the bulb, but leave an open socket and the same loose
connection that can still arc to something grounded.

It is also possible that the bulb itself has a loose filament and is causing
the flicker.



Or maybe even just loose in its socket?

(He didn't say.)

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what would
cause the arcing.

RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what would
cause the arcing.


That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the hot
is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will

RBM wrote:
"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the hot
is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will

That depends on where/what is the source of the ground-fault path...

--

It could be something simple as a defective door switch. Unplug the
fridge, then remove the door switch and jump it out, then plug in the
fridge again. If the light stops flickering, you found the problem.

"dpb" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will

That depends on where/what is the source of the ground-fault path...


There doesn't have to be a ground fault path. A loose connection in the
lamp circuit that causes flickering, will cause arcing at the point of the
loose connection. Removing the lamp, opens the circuit, and no more current
is flowing to cause arcing. That is all the OP asked

Hipupchuck wrote:
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.

That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.
Huh?

RBM wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message
...

RBM wrote:

"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
news:[email protected]. com...

RBM wrote:

"Gena" wrote in message
...

If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?


Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.

That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will

That depends on where/what is the source of the ground-fault path...


There doesn't have to be a ground fault path. A loose connection in the
lamp circuit that causes flickering, will cause arcing at the point of the
loose connection. Removing the lamp, opens the circuit, and no more current
is flowing to cause arcing. That is all the OP asked



Second that in spades!

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will
How do you figure that, Nimrod.

I don't believe you have a working grasp of what a "complete circuit"
entails. Arcing will occur at the point of any loose connection. The greater
the load on the circuit, the more arcing that will occur. Any method that
you employ to open that circuit will prevent arcing from occurring. You can
open the hot leg. You can open the neutral. You can remove the "load", in
this case, light bulb. All will open the circuit and prevent arcing at the
point of the loose connection.

On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 17:33:32 -0400, "RBM" wrote:


"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
m...
RBM wrote:
"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will
How do you figure that, Nimrod.

I don't believe you have a working grasp of what a "complete circuit"
entails. Arcing will occur at the point of any loose connection. The greater
the load on the circuit, the more arcing that will occur. Any method that
you employ to open that circuit will prevent arcing from occurring. You can
open the hot leg. You can open the neutral. You can remove the "load", in
this case, light bulb. All will open the circuit and prevent arcing at the
point of the loose connection.

Thanks for your response.

A light is not really needed in this small basement fridge and I can
rest easily regarding the arcing worry.

In article , "RBM"
wrote:

"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Hipupchuck" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
"Gena" wrote in message
...
If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

Yes it does. It will remove the "load" from the circuit, which is what
would cause the arcing.
That would depend on weather the neutral OR the hot is arcing. If the
hot is arcing removing the bulb won't help.

It most certainly will
How do you figure that, Nimrod.

I don't believe you have a working grasp of what a "complete circuit"
entails. Arcing will occur at the point of any loose connection. The greater
the load on the circuit, the more arcing that will occur. Any method that
you employ to open that circuit will prevent arcing from occurring. You can
open the hot leg. You can open the neutral. You can remove the "load", in
this case, light bulb. All will open the circuit and prevent arcing at the
point of the loose connection.

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

On Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:34:32 GMT, (Gena) wrote:

If you have a flickering refrigerator light due to a loose connection,
does the removal of the light bulb eliminate the threat of arcing?

I assume the bulb is the only thing intermittent, so it would be safe
to assume that it is on a parallel independent circuit. So the answer
is yes. It breaks the current path and stops the arcing

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

A fuse should of many times over. The OP says it has been doing this
for a while, therefore it must be an intermittent open.

In article ,
wrote:

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

A fuse should of many times over. The OP says it has been doing this
for a while, therefore it must be an intermittent open.

I know you meant to type "should have."

I didn't know that refrigerator light bulbs were fused.

On 7/8/2009 6:54 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

But that is highly unlikely to be the problem; it would result in much
sparking and smoking. Presumably the OP's problem is a flickering bulb,
which is caused by an intermittent connection within the circuit, not an
intermittent short as you're proposing.

Sheesh.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 7/8/2009 6:54 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

But that is highly unlikely to be the problem; it would result in much
sparking and smoking. Presumably the OP's problem is a flickering bulb,
which is caused by an intermittent connection within the circuit, not an
intermittent short as you're proposing.

Sheesh.

I'm just clarifying theory, not speculating on odds. Several people
stated pretty unequivocally that removing the bulb would stop all
current flow and thereby stop the arcing, period. While I agree that
that is likely true, I think it would help some folk to think about
theory once in a while. There's quite a difference between an open and a
short, and few lay people realize that. How often do you run into people
who describe every electrical fault as a "short?"

And how often do people wander in here and ask how to use a multimeter
to test some problem or another? The supposedly helpful respondents pop
up with a step-by-step recipe that doesn't address the real problem,
which is a lack of conceptual understanding. Ten minutes of theory and
you know all you need to know to use a multimeter on a typical 120VAC
residential wiring fault, without poring over the instruction manual of
the meter.

On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:38:40 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

A fuse should of many times over. The OP says it has been doing this
for a while, therefore it must be an intermittent open.

I know you meant to type "should have."

I didn't know that refrigerator light bulbs were fused.

The circuit is fused either in the frige or through the
electrical panel.

On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:38:40 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

If the arcing is caused by a loose connection (intermittent open,) then
breaking the circuit anywhere will stop the flow of electricity and
thereby stop the arcing. But if the hot wire is vibrating and touching
ground (intermittent short,) the lack of a bulb isn't going to stop the
arcing.

A fuse should of many times over. The OP says it has been doing this
for a while, therefore it must be an intermittent open.

I know you meant to type "should have."

I didn't know that refrigerator light bulbs were fused.
The fridge is.Almost 100% sure it is NOT an arc to ground on the
supply side.