ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area light flicker

Hi guys. I visited a home this morning and the owner stated everytime they used the microwave, dryer, or ac the lights either got really dim or extremly bright. I hoped that i would be able to isolate the problem to a circuit or so, but was unsucessfull. i connected an ampmeter to both legs of the SE cable and it never got over 15 amps. I also checked the power bars in the electrical panel and there was no sign of damage. I have also verified that there is 240 between the legs. Any sugestions or ideas??? Thx.

Check between the neutral and each bus to see if they are balanced when one side is loaded. It sounds like the classic loose neutral problem.

Classic loose neutral, call the utility, have them check transformer and service drop, then check inside meter base. Real common for jacket to split and water to run into meter base and corrode connections on services with SE cable for service drop, even worse if the SE is aluminum.