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Joined: May 2005
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Hi Mike Thanks for the info. It affects both lights and receptacles. The pole outside has a supporting cable with a big eye bolt in the ground acting as a restrainer since it is the last pole on the street and I noticed that the neutral wire is connected to this restraining cable. I wonder if the path from the neatral at the trans has changed?
dukes
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Joined: Mar 2004
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In case it's a bad connection between the breaker and the buss bar: If you have a reasonably good voltmeter that will read millivolts, check the voltage from the incoming wire to the buss bar. You need the panel to have a load to get a good reading. On opposite phases you'll get about 240 volts, but across a bad connection on the same phase, it might be a half volt or more, depending on load.
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Joined: Mar 2008
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have you tried this?:
1. pop off panel cover 2. install a temp breaker connected to an individual light 3. turn off each breaker until the dimming stops
this is the next thing i would do
-Joe “then we'll glue em' then screw em'” -Tom Silva TOH
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443 Likes: 3
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The pole outside has a supporting cable with a big eye bolt in the ground acting as a restrainer since it is the last pole on the street and I noticed that the neutral wire is connected to this restraining cable. I wonder if the path from the neutral at the trans has changed?
Mike, that connection is only used to ground that stay wire, or it could be some sort of ground for the neutral. It shouldn't make any difference to your problem.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Yep, that is just a guy wire to anchor the final aerial span. Bonding it to the neutral is typical, in fact it is mandatory. Anything metallic on a utility pole needs to be bonded together, including neutrals (except for the hots, of course).
The pole's true grounding connection is via either a driven rod or a copper plate attached to the base of the pole.
---Ed---
"But the guy at Home Depot said it would work."
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 613
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I've had problems with older Seimens panels where they used a "stab in" type main breaker. To much load and the connection to the buss starts overheating and melting away. I've seen this on both 100 and 200amp loadcenters. Now they have changed their design to bolt in main.
Take a look for this...
shortcircuit
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Joined: Jun 2006
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If this is happening on more than one breaker (unless circuits are sharing neutral ) it probably has to do with panel , meter , or in between . As in my previous post , SE cable running across concrete product can corrode , eating through the outer neutral braid , causing dimming etc. If you can't check this , perhaps you can run a TEMPORARY parallel neutral from panel to outside , or measure for voltage drop on entrance cable . Also check if main breaker is loose connection in panel , ie voltage drop across breaker .
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Mike...did you find the cause of the blinking lights yet?
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Joined: May 2005
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Hi Went there today and thought I found problem with the frig, changed main breaker, but still the lights dim. With main breaker on ,one leg to neatral draws 116.7v and the other leg draws 125.5v When main breaker is shut off, with no load, on the street side of the main the v on both legs is 121.5v. When I shut off circuit brekers one at a time the voltage on the high lege will gradually go back down to match the volts on the other leg. The thing that is driving me crazy is I can not isolate the problem, it seems to be on multiple circuits. Could the outside meter be defective, PC has not checked it. I have meeting to go to I will check back. Thanks Mike
dukes
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Mike looks to me to be neutral connection ahead of the main breaker. Meter base or at the utility connection or one of their connections closer to the transformer. To date in 31 years all unbalanced voltages between 1 phase to neutral and the other phase in neutral has always been an open or resistive connection at some neutral connection. Once you have verified all the connections you are allowed to fix it then must be further upstream. I'd get permission or have the utility break the meter seal and check the insides of the meter base. I assume you have checked all the neutrals accessible to you?
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HCE727
Delaware County, PA, USA
Posts: 187
Joined: November 2005
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