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Electrical Problems

John M

John M

Well-known Member
Location
Nunyafn business
Hey guys, been having some problems at home with light bulbs popping, lost a hot water heater last weekend, wifes toaster oven popped this morning, and dishwasher acting up, as in not working right. When something like the dryer is running, the lights dim and brighten I assume as the elements are heating and shutting off. Someone mentioned some time ago about this possibly being a problem on the power companies end and for them to check something, but I cant find the post as it was several years ago when it was posted. Does anyone recall the post, and what it was the power company needed to check for? (It may not have even been on this board, could have been somewhere else.)
 
I'd be most worried about a bad line or connection in your house not allowing enough current through.

If that's the case, some SERIOUS heat could be generated at the fault.

I'd get an electrician in pretty quick to check that one out.
 
Sounds like you either lost a neutral or a phase. Hopefully outside the house. Better get an electrician there ASAP. This could be a fire waiting to happen.
 
I put a call in to the electrician I use, hes coming by this morning after the rain stops. He said something to the effect of "It sounds like something in the main transformer." He rewired my house when we did the remodel and have had ZERO problmes since then, but who knows! This all started about the time of our snow storm last week.
 
I recently had to replace the main circuit breaker. The connection between the breaker and the buss bar was bad. This caused wild voltages, light bulbs would blow in a day or two. Refrigerator was being back fed by a 120v space heater.

I'm guessing you have a bad 120v leg, could be electric company's problem. I had a bad connection inside the meter base, and recently the main. I got an electrician to do my work. He had to remove meter to fix my problem.
 
I would suspect a neutral bus issue. A bad neutral can create a 240V situation, works just like the 24V on a new generation Deere.

I would get a licensed electrician out there ASAP.
 
Had exactly the same problem at my inlaw's house. Was getting 230 volts on some 120 volt circuits, and only 10 - 15 volts on others.

When notified the utility promptly came out and discovered a failing neutral connection atop the riser outside the house. They replaced all 3 splice clamps and all was good again.

Fortunately the house is unoccupied for the winter. The only damage was a blown fuse for the heating boiler, and a few blown light bulbs/24 hour timers.
 
(quoted from post at 13:02:53 02/21/14) Hey guys, been having some problems at home with light bulbs popping, lost a hot water heater last weekend, wifes toaster oven popped this morning, and dishwasher acting up, as in not working right. When something like the dryer is running, the lights dim and brighten I assume as the elements are heating and shutting off. Someone mentioned some time ago about this possibly being a problem on the power companies end and for them to check something, but I cant find the post as it was several years ago when it was posted. Does anyone recall the post, and what it was the power company needed to check for? (It may not have even been on this board, could have been somewhere else.)
Click to expand...
Find a good electrician NOW! I had virtually the same problem years ago and my problem was that some, [b:9e3f8a7051]amateur[/b:9e3f8a7051], [b:9e3f8a7051]cross threaded[/b:9e3f8a7051] the allen set screw for the neutral connection in my distribution panel!!
 
after 16 years in the electric distribution field, wheat farmer got it right. the service wire and all of its connections and exposure to the elements, from the transformer to the meter base is likely the problem which makes it their problem. their service, under the conditions described to them should be prompt.
 
(quoted from post at 16:58:26 02/21/14) Loose connections in the breaker box can/will cause problems like that. Albumin wire heats and cools and that in turn loosens up connection
Click to expand...
Yes--the reason my problem was so hard to find was, like I said, set screw was cross threaded and tight when checked, but wire was loose and black!
I found it by chance while leaving the basement. As I turned the lights off, I saw a tiny arc from the box. I was working with updating the box and had the cover temporarily removed
 
I check the wires by grabbing each one and see if it moves where it is hooked up. Of course you do that with the power off unless you enjoy getting shocked
 
Neither the electrician or the power company could find any problems. electrician check the places where Im having problems inside, couldnt find anything. Power company is going further down the line to check things, but theres only 8 houses on this line, and none of the others have had any problems. Both power company and electrician checked and double checked tightness on all the lugs on everything. Next suggestions?
 
John, years ago our power would periodically cut off, then come back on a few minutes later. After it happening several times, I called the power company. They came out and found a squirrel
carcass on top of the transformer on the pole. It was intermittently causing a short.
 
First thing that comes to mind is a loose neutral, which can be anywhere, on a pole, in your breaker box, in a sub-panel. It can be found. It can be dangeorus and expensive.
Other thing, somebody below mentioned replacing a split-bolt clamp. Be aware, that is old technology, and has been replaced by crimp-on connectors. Crimp-ons have a corrosion preventer compound, require s special crimper tool, and are one-time use.
 
(quoted from post at 15:51:36 02/21/14) Had exactly the same problem at my inlaw's house. Was getting 230 volts on some 120 volt circuits, and only 10 - 15 volts on others.

When notified the utility promptly came out and discovered a failing neutral connection...
Click to expand...

Had the same problem, only it was on our side of the meter at a main junction box that hangs on the pole where the street line connects. The power company could tell us we had unequal voltage but they couldn't go beyond the meter to check anything. My electrician cleaned the ground and tightened it and we were good to go again. Lost the circuit board on the stove twice ($130 each time) before we figured out what the problem was. Get someone out NOW to check things out.
 
Could be neutral issue if it is buried.

The buried line will get wet, conduct, heat up and dry out, then get open and take on moisture, repeating the cycle. It will be full of aluminum oxide, BTDT.
 
Did your electrician remove the main breaker and look at the backside where it makes connection to buss bar?

Did your electrician pull the meter and look at connections there?
 
He looked at the meter when the power company pulled it out. He pulled the main breaker out, put his meter on it, cleaned the outside where it connects, the slots the wires go into, and reattached it and tightened down the lugs when he put the wire in slots. Also hit the wire wit ha wire brush. Then checked voltage at all the breakers, made sure they were secure. Power company man hit the lugs on the meter box, and the meter with , in fact the electricians wire brush, installed the meter, checked voltage and said all is fine there, not even the slightest hint of a "well thats wierd" from either of them. The power company again removed the meter, checked something, then said "Well thats good too!" I had to come back to work, but when I left, the elecrician was under the house tracing wires. told me he would call if he found anything.Havent heard from him yet, but my son said he got up in the attic, and has been going from outlet to outlet, and light to light.
 
We had that problem at work a couple of years ago. Funny thing is, each time it would go out, it would be a different squirrel. Seems somebody was trapping them, and setting them out behind the warehouse.
 
The issue Is a failing neutral. It can be found only when under load (a 1500 watt 120v space heater being the only thing turned on in the whole house). The way to find it is to use a good meter on one of the two 120v circuits at the panel, and then a circuit on the opposite phase. Under load, the voltages will be different. This is because the neutral connection is required to conduct the unbalanced load on the 220 single phase service. I had the issue. I used a Fluke meter on the input to my house at the load center main breaker input. 96 on one circuit, 139 on the other. I went to a neighbor and measured their ac with the same result. I called Excel Energy one minute later and told them (a woman in Texas) that there was an emergency electrical over voltage. After several escalations I managed to talk to a local (real) technical person. He said how did you measure it? I told him I used a Fluke digital with government certification stickers. He said they would be right out. They were. they used a laser aimed infrared sensor to check conductors at the distribution transformer and found a neutral clamp at 1650 volts that was glowing red. They hot jumped that clamp and removed it cleaned and replaced it. No more issue.
Yours could be anywhere from the neutral wire leading into your distribution panel, to the transformer you use, to the transformer used to take it to medium distribution. Others not being affected, I suspect between your panel and the 220v transformer. Jim
 
did the power company check the service wire along it"s length th? how old is it? standing under it does the insulation on it look bad, is it cracked, brittle looking or emit smoke in spots when it rains? does it run through a treed area, does it rub against a tree? have squirrels eaten/chewed the aluminum wire of the bare neutral conductor leaving only the steel reinforcement wire in spots? does the neutral conductor have splice? how are overhead connections made, crimped or split bolts as split bolts change over time, crimps do not, unless eaten away by squirrels.
 
They checked all of that. The tranformer is oh, Im guessing 40 years old that I can recall, Ive never known it to be changed when I lived here growing up, nor since the remodel and moving back in.( But it could have been without my knowledge when they insatalled the new meter base in 01.) I know the wire was replaced about 6 or 7 years ago when I tree limb hit the line, the tree has been cut down since then. Theres no splices from the transformer to the weatherhead. Im not sure how they are connected at the transformer, kinda hard to see just what is up there. but no other connections until it reaches the meter base. Electrician still hasnt found any problems anywhere, but hes starting to think this is all one big coincidence.
 
Thats what my electrician thought at first. We turned on my dryer, since the lights will ever so slightly dim when it heats up, and he put his meter on the breaker box and the meter base. it could have been by at that point though, if there was a bad connection, it had been fixed, or all of my problems were just one big coincidence.
 
Turning on a dryer will NOT check for a bad neutral.

You need to turn off every other breaker and put a high load on one 120 VAC circuit to load the neutral.

Jim is right, this IS a neutral issue somewhere.
 
My bad, that was for something else he was doing, I turned on the heater in the bathroom. I have one of those light/vent/heater deals in the bathroom. Had all 3 going.
 
vary voltage outputs from a transformer is one indication of a transformer that is getting close to failing. given its age, your problems coupled with no problem found on your side of meter warrants another call to power company. might add, time to keep good records of problems, your attempts to correct and calls made to power company as they have insurance that may pay for your damage and expense.
 
If you know that unit is 120, the test would load one leg. if it is wired for partial 220, it would not work. The neutral failure is not tested when a 220 volt draw is applied, as the phase relationship is between hots, not the neutral. Load only one 120volt circuit/phase. It could take 1500 watts on 2 circuits on the same branch to get it into failure mode. Not easy to detect, and sometimes self healing for light loads or loads that are not turned on for a long time (hours). The danger is real to much of the equipment in your place. it will get 220 on one leg eventually and near nothing on the other.
It can be at the wetherhead, the incoming neutral bond to the panel, at the pole connections at the wires, or the meter internal neutral connects, or the transformer. Best of luck finding it it will not go away. Jim
 
Voltage is not a coincidence ever. It happened and will happen again. a failing component can be intermittent and self heal, but a coincidence requires a cause, not a statement. I B Serious.
 
Jim,

I saw the same thing in my shop, but the UG was bad out in the yard. The 220V equipment would run fine, but issues with 120V.
 
I am not an electrician but if your panel box cover is off, check for any arc when absolutely no light is in the room. Have someone turn appliances on and off and look everywhere for any signs of arc.
Will cost nothing to check and you just might find the problem?
 
I've lived in the same house since 1977. On 3 different occasions, neighbor's trees have damage my neutral wire. Last time it cost me big time. So, I purchased from the electric company a STRIKE PROTECTOR. It installs between the meter base and the meter. If I ever have wild voltages again from power company, I should be protected or power company pays.

I have a kitchen aid dishwasher. I purchased the largest surge protector for it. Installed it under the sink. Before the strike protector was installed, my last power surge took it out big time. Protected dishwasher like it should. You may want to install a few surge protectors and see if it helps.
 
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