ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Flickering lights....

... Hi gang,..
Got a call this week to troubleshoot a house where the old lady says the lights flicker,..but only in one area of the house, and one of the lights she said went "super-nova" for a few seconds. I was thinking, bad neutral connection on an Edison/multi-wire circuit..I went into the CB panel, and found a neutral wire loose at the neutral bar, tightened it, and searched for others..Found nothing else obvious...

The lady called yesterday, and said the flickering continues,..but to a lesser extent...also she has one receptacle that has blown out (3) telephone power supplies (you know,the plug in xfrmer,..we also call a "wall-wart")in succession...I checked voltage and it's fine,..and when I go there, there's NO flickering... coincidence or ghosts?? HELP!!!
Russ

You are on the right track. If it looks like the problem is confined to two circuits see if they are on the same multiwire branch circuit then take everything apart and check the neutral connections.

Also don't discount a neutral problem with the service.

-Hal

Russ,
Instead of tightening the loose neutral you might want to remove it, cut a fresh end and re land it in an unused hole. If it had been arcing the connection could be compromised. Of course you know enough to shut down the edison ckt first.

... Thanx, guys...
Yeah, Hal, I'm gonna go back there on Monday, and sort it out once and for all...

BigB,.. I hear ya,..the problem is that some hack stuffed 2 neutrals under one terminal,I'm gonna have to make some room by doubling up on the bare ground wires..and freeing up a space..

This place is the pits..electrically.. They have some outdated, obsolete relay switching system installed (all home made by the previous sparky)and she wants it all ripped out and run to normal switches..ALL TO BE DONE BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS!! Bah Humbug!!
Russ

"Outdated, obsolete relay switching system....."

This smells familiar.. check your neutral connections in the relay cabinets. I've seen before where someone's stuffed all the neutrals in a splitbolt going off to all the different lights.. Most of the time I come across "Touchplate" it's someone wanting to get rid of it..