Submitted by ProblimaticSolutions t3_11dwvek in DIY
Both the fixture and switch have been replaced. It happens about 15-20 seconds after the oven element turns on. Flicker lasts about a second. Oven is on a separate circuit. Light is in a bedroom that shares a wall with the kitchen but not the wall the oven is on.
Any help is appreciated.
I will check that. Not sure if it matters (regarding the power co. side of things) but ground and neutral are on the same bar in the box, house was built in the early'40s.
As I understand the issue with a loose neutral to the power company, you get power coming in through hot and instead of returning through the neutral connection to the power co, it’ll go though your ground rod next to your house (since ground and neutral are connected as in your breaker box).
Well I checked and didn't find anything loose either on the oven or light circuit. Another item that may or may not mean anything - the breakers are right next to each other. But then again the light circuit includes stuff like my PC/Monitor and the other bedroom's light none of which have issues.
Might just have to suck it up and pay a pro.
Yep. You lose that center-tapped service neutral to the transformer, your 120V phase legs are now in series, which can cause severe overvoltage (up to 240V) or undervoltage depending on the balance of the load. You may also end up with dangerous current on metal appliance casings depending on the grounding system's impedence. It might be the single most dangerous failure for residential split-phase systems.
Do they brighten or dim? Notice any other lights in the house acting strange, or any electrical oddities in general? And can you take a picture of your panel?
Dim, various levels, vary rapidly for about a second. Also at varying intensity, one time might be barely noticeable and the next you'd think the power was about to shut off.
I've not noticed anything other than the one light.
Panel pics - Oven is bottom right breaker, light is on the one directly above it (again, nothing else on this circuit seems affected).
Odd. You probably need a pro to take a look. Could be simply main voltage sagging from the high draw and those LEDs are especially sensitive.
Is the oven neutral touching the lighting circuit's ground (they look close, can't tell if they're actually in contact)? If so, my wild theory is that it might be transferring enough current to cause thermal expansion under the lug where the lighting neutral and ground are double-tapped (very common but not a good idea BTW). That could theoretically loosen the lighting neutral's connection after a time and dim the lights. Normally the oven neutral wouldn't transfer enough current to matter, but aluminum combined with a loose connection could make the copper path more attractive.
But whoever gets in there will probably find a more boring explanation. Good luck.
Yeah, looking less and less like something I can fix myself.
Same brand/type bulbs and switch (but not fixture) are used in both bedrooms with only one having the issue.
I've already checked that the lugs are tight but I didn't pull on any wires, I'll double check that those wires are secure.
I'm no electrician but I wonder if it's a frequency problem. If the bulb is incandescent disregard this, but if it's LED consider the possibility that the bulb is receiving some sort of frequency (it's is basically microchip) brought about by the powerering up of the stove.
As far as I remember it was happening before I switched to LED bulbs.
You might be getting some inductive current from the oven circuit caused by the wires being too close together (or maybe even wrapped around each other for some unknown reason). If that's the case there's really not much you can do if you're not willing to open up the walls and separate the wiring.
incensenonsense t1_jabfwsh wrote
Not an electrician, but I think it’s worth checking hot, neutral, and ground from your lighting circuit are all tight in your breaker box (only open if you know what you’re doing, turn off the main breaker, and beware the life wires coming into the breaker are still hot—touch those or anything they may be in contact with and you are toast).
Another thing that may be worth investigating or reading more about is whether your neutral may be loose somewhere between your house and the power company supply. It may not be super obvious bc stuff will still run but go though your ground wire instead of neutral. That can definitely be a cause for flickering.