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| Subject - diming lights | |
| JT181 | I have a problem with the lights diming and what appears to be a loss in the voltage in my house. Yesterday the power went so low that my microwave blew. At times everything appears normal and then the lights will dim? Any suggestions? |
| Romex Racer | Go to your breaker panel and touch all the breakers to see if one is hot. I use the back of my fingers because they're more sensitive. Check if you smell any acrid odors. Push on and wiggle the breakers and see if you hear any crakling or hissing noise. Ask the neighbors if they had a similar problem. Turn off the main breaker, remove the cover and tighten all the connections where they wires connect to the breakers and also where the white wires connect. These are just some steps to eliminate some problems. We're just troubleshooting... Does the panel have the word ZINSCO written anywhere on it? Are the breakers pushbutton instead of lever type? |
| lctrc789 | You could be having breaker problems as well as other problems, just as the 1st post stated After you check the breakers if you have volt meter check line voltage to ground at each line then turn on a load or two and see if the voltage drops. You could have neutral problem at the panel, meter base, utility side in your main feeder wires. This is more what I think you have here is neutral problem and dropping voltage on one side but usually you have lights that get brighter as well. |
| eleccon | Call the utility and have them check their wires first, if its their problem they can buy you a new micro. It does sound like a neutral problem though..... |
| nfsus | Got to say that it sounds like a loose neutral. |
| blackrd | Just curious,what is it about the ZINSCO panels? I havent seen those in my area |
| greenelectric | quote: A subject of its own: Very good quality breakers, with a thermoset plastic wish protects them from arcing. Also, good tripping protection, and good protection once it comes down to removing them from the panel: They have a mechanism that will only have the breaker come out if its on its tripped or off position. The reason for the good arcing protection is due to the arc shutes, and exhust vents which ails to minimize ionized gases to flow into the wiring guts. This is a good q's, I hope my limited info sheds some lumens for your Q. |
| Catlovr | I too have the diming lights problem with breaker plugs needing to be re-set too often in a "brand new" home. I just built the myself and it passed code. But the inspectors don't really check the circuit to see if they work or not, just to see if they are wired correctly. Would I do the same checks as already suggested or it there something else to look at? I also had my first real electrical bill for this house and it's constantly $100 more per month than a similar sq ft house. Had the power company out to check for faulty meter, they said theirs was ok, so I'm looking for other solutions. That seems like quite a far split in cost. I have 400 AMP service with a 100AMP secondary on the pool house. Thanks in advance for the help. |
| Catlovr | I forgot to add: I have 400 AMP service / 2 - 200 AMP Panels for the main house with a 100 AMP panel at the Pool House. |
| lctrc789 | Nancy, I don't know where you live and how much your electrical utility charges for the service( cost per kilowatt) etc... However I would say if you have an electric water heater and diswasher, that is about standard cost wise.. I have electric water heater, and dryer but have gas heat and gas stove (range) and that is about 90 bucks a month or so and I have very high electric costs here live in the burbs..LOL You do say you have 400 amp service so the home must be pretty large and you said you have pool house as well as pool.. Motors running, heaters, dishwashers etc. all use more then you think. As far as breakers tripping, you are not saying what circuits are tripping, Kitchen, bath, garage etc.. but sounds as if though they are overloaded, What size breakers? where at? Dimming lights are usually caused by a neutral problem. Not always but new home and new service you shouldn't have problems with this Perhaps call the builder or the electrical contractor out and have them do some checking, and ask them what they have done after you explain to them what problems you are having... Good luck and keep us posted |
| lctrc789 | Blckrd, Sylvania made the Zinsco breaker boxes. We have a few in our area and many have had problems with them, because the cost of the breakers is one reason why, second they almost always seemed to install just enoughg breakers but not enough panel  , and some homeowners had problems with the RMS being to low for our area. I still see them around and they work for what they do but have replaced a lot more then I wanted to.
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| Catlovr | Thanks for the info Pat. I live in Florida. To clarify; I mean the circuit re-sets in the Kitchen plugs. Not the breakers in the box. Electrical contractor blamed it on voltage in the ground? I have Instant Hot water via gas, gas dryer, rest of the appliances, heat and a/c are electrical. Due to good weather we don't use the heat. Guy next door with comparable square footage with everything on electricity and has his heat running most all the time, likes in up around 76o+, hence my concern with the high heat bill. We were the builders, and I feel I have an electrical contractor that does things on the cheap and doesn't keep up the latest things. I had to specify 400 amp + 100 amp sub panel, 20 amp breakers and 12 gauge wiring. He hasn't finished his punch list and if all does not go well I'll be looking for a backup. |
| WELLSEROUSKI | Just a thought. Check amps on start up of your a/c condenser outside, I had one call where the thing was pulling over 100-amps when it kicked in for about 1-second and back down to about 25. He called a/c tech. and he said it was fine(don't beleive it)and his bill is high also. FLA rating on unit was 25.Go figure |
| WELLSEROUSKI | CATLOVR I've run into the problem on service calls where someone had installed a GFI. outlet at the begining of the circuit correctly but down the line of the circuit they had installed more GFI's but wired them to the load side of the device and this would cause the lead device to trip on occasion. I replaced the GFI. outlets down the line with standard outlets and now no problems. |