Do I need an electrician?

[Raymond Fries]

We frequently have the lights in our home flicker. Is there something wrong with our wiring? What causes this? We are somewhat concerned that we are ignoring an problem and will have an electrical fire.

I know nothing about electrical wiring in a house and wonder if we need to have an electrician verify if everything is OK. Our home was built in 1989 so i assume everything is current as far as electrical code is concerned.

Thanks for any help or direction you can provide.

Take Care and Enjoy Life...

[Stephen Tashiro]

We frequently have the lights in our home flicker.

By "flicker", do you mean that they go dark for an instant? Or do you mean that they just dim? Can you tell if this happens because some appliance cuts on? - like the furnace or A/C compressor motor starting?

[Bruce Volden]

We had the same trouble a few years back. Checked everything we could indoors and all was good. The cause of the flickering turned out to be a bad connection on the mast outside of the house---the crimped connection for one of the hot lines (110 Volts) had simply broken down over the years and was "loose". A call to the electric company and a dispatch from them lead to simply re-crimping a new connector (FREE OF CHARGE) and all was good to go. That being said I must state that I am on a Rural Electric service, but your symptoms are pretty much what I experienced a few years back----funny 'tho, we never noticed the flickering until evening, when we turned on the lights??!!

Bruce

[Raymond Fries]

Stephen

Flicker is the lights dim for an instant then return to normal.

Bruce

Thanks for the tip. All of our wiring is underground. Could this still be a problem for me?

[Bruce Volden]

I would think even with underground wiring this could still be a problem. Check with your service provider, they will have the equipment to check things out. It sure sounds like the problem I had. If you call an electrician he will also be able to "diagnose" the trouble but you would probably have to pay him---and maybe he couldn't fix it if was not on "his side of the fence".

[Paul McGaha]

Raymond - It sounds like a loose connection somewhere in the wiring to me. Loose connections make heat, so I would advise you to have it fixed. I fixed a problem one of my neighbors had with one of the countertop receptacles in their kitchen last week. Turned out to be a loose connection on a neutral wire at the panel. It had never been tightened down. Just setting there in the lug. It was making contact with the neutral bus but not very well.

[Art Mann]

I had a problem like that in our house just last year. I am a pretty competent amateur electrician so I looked into the problem for myself. I found that the main ground wire in the breaker box had poor conductivity due to a loose connection and lack of antioxidant grease. I actually saw evidence of arcing! I pulled the main breaker and applied the right kind of grease to the connection. I tightened everything up. Problem solved.

I do not recommend that anyone who has never done this kind of work before attempt such a repair!

[David Weaver]

Ditto to the comment above that the connection to the utility outside of the box somewhere is probably the problem.

Just had my electric service replaced, and the electrician said that it's possible to have a bad main breaker, but rare. I called him back, he looked over the box, everything was fine, outside everything looked fine but at his tie-in to the utility one of the clamps he installed had cracked and the connection was not as solid as it should be. This is one time that I'm glad that we have above-ground wires in our community. Otherwise, every time the electricity goes out, i'm not that glad about it.

Symptoms were identical - lights flicker, then run very dim for a while, then out, then back on.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Electrical and gas safety should never be taken lightly.

As a child a farm house we lived in burned down due to a propane leak near a operating space heater.

As an adult, a mobile home we lived in temporarily later burned down due to an electrical problem.

I would highly recommend that you hire an electrician and let him determine if the problem is in your house or in the incoming distribution line.

[Raymond Fries]

Thanks for the tips Gents!

I will get my wiring checkout by qualified professionals starting the AEP.

Hopefully, it will be a quick and inexpensive fix.

Take Care and Enjoy Life...

[David G Baker]

I checked out my system when I had a similar problem and did not find a problem. Called the utility company and they sent out a technician, he duplicated what I had done. He was ready to give up when he decided to do one last thing. He removed the meter to check the lugs. The neutral wire bolt had loosened. He torqued it down and the problem disappeared.

[Ed Griner]

The first thing to do is contact the power company and explain to them what your complaint is. The have a gadget called a "Beast" that plugs into your meter socket and checks conditions under a load. Depending on the results,you can determine whether the problem is their responsibility or yours. This problem needs immediately attention!

[Tom Stenzel]

In 2002 we moved into a house that just had the electrical service upgraded to a new 150 amp panel. Ten years later we had problems with the lights flickering. Luckily I had access to a voltmeter that would capture low voltage events. Pushing on the service entering the panel I saw a spark(!). I pulled the electrical meter out to kill the power coming into the house. On the phase that had the flickering problem I tightened the connection 10 full turns. The phase that was working without a problem? Ten full turns on that lug too.
After the "electrician" had put the wires into the main breaker, they were never tightened.

This last Tuesday my wife mentioned that the lights in the kitchen were flickering. When I pulled the cover off the electrical panel I found a wire glowing bright red where it was attached to the neutral bus.

Whoever put that box in didn't have their Wheaties that morning!

After I fixed that problem I went through and made sure that EVERY screw in that box was tight and made a good connection.

-Tom Stenzel

[Chuck Wintle]

We frequently have the lights in our home flicker. Is there something wrong with our wiring? What causes this? We are somewhat concerned that we are ignoring an problem and will have an electrical fire.

I know nothing about electrical wiring in a house and wonder if we need to have an electrician verify if everything is OK. Our home was built in 1989 so i assume everything is current as far as electrical code is concerned.

Thanks for any help or direction you can provide.

Take Care and Enjoy Life...

Yes you should have an inspection done to the wiring...it could be as simple as a loose wire or an overloaded circuit.

[David C. Roseman]

Raymond, all the above suggestions are good ones, but are you sure that the flickering is affecting all the lights in the house? I ask to rule out that it may just a problem in the circuit of, say, your family room or kitchen lights, where you most notice it. That would indicate it may just be a faulty breaker or loose breaker lug screw. Whether at the mains or individual breakers, the screws can loosen over time, or may never have been properly tightened, especially with stranded feeder cable.

Many years ago, I replaced the service entrance myself in an previous house. Took great care in doing everything by the book. When the inspector came out to check before the power company did the cutover, I was embarrassed to see him take his big screwdriver and crank virtually every lug screw another quarter turn! He said it's one of the most common errors he finds, especially with homeowners doing their own work. Ever since then, I've really put the muscle into every connection I've made.

David

[Dan Hintz]

Whether at the mains or individual breakers, the screws can loosen over time, or may never have been properly tightened, especially with stranded feeder cable.

You shouldn't have stranded cable coming into a breaker anyway...

[Scott T Smith]

Stephen

Flicker is the lights dim for an instant then return to normal.

Bruce

Thanks for the tip. All of our wiring is underground. Could this still be a problem for me?

Bruce, before bringing in an electrician I would try to find out if anything is kicking on that consumes a lot of power, as this will cause the lights to temporarily dim. Usually it is the start up current on a good sized electric motor of HVAC compressor.

When my 7.5hp air compressor kicks on in the shop, it dims every light on that electric service for about 1 second.

[Brian Elfert]

You shouldn't have stranded cable coming into a breaker anyway...

The poster you were quoting said stranded feeder cable. Feeder cables are almost always stranded since solid cable in those sizes would be very difficult to bend.

[Scott T Smith]

You shouldn't have stranded cable coming into a breaker anyway...


Dan, this is something new to me.

In all of the commercial construction that I have been associated with, the A&E plans always called for single piece (no splices) stranded wire in conduit. This covered everything from 14 gauge control wires up to 750 MCM stranded cable used as feeder wire from large generators. It would be difficult if not impossible to pull solid wire through long lengths of conduit with multiple bends. All of these stranded cables terminated in a circuit breaker on one end.

It is my understanding that, with few exceptions, NEC 310-3 requires the use of stranded cable when sizes #8 or larger are called for.

Why the recommendation against stranded cable coming into a breaker?

Thx.

Scott

[Dan Hintz]

The poster you were quoting said stranded feeder cable. Feeder cables are almost always stranded since solid cable in those sizes would be very difficult to bend.
My bad, I missed the "feeder" portion of the post.

Dan, this is something new to me.

In all of the commercial construction that I have been associated with, the A&E plans always called for single piece (no splices) stranded wire in conduit. This covered everything from 14 gauge control wires up to 750 MCM stranded cable used as feeder wire from large generators. It would be difficult if not impossible to pull solid wire through long lengths of conduit with multiple bends. All of these stranded cables terminated in a circuit breaker on one end.

It is my understanding that, with few exceptions, NEC 310-3 requires the use of stranded cable when sizes #8 or larger are called for.

Why the recommendation against stranded cable coming into a breaker?
I very well could be wrong on this one, but it has always been my understanding that stranded wire into a standard breaker was a no no due to the opportunity for any number of the strands to not be caught under the screw, leading to an electrical weak spot (low current-carrying capability).

[Scott T Smith]

My bad, I missed the "feeder" portion of the post.

I very well could be wrong on this one, but it has always been my understanding that stranded wire into a standard breaker was a no no due to the opportunity for any number of the strands to not be caught under the screw, leading to an electrical weak spot (low current-carrying capability).

Dan, I'm pretty sure that UL allows it and most modern breakers are rated for stranded wire. It seems as if some brands of breakers make a better connection with stranded than others.

[Dave Sheldrake]

I very well could be wrong on this one

In the UK you're not wrong Dan


526.81 In order to avoid inappropriate separation or spreading of individual wires of multiwire, fine wire or very fine wire conductors when terminating at the screwed breaker, suitable terminal crimps shall be used.

cheers

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

In the UK you're not wrong Dan

Awesome, I'm correct in at least part of the world ;) Too bad it's not where I'm at! :p

[Raymond Fries]

Well after closer inspection, it appears that the flickers are associated with specific circuits and not the entire house. Guess I am going to start with checking that the screws on all of the connections are tight and maybe replace the associated breakers. They are 20 years old where we are having the problems. If that does not resolve the issue, looks like it will be time for the electrician to come and have a look. Hope to get it figured out soon.

Thanks all for the tips.

[Scott T Smith]

Well after closer inspection, it appears that the flickers are associated with specific circuits and not the entire house. Guess I am going to start with checking that the screws on all of the connections are tight and maybe replace the associated breakers. They are 20 years old where we are having the problems. If that does not resolve the issue, looks like it will be time for the electrician to come and have a look. Hope to get it figured out soon.

Thanks all for the tips.

Raymond, all of your 120V power is divided between two legs of the incoming power. If all of the "specific circuits" that flicker are on the same leg, then most likely one of two things is occurring. Either you have something starting up that is pulling a lot of power on that leg, or there may be a loose connection associated with the incoming power on that leg.

Tightening up the primary feed wires is not something that I would advise you to do yourself, because to check the entire circuit you will either need to have tools and gloves suitable for working on a hot circuit, or you will need to have the power company pull the meter base.

If you can confirm that the flickers are all on the same let, then it's probably time to bring an electrician in or have your power company check their lines. At least you've saved yourself some $ by doing the bulk of the troubleshooting.

[Steve Meliza]

The lights in our house dim briefly when the neighbor's A/C turns on so whole house flickering may just be how it is for some.