In the last two days we have noticed lights in three different rooms of our house pulsating. It does not last very long.
Two of the lights are on the same circuit (back to back bedrooms) but were noticed at different times. The other was in the kitchen on the other side of the house.
All are 60w bulbs….(only one was wired by me)
Any thoughts of what could cause this???
Ward
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Replies
I'll reply to keep you from dropping off the bottom of the page. Maybe it's the voltage in the house is fluxuating--have you tried 130 watt bulbs?
The other thing--I had something weird in my old house where all the lights pulsated and I called the utility company. They came out and replaced the insulators where the power enters the house and I didn't have any more problems.
Lastly, I've heard of this when someone in the neighborhood on the same line uses like a homemade welder.
6o watt bulbs... it started on 6-6-06... you'll need to call a priest.
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"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
When you say Pulsating rather than flickering that implies to me that it was a regular diming and brigthening cycle that repeated several time or more.
As opposed to flickering which is a more of a random change in brithness.
If it was pulsating about what rate and how long? If it was ten's of seconds and going off completely then are thesse can lights.
In either case does it appear that any of the lights where getting BRIGHTER compared to normal? And not just dimmer?
When you saw it in one location did you check others at the same time?
Bill, The lights get dim then back to normal, they never go out. This last a few seconds then back to normal.
It hasn't lasted long enough to check other spots yet...but I've been working on my dash through the house for the next time.
Ward
Is the pulsing irregular or rhythmatic? Does the light get brighter or darker when it pulses? Does it seem to go all the way out, or just get dimmer (if it's not getting brighter)?
You can get some pulsing as air conditioners, etc, switch on or off, and sometimes there's a repetitive "step" change in brightness during peak load periods (eg, a hot afternoon) when the substation is "seeking" the right voltage as load rapidly changes.
However, flickering can also be caused by bad connections in the house, and these generally have a potential for causing a fire or equipment damage.
If just on one circuit (and there's no large load like a refrigerator on the circuit) most likely the problem is a bad connection in that specific circuit. A likely place for the bad connection is a "back-stabbed" switch or outlet. (I once traced such a problem to a case where the electrician had "stabbed" the wire into the release hole instead of the wire hole, but even "properly" stabbed, the back-stab connection is prone to failure.)
And if you've got aluminum wire on any branch circuits, that's a likely source of trouble.
Dan,
No large appliances on the circuit and no I don't think other large draws on the system..to cold here.
I will double check the switches tomorrow for lose connections.
I am leaning toward the welder that Bill mentioned. My new neighbor just brought home his second race car!!!
Ward