I ran a couple of new circuits in my house a few weeks back and I've been having some issues with surging and flickering lights intermittently. It's not just one circuit though, its the whole house. There are 2 apartments in this place, the one I live in and the one my tenant is in upstairs, they run on the same breaker box, but there are at least 20 breakers in there, maybe more. I installed a motion sensing light on the back of the house for the new tenant when she moved in the first of October.
So my TV has been clicking on and off, kitchen fan/light has been flickering, and there is an audible clicking sound coming from that fan when this happens. Now it's not all the time, its stopped for a couple of weeks, but now its back and is really getting under my skin here. All the romex is hooked up properly, and I don't understand, because if there was a bad ground or some sort of short in the system, it would just flip that breaker, not effect the whole house.
Now NYSEG is a huge monopoly, and if I call them here to check their equipment and they find its not at fault, they won't tell me how much they will charge, so I don't want to have them stop for a service call, plus they are a bunch of real SOB's and don't want to come here anyway.
My guess is that there is some sort of issue with the meter or the supply for the house. The day that this started there was a major thunderstorm in the area, I didn't lose power, but it started to surge shortly afterwards. Besides checking all of the new circuits, what could cause this kind of reaction with the whole houses electricity? Anyone have any input or knowledge of what I should be looking for, or testing that I can do? TIA! BTW- already asked my neighbors if they are experiencing and issues with flickering or brown outs, no such luck. So its something within the walls of my basement or apartments, would like to find out.
Any tips for checking voltage? Can I use the voltometer I have for testing fuel injectors? What setting should I use? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks guys.
Hi. I'm new here but I guess this is right up my alley. I'm a master electrician. When you say you "ran a couple of new circuits" do you mean you tied them into the panel. Could be a loose neutral somewhere.
David
sweet deal
i was gonna post my limited electrical 2 cents but not now :icon_razz:
The master is in the house!!!!! :icon_biggrin:
That's what I don't understand. The new circuits I ran over a period of two days. I ran a new one for my pellet stove, and added a line to an existing circuit to accomodate my gas stove, only had 220v in that spot. That didn't seem to do it though. Here's the deal:
Have the old wire type, wrapped in canvas material (extremely old) to an outlet. I ran a jumper from that outlet to another that controls a single outlet, a switch for an overhead light, and then a feed and return to the motion sensor light outside (no switch, always powered).
So a faulty connection at a return or something at the breaker box can cause the whole house to flicker? I mean my TV (projection DH unit) turns itself on and off, cable box resets, microwave acts funny but hasn't reset, but the stove does. Weird stuff. I thought that circuits were separate, thats why they call them circuits!! :icon_lol:
Thanks for any input, I'll be floating around here tonite so if you have any more questions let me know I'll be glad to type it out, would like to figure this out.
Hi. I'm not familiar with your terminology. When you say "return" do you mean neutral (white wire)? If you were in the panel (main electrical box) there is a posssibility something got bumped, turned, slid etc.. It happens quite a bit. If other circuits totally unrelated to what you were working on are now acting up then I would check / tighten all your neutral (white) connections. Including the main. This may be a bit dangerous. Please be careful.
David
Yes, white I've always understood to be the return, but I have also heard it called neutral. I will be careful no doubt, I am aware there is no surge protection if I ground myself to the house. :laugh: Thanks for the input though, I will start checking on them this weekend. Hopefully post some positive results.
If at all possible set aside maybe 10 minutes where you can shut the main breaker off so you can tighten all the neutral connections. If something is stripped move it to another lug. With these older electrical systems sometimes you will see more than one wire under a lug. (Sometimes it can be a real cluster). If it is the entire building that is acting strange it's got to be one of the mains. Please remember that the main lugs are still live with the main circuit breaker off. The bus bars and everything else will be dead except for those two lugs. Also, make sure the main neutral lug is tight to the neutral bar.
It's feels great that I am actually able to contribute. I have learned a ton from everyone here.
David
Ok went through the box today and checked it over a little bit better. One of the busses was a little bit loose and I also ran into what might still be an issue. The main line that feeds from the pole comes from an old 60 amp fuse box jumped to the breaker. I think that's the problem so I have already placed a call to the electrician, they are quoting me $350 or so to change the main line from the hub down, eliminating the old fuse box and installing a 125 amp supply to the house. Will post updates after its complete sometime this week.
Thanks the for help Master! Appreciate your input. :icon_cool:
Ok so it's still doing it and its getting progressively worse as time goes on. Haven't noticed any arcing and no breakers have tripped at all, but both busses are failing intermittently. I want to know do you think its possible that the main breaker is faulting?
The lights will dim, then go out, no breaker trips and only a couple of circuits are actually still working. Have you ever seen this before?
Ryan. I've seen some stuff. (Picture rat skeleton across bus bars). Could be main breaker. Did it get worse after you were in the panel? Have you been in the 60 amp fuse box to see what it looks like? Worst case senario he'll pull the meter. I'm glad you called an electrician. Sounds like a fair price. When's he coming?
update here tonite
passed out on the couch for a while, woke up and noticed I was having issues again with the lighting. Electrician sometime later this week, but these brown outs have become black outs on about 90% of the circuits with no breaker tripping. Noticed that the motion light I installed a month ago was "on" and not turning off, it's set to turn off after 1 min of no activity. There might have been something keeping it on but when I went outside, nothing, so we will see if that solves the issue. I'm just concerned a little bit now, getting colder, no electricity means no furnace, means no pellet stove, means no oven ignition, means me and tenant real cold, unnacceptable. Will post back results tomorrow or after this place gets fixed/burns down!! :icon_cool: :laugh:
You should see if you could get that electrician there sooner! There is for sure some arcing going on. Don't worry about the motion light. They are designed to stay on if it looses power for a split second. That way you can turn it on manually by the switch. (Turn switch off then on quickly). If the problem is observable you could take a meter to the line side (lugs) of the main breaker. One lead on ground the other on one of the lines. (120 volts). Repeat for both lines. When a main breaker goes it's usually just one line. If the voltage is stable during the event then your main breaker is bad. If that voltage fluctuates too then the problem is upstream. If you feel comfortable you could try the same thing with the 60 amp fuse box. Next step after that is to pull the meter which will effectivelly "kill" all power inside the house allowing you to work safely. Sometimes those old meter sockets can be a pain though. If the electricity is fluctuating as bad as you say try the main breaker test and let me know your results.
Running to lowes to see if they have my main breaker, 100 amps so they say. Will disconnect at the fuse box, which is still going to be updated, and going to change this thing to see if it solves this issue. Really frustrating, worried about fire, damage to appliances, etc etc. Will post back results. Don't have easy access to a voltometer but if this doesnt fix it, I've got a guy coming hopefull monday.
Thanks a lot man, I'll keep you updated.
Ryan
Problem has been identified at the weatherhead outside. The boots are melted. Either I've been pulling too many amps, which is entirely possible, or I was indeed hit by lightning or some sort of surge about a month ago when all of this started. Either way, upgrading to a 150 amp meter box, new cable from the lines down to the box, and a new ground set up in the basement. Got the electrician to be here tomorrow to get this taken care of before it gets any worse or blows the transformer. Should be here at 9 am tomorrow!! Thanks for the input, turned out to be something I did but didn't do!!
Thanks again!
Ryan. It's great that you have identified the problem. How did you find it? Just look up? As far as pulling too many amps that usually is not the case. Unless you have an old 60 amp drop. Which is totally possible. Most homes on an average day pull 30-40 amps. Maybe some interior wiring was added increasing the load on that old drop. 60 amp drop would be pretty old though. Any more questions drop a line.
David
We concur that the old setup was indeed a 60 amp drop, probably at least 40 years old. You know I never really thought about it until he came over for measurements last night, and noticed that the lug boots were melted. I had a dead squirrel in my yard about 10 feet away from directly underneath that cable. Poor guy didnt get a chance to learn his lesson about running on exposed wiring!! :laugh:
All seems good for now, new cable and 150 amp meter box installed and everything is working as it should. Thanks again for your time and advice. I did at a few new circuits at the breaker box over the last year or so, adding light where there wasn't, adding grounded outlets for my computer, tv, pellet stove, and my motion light, so I think I exceeded what it was capable of handling. Old cable, looked like it was wrapped in canvas type material.
Thanks again!