Any electricians out there?
- Thread starter Yaworski
- Start date
Help Support Ruger Forum:
Register to hide this ad
You have our attention. Now the question?
I've been known to have an " odd intermittent problem" every now and then... and sometimes it even has to do with electricity, I might could help.
OP
Yaworski
Hunter
- Joined
- May 22, 2016
- Messages
- 2,051
Bear with me, this will take some set up.
1957 vintage "ranch house." In the late 90s, the fuse panel was replace with breakers. The circuit on breaker #3 is the issue.
Breaker #3 supplies
The problem started last fall. I turned on the bathroom light and it started to flicker and the lamp in the living room flickered. LED bulbs so I switched them CFLs. The problem persisted. The odd thing is that it doesn't happen consistently and the flickering stops after a minute or so. Also the porch light will flicker sometimes and things plugged into the hall outlet will flicker.
On a DIY forum I was told to look for loose neutrals. I opened the breaker panel and tightened the neutrals. I checked the light fixture and the switch.
I'm wondering if the electronic timer for the porch light could be causing a problem. It's about ten years old.
Any suggestions other than "call an electrician"?
1957 vintage "ranch house." In the late 90s, the fuse panel was replace with breakers. The circuit on breaker #3 is the issue.
Breaker #3 supplies
- Front porch light controlled by a digital timer
- Front hall light
- One outlet in the living room with a lamp plugged into it
- Hallway outlet
- Hallway light
- Bathroom light
- Bedroom light.
- Garage door opener
The problem started last fall. I turned on the bathroom light and it started to flicker and the lamp in the living room flickered. LED bulbs so I switched them CFLs. The problem persisted. The odd thing is that it doesn't happen consistently and the flickering stops after a minute or so. Also the porch light will flicker sometimes and things plugged into the hall outlet will flicker.
On a DIY forum I was told to look for loose neutrals. I opened the breaker panel and tightened the neutrals. I checked the light fixture and the switch.
I'm wondering if the electronic timer for the porch light could be causing a problem. It's about ten years old.
Any suggestions other than "call an electrician"?
How fast is it flickering? Also is there a fan or heater as part of the light in the bath ?
Also try tightening the hot wire at the breaker. And perhaps the wire nuts at the first junction box.
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2017
- Messages
- 280
I have seen this issue and found loose wires on outlets. Screws were loose so they were were touching the wires but caused flickering at times. Gradually got to the point where the breaker was kicking out. Just happened to find it in the first outlet we checked. Replaced the outlet, really snugged the wires tight and also replaced the breaker. Cheap insurance.
TestEngineer
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2022
- Messages
- 151
My bet is the digital timer on #1. Anything DC supplied by an AC source REQUIRES a good ground. If the ground wire is loose or missing, expect weird and intermittent things to happen.
OP
Yaworski
Hunter
- Joined
- May 22, 2016
- Messages
- 2,051
Not real fast like 60 hz. Probably about as fast as a poltergeist could flip the switch. No fan or heater, separate switch.
If it's only on this one circuit then I vote for a loose connection somewhere down the line since you have messed in the box... but first I would replace the breaker....
Now if it was on more than one circuit I would suggest checking the bare neutral wire coming into the home.. I've seen squirrels eat through this.....
Now if it was on more than one circuit I would suggest checking the bare neutral wire coming into the home.. I've seen squirrels eat through this.....
Possibly due to bad connection on the breaker. Contact points corroded or loose. Power down the panel, pull breaker and visually inspect contact areas on both bus bar and breaker contacts. Look for burnt components, loose or spread contact points, green crusty contact areas. IMHO where I would start first
Probably a loose connection on a terminal early in the circuit
Amazingly one of my breakers had almost exactly the same thing on it. 1956 house with original breaker panel. I developed the same problem in one of the baths. Check the connections to the fixture. The humidity had caused some copper corrosion that impacted the continuity. I cleaned everything up and properly taped the connections. No more issues.
Those outlets with the "plug in" wires can be a problem, nothing like full screw head contact.
