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Flickering lights on one circuit James 04-11-2008
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Posted by PeterD on April 11, 2008, 7:05 pm
wrote:

>In my study, my lamps will flicker every few minutes or so. I assume that
>I have some defect in the wiring on this circuit, or that there is a problem
>with my circuit breaker connection, or the breaker itself.
>
>So, today I went to the breaker box and made sure that the wire connecting
>to the breaker were screwed down as tight as possible. I was able to turn
>the screw a full 1/2 turn, so I thought this might have cured the problem.
>But, it didn't.
>
>This is a 15 amp, 120 volt circuit, and breaker. Is it very likely that
>the breaker itself is bad, or may I have a wiring problem somewhere in this
>circuit ? As far as I know, it provides power to just my one room study.
>
>I can tell that when I turn on a heavy-current device such as my fax
>machine, these lights will flicker when the machine operates.

Most fax machines are not high current devices.

>So, the
>flicker can be triggered with a heavy load. I have never noticed this
>before. But be aware that I get frequent flickering even when there is no
>extra heavy load.
>
>The house is 30 years old, and most likely, it is the original breaker.
>
>Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes, turn the curcuit off and have it checked by an electrican. The
sitation is mostlikely very dangerous and could result in a fire.


Posted by Joseph Meehan on April 11, 2008, 8:02 pm


> wrote:
>

>
> Yes, turn the curcuit off and have it checked by an electrican. The
> sitation is mostlikely very dangerous and could result in a fire.
>

That is good advice. This could be a floating neutral.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




Posted by Rod & Betty Jo on April 11, 2008, 9:59 pm
James wrote:
> In my study, my lamps will flicker every few minutes or so. I
> assume that I have some defect in the wiring on this circuit, or that
> there is a problem with my circuit breaker connection, or the breaker
> itself.
>

When I had a circuit flicker it was the BUS in the breaker panel.....the
Galvanized bus was corroding..... maybe I've been told from mild water
damage(panel is under the kitchen sink area in the basement). When the
lights flickered I could hear a soft crackling noise in the panel(definitely
unsettling). I pulled the suspect breaker and saw damage on the breaker
connectors, cleaned up the bus spot some, replaced the breaker and a few
months later the flicker returned. I then polished/cleaned surrounding
breaker connectors and moved the circuit(another new breaker) to another
spot(no more flicker). I'm about to replace the panel(next week). My panel
is almost 30 years old but the suspect breaker was added about 10 years ago.
If your breaker & bus shows no damage I would carefully check every
connection, switch etc. on that circuit and/or hire an electrician.....the
circuit could be asking for a fire. Incidentally due to a panel design
change(code) I'll need to run new wires from the meter to the panel(short
easy run) as they have lengthened the distance from the top of the panel to
the main cutoff breaker. Rod









Posted by Joe on April 11, 2008, 10:16 pm
> In my study, =A0my lamps will flicker every few minutes or so. =A0 I assum=
e that
> I have some defect in the wiring on this circuit, or that there is a probl=
em
> with my circuit breaker connection, or the breaker itself.
>
> So, today I went to the breaker box =A0and made sure that the wire connect=
ing
> to the breaker were screwed down as tight as possible. =A0I was able to tu=
rn
> the screw a full 1/2 =A0turn, so I thought this might have cured the probl=
em.
> But, it didn't.

>snip<

So you checked/tightened the breaker...good! But your circuits are fed
with TWO wires, right? Did you even look at the grounds and neutrals?
This is a common error that wannabe electrical DIYers always make.
They assume that the breaker side of the circuit is the only place for
trouble, and nothing is further from the facts. So the lesson is, use
the laws of physics, they're on your side. HTH

Joe

Posted by William Hufham on April 14, 2008, 9:07 pm
Hi, I recently (March 01/08) had the same problem... Now my home is
burned to the ground. I would highly recommend you get an electrician to
locate the probem NOW! Mine turned out to be a old breaker not
functioning properly. But it can be a number of things. But it sounds
like you have an open neutral. THAT IS VERY DANGEROUS DO NOT DELAY!!!
Three or four hundred dollars (probably less) would have saved
everything. (thousands) If I had been asleep I would have died. It
burned so fast I could not do anything at all. All game plans are
nonsense. It' gets too hot too quick to get within 50 feet. The whole
place was fully ingulfed in flames within 10 minutes. Luckily no life
was lost but I lost everything I owned for 30 years. I went to my
friends house (an elecrtician) on Sunday to see if he would look at it.
He was out of town. It burned Monday morning around 12:00 pm It was the
most horrifing experience you can possibly imagine!!! I was warned on
one of these disscussion groups just like I am warning you. I delayed.
DO NOT DELAY!!! Thank You -William (from Carolina Beach NC)





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