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Posted by Al Bundy on August 29, 2007, 7:54 pm
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>> Wonder if he lives near this guy with the Tesla Coil
>> http://physics.fullerton.edu/~physicsclub/tesla-coil.jpg
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> I knew a guy who actually did stuff like that in his garage. His
> neighbors got him shut down, for obvious reasons. He did light up
> lamps (dimly) in adjoining homes. No need to discuss what he did to
> their TV/Radio reception.
>
> Tesla's dream about wireless power distribution does indeed work, to a
> point.
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Used to be somewhat easily made. 30+ years ago I think we used a
transformer from those liquor store neon window signs. If I recall they
had some really good step-up.
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Posted by HeyBub on August 28, 2007, 10:29 pm
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> I think there's a ghost in my house.
> Ultimately, I'll probably just have an electrician rewire the whole
> damn circuit, but I sure would like to know what's wrong first....
Don't bother. I think the whole idea is charming, like squeaky floors or
rattling pipes.
Gives the house character, it does.
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Posted by RMD on August 29, 2007, 5:10 am
wrote:
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>I think there's a ghost in my house.
>Sitting in the dark, I occasionally witness a compact flourescent bulb
>light up very faintly, for no more than a second. Two lights (on two
>different circuits) do this.
>The first is in a stairwell and switched by two three ways and one
>four way.
>The second is switched by two three ways.
>I've had two electricians look at it and find no apparent problems
>with the wiring in the switch boxes. I should state for the record
>though that I wired the switches for the first light, and I'm not an
>electrician. One of the fixtures had the black and white wires
>reversed, but correcting this didn't change anything. The switches
>for the first fixture are all brand new. Those for the other are 50
>years old. The house is wired with BX cable, except for renovated
>areas, including one of the lights. Both lights are grounded just
>fine.
>Here's the puzzle: using a meter, the lights register 30V from black
>to white when the switches are set to turn the light *off.* Does
>anyone have thoughts on what could possibly cause this?
>By the way, one electrician noted that when one touches the black to
>ground, nothing happens -- no spark, no short, nothing, so maybe the
>meter is misleading us, but then the other electrician registered the
>same thing on his meter, and remember, the bulb lights up.
>Ultimately, I'll probably just have an electrician rewire the whole
>damn circuit, but I sure would like to know what's wrong first....
>Thanks for any advice
Ralph's post above has the right idea.
It is current crossing between long runs of parallel wires via the
wire to wire capacitance.
CFL's often do this.
If it is a nuisance then change back to incandescent lamps.
Ross
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Posted by kpg* on August 29, 2007, 12:05 pm
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> If it is a nuisance then change back to incandescent lamps.
WHAT? ...AND DESTROY THE PLANET?
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Posted by Travis Jordan on August 29, 2007, 6:29 am
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>I think there's a ghost in my house.
> Sitting in the dark, I occasionally witness a compact flourescent bulb
> light up very faintly, for no more than a second. Two lights (on two
> different circuits) do this.
Other posters have correctly identified induced voltage as the most likely
cause.
With some CFL electronic ballast designs, this voltage will slowly charge a
filter capacitor inside the CFL until it reaches a critical threshold, at
which point the lamp will flash on momentarily.
The voltage may be due to the design of the 3/4 way switches, so you can try
changing these to a different design. Or change the CFL to one that has a
different ballast (e.g., quick-start vs. not-quick-start).
HTH.
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>
>
>> Wonder if he lives near this guy with the Tesla Coil
>> http://physics.fullerton.edu/~physicsclub/tesla-coil.jpg
>
> I knew a guy who actually did stuff like that in his garage. His
> neighbors got him shut down, for obvious reasons. He did light up
> lamps (dimly) in adjoining homes. No need to discuss what he did to
> their TV/Radio reception.
>
> Tesla's dream about wireless power distribution does indeed work, to a
> point.
>
>