Home electrician enter :-/

**grandkodiak** · 03-18-2007, 11:29 AM

For the last month or so the electricity in the house has been acting wierd. The lights dim every so often, or more often things get really bright for a second like the power increases. it seems to happen when the refridge or heat kicks on, and the microwave sounds like its about to explode sometimes. Every once in awhile the microwave will be fine, then sometimes it will be working fine then it like loses half its power. i stress the microwave because its probably the only high power electronic device i use often. the dryer seems to make the lights dim too but i hardly use it or im not home when its running. my computer sucks a horde of power... 2 processors, 2 videocards, 2 monitors etc... but it never seems to have a problem with the power here. another problem, one of the sockets seems to chew threw light bulbs like every month or so when they used to last maybe half a year or more.

anyone have any clue on what the hells going on? it never used to happen, and we have a relitively new circuit breaker, maybe 2 years old tops.

**my5thNewUsernameHere** · 03-18-2007, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by grandkodiak

For the last month or so the electricity in the house has been acting wierd. The lights dim every so often, or more often things get really bright for a second like the power increases. it seems to happen when the refridge or heat kicks on, and the microwave sounds like its about to explode sometimes. Every once in awhile the microwave will be fine, then sometimes it will be working fine then it like loses half its power. i stress the microwave because its probably the only high power electronic device i use often. the dryer seems to make the lights dim too but i hardly use it or im not home when its running. my computer sucks a horde of power... 2 processors, 2 videocards, 2 monitors etc... but it never seems to have a problem with the power here. another problem, one of the sockets seems to chew threw light bulbs like every month or so when they used to last maybe half a year or more.

anyone have any clue on what the hells going on? it never used to happen, and we have a relitively new circuit breaker, maybe 2 years old tops.

It could be a lot of things....Does it happen across all of your circuits or just a certain 1 or 2? If you could isolate it down to a single circuit, that would help determine where to look next.

**grandkodiak** · 03-18-2007, 04:31 PM

No it seems to be everywhere in the house :-/

**Agent13** · 03-18-2007, 07:15 PM

Sounds like you have a broken or loose nuetral connection. Check at the panel first, make sure all the white nuetral wires are hooked up & tight, make sure the tie bar to the nuetral to ground is okay, lastly make sure the ground connection to earth ( ground rod) is okay. 110/220 volts can be lethal if you get it across your chest, so be carefull, if possible check everything with the panel isolated.
All houses are fed by L1 110V/L2 110V (220) with a common nuetral between them.
The nuetral is tied to ground via ground rod at your panel. The nuetral provides the circuit for the L1 or L2, if it's broken, appliances plugged in become voltage dividers.
If you can't find the problem soon, call an electrician, you really don't want to be sleeping in a house with electrical problems.

**articz28** · 03-19-2007, 09:19 AM

What the guy above me said. 120V/240V can be lethal. Sounds like a the nuetral connection to the fuse panel or the transformer is loose. Be careful though, you can check the panel if you want or call the utility company to check the panel and the nuetral wire on the transformer.

**INeedLS1** · 03-19-2007, 11:19 AM

It's not the voltage that kills you, it's the amps.

**BLACKBIRD8200** · 03-19-2007, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by INeedLS1

It's not the voltage that kills you, it's the amps.

He's right.

It sounds like your just puling a nice load.
How old is your house? If its a little older its more then likely your lighting is on with you, and pulling a heavier load which dims your lights.
Like the other guy said call an elect..

**Agent13** · 03-19-2007, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by INeedLS1

It's not the voltage that kills you, it's the amps.

It's actually a combination, or you'd hear more about car batteries killing people, they have a lot of potential current, more than a residential circuit can supply, albiet DC, which is actually more dangerous than AC. Voltage, potential difference, when compared to water is like the height of a waterfall, you could have a 500' drop, but if you only have a trickle of water, say like static electricity, it won't likely hurt you. Current is the amount of flow, if you have a major water flow over a 500' drop, now you have real energy.
The human body has resistance, if your hands are dry & caliced, you may not even really feel 50-60 volts, beyond that most people's skin will not insulate the voltage levels & current will flow. 120 Volts is the most lethal voltage in North America because it is the most common & not respected by far too many people. What you can get away with on a cool dry day could kill you the next humid hot & sweaty day.
Be carefull, if your nuetral is lifted or loose you can have power on the nuetral.

**my5thNewUsernameHere** · 03-19-2007, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by Agent13

It's actually a combination, or you'd hear more about car batteries killing people, they have a lot of potential current, more than a residential circuit can supply, albiet DC, which is actually more dangerous than AC. Voltage, potential difference, when compared to water is like the height of a waterfall, you could have a 500' drop, but if you only have a trickle of water, say like static electricity, it won't likely hurt you. Current is the amount of flow, if you have a major water flow over a 500' drop, now you have real energy.
The human body has resistance, if your hands are dry & caliced, you may not even really feel 50-60 volts, beyond that most people's skin will not insulate the voltage levels & current will flow. 120 Volts is the most lethal voltage in North America because it is the most common & not respected by far too many people. What you can get away with on a cool dry day could kill you the next humid hot & sweaty day.
Be carefull, if your nuetral is lifted or loose you can have power on the nuetral.

This is exactly correct. The combination of Volts and Amps is called "Power" and measured in Watts. (Watts = Volts X Amps)

Static electricity typically exists around 10,000 Volts, but only at several milliamps of current. So it's only a handful of watts.

I've got a 200 Amp box in my house. At 120V, that's 120 X 200 = 24,000W of energy if I were to grab the neutral and hot connections at the same time in the panel.

Ultimately, if you're not knowledgeable (or comfortable) around high voltage sources, it's best to leave it to the professionals.

**Daniel P.** · 03-19-2007, 06:33 PM

Our house does the same thing, and the lights will flicker every now and then when it is windy, the rea says its is a problem on their end and we call everytime it does it and they come out and check somethin, but are yet to find the faulty connection, splice, etc.

**Agent13** · 03-19-2007, 07:15 PM

It's been a long time since I worked on residential, I work on Industrial 480 / 3 Phase & DC systems, so I forget how screwed up some residential panels can get over time. Is there any chance that someone has tied the ground, bare copper clamp to the copper or galvanized water line feeding your house, assuming you are on municipal water. If the ground is tied to the water line, then so is your nuetral.
If the water line has been cut, or had plastic line installed you have no protection on your circuits, have any GFI's in your house been tripping ?
In any case it would likely be a good idea to call an electrician in & check things out, electricity is invisible & not very forgiving.