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Backup electrical generator hookup © D Friedman at InspectApedia.com Flickering Light Diagnostic FAQs-2
Q&A on causes of flickering or dimming lights or lost electricity

Q&A on the causes & cures of of dimming light fixtures or flickering lights & power losses.

Frequently-asked questions on how to diagnose and fix problems with dimming or flickering lights & electrical circuits or intermittent loss of electrical power.

This article series explains how to diagnose the causes of flickering or dimming lights at or in buildings.

This article gives simple diagnostic steps that a homeowner can do to determine the type of electrical system problem that is causing flickering or dimming lights or intermittent loss of electrical power. We list the common causes of these problems and suggest what to do about them.

Watch out:  flickering or dimming lights often indicates a dangerous condition. Switch off the bad-acting appliance or circuit and ask for help from a licensed electrician.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

FAQs on Diagnosis & Repair of Dimming or Flickering Lights

Bath ceiling light after new installation (C) Daniel FriedmanThese recently-posted questions & answers about dimming or flickering light diagnosis and repair in buildings appeared originally at ELECTRIC POWER LOSS / FLICKERING LIGHTS- be sure to review the advice given there.

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On 2020-01-15 by (mod) - lights flicker inside my home then cut off? Yet the sockets all still work t

Anon

The light circut(s) in your home are usually (and should be) separate from the circuits powering electrical receptacles or "sockets".

So there's a problem with your lighting circuit(s).

On 2020-01-15 by Anonymous

What could it be if my lights flicker inside my home then cut off? Yet the sockets all still work to plug into from the wall?

On 2020-01-04 by (mod) - stock tank de-icer dims lights

I've seen this problem when there is a bad connector or a bad electrical connection. Of course I feeling ballast or starter could be at fault but I wouldn't expect it to affect other fixtures.

Watch out this is a place where you absolutely don't want to have a fire. It would be better to turn that circuit off until it's inspected and repaired

On 2019-12-28 by gsk

Recent problem. Two double tube 4 ft fluorescent lights inside our horse barn wash bay have difficulty turning on and the outside security light (LED) which is on the same breaker flickers while on.

If I unplug the stock tank de-icer from the pasture outlet which is on another breaker the problem does not occur.

Oddly, if the barn's aisle lights (five 8 ft double tube high output fluorescent and one new 8 ft led replacement for same) on another breaker are first turned on then the wash bay and security lights are fine even with the de-icer plugged in. All the breakers mentioned are 20 amp and are on the same side of the sub-panel.

I'm puzzled by why a load on one circuit seems to cause a loss of power on another circuit but a load on a third circuit prevents that from happening. And do I just have a bad tank de-icer or is there a bigger problem?

On 2019-12-23 by Duck j

My stove won't come on and the timer light blinks and is dim

On 2019-09-09 1 by (mod) - flickering lights not due to the electrical power company?

Vicki

The electric company might be correct. The homeowner is, in most jurisdictions, responsible for wiring from the point of overhead or underground attachment to the service lateral that comes to the home from the utility company's pole.

It's possible that the problem is of course outside the home in the service entry wiring, at the meter, etc. and could be due to wind or water damage. You want to find a licensed electrician, since - (agreeing with you) the problem you describe could be very dangerous, risking shock, fire, or worse.

IT's not something a homeowner can repair herself.

Meanwhile it would be smart to turn OFF any circuit that's misbehaving or acting oddly.

On 2019-09-09 y Vicki

We recently had strong storms in WI. I have never had any electrical problems before the storm. Now I've got lights flickering, then power goes out in different parts of the house, sometime comes right back on, others could be hours

I've called electricians the ones I can afford have me on a list. The electric company says it's not them, I was told someone came out and checked power going in, said it was fine. Well power went back out and on. I asked for a recorder, they keep putting it off.

I would like them come and check. Our wires are underground . I'm afraid of a fire.

On 2019-07-07 by (mod) - flickering downlights

If your lights are using a transformer - which is not always the case; start by checking for

- a damaged bulb socket
- loose wire connections
- a bad bulb

On 2019-07-05 by Monica

One set of downlighters, flickering. Could there be a problem with the transformer?


On 2018-09-09 by (mod) - suspected bad neutral causing flickering lights

What is the brand of your electrical panel?

Ask the electrician to check for a corroded or poorly-tightened connction everywhere in the main panel

Check for corroded aluminumw wire connections - a fire hazard.

On 2018-09-04 by gordon.hob

About 4 weeks ago I had a power outage occur on only 1 of my 15 amp circuits.

I contacted a friend who is a journeyman electrician and he and I tried to trace the circuit to all its outlets and switches.

After we couldn't locate the source of the problem he told me he thought it was a bad neutral connection and that I should call my normally used electrician to have him search for the source as well. I intended to do so the following morning but during the night the power came back on.

I did talk to my regular electrician about this and he told me that if it happened again I should see if the electric dryer would run.

The outage occurred again yesterday and when I checked he Dryer it would not run longer than 2 minutes until it shut off. I then called the power company as my electrician had suggested. They sent out their man who reported that he found below standard voltage at the meter and corrected that.

He suggested I see if the Dryer would run. It still would not complete a cycle and the power was still off on the single circuit. I told him that and he said my service was old and the rubber insulation was failing so he would contact emergency change of service. The power company did this right away but the circuit was still without power.

Again as before, during the night the power returned to that circuit. I guess it would be difficult to find the source of the problem when it is powered so I have not called back my electrician. Do you have any suggestions?

On 2018-09-09 by (mod) - some unsafe electrical conditions that can cause flickering lights

What is the brand of your electrical panel?

See these additional flickering light causes

On 2018-09-04 by gordon.hob

About 4 weeks ago I had a power outage occur on only 1 of my 15 amp circuits. I contacted a friend who is a journeyman electrician and he and I tried to trace the circuit to all its outlets and switches.

After we couldn't locate the source of the problem he told me he thought it was a bad neutral connection and that I should call my normally used electrician to have him search for the source as well

. I intended to do so the following morning but during the night the power came back on. I did talk to my regular electrician about this and he told me that if it happened again I should see if the electric dryer would run.

The outage occurred again yesterday and when I checked he Dryer it would not run longer than 2 minutes until it shut off.

I then called the power company as my electrician had suggested.

They sent out their man who reported that he found below standard voltage at the meter and corrected that.

He suggested I see if the Dryer would run. It still would not complete a cycle and the power was still off on the single circuit. I told him that and he said my service was old and the rubber insulation was failing so he would contact emergency change of service.

The power company did this right away but the circuit was still without power. Again as before, during the night the power returned to that circuit.

I guess it would be difficult to find the source of the problem when it is powered so I have not called back my electrician. Do you have any suggestions?

On 2018-09-04 by (mod) - Could be a bad breake

Could be a bad breaker, especially if the problems are peculiar to just 1 circuit.

Or loose connections

Or corrosion, damage in the panel

The article above lists some things to check out.

On 2018-09-04 by Sammy

I have had problems in last couple weeks with some outlets in house no electric breakers Army flipped off but we switch all back and fourth anyways. It will come back on.

Quit using air conditioner didn't matter it still happens again. Tonight it has done it twice. Which now our water pump isn't running no electric to it.

Could it be a bad breaker? Water pump just came back on now and all plug ins working now all by itself. Troubleshooting help?

On 2018-08-06 by (mod) -

Roger

I would leave the heater OFF completely as it sounds as if the situation is unsafe.

You need help from a qualified, licensed electrician who can trace the circuit for mis-wiring or check the electric water heater elements and thermostat for a short that is drawing excessive current.

On 2018-08-06 by Roger D'abreau

When I put on the water heater switch the lights is dimming and the plugs out let current voltage just get higher because I had the fan plug in the Wall out let so I want to know how can I fix the problem and what to look for am a Electrician need a little help hear need a quick way out

On 2018-06-24 by (mod) -

Sorry Michelle but I don't know what an ODC repair is nor do I know what DTE is. If that's the name of your Electrical Company you should call them and ask them to speak to you in English and tell you what the problem is. Let me know what you're told and I may be able to comment further.

On 2018-06-24 by Michelle

My lights are flickering and I'm told by Dte it needs an ODC repair and to call an electrician. I can't find any info online as to what that repair is or what a cost might be

On 2018-06-20 by (mod) -

ask your electrician to review the connections in the panel

On 2018-06-16 by Anonymous

Just had an old panel switched out. Now two sets of 3 way switches.(both have one switch that share a box) turn on and off with one switch (depending on how each switch is manipulated)

On 2018-05-13 by (mod) -

Pauli

Thank you for reporting the case that you did. That example will certainly help other readers.

I speculate that perhaps there was an intermittent short to ground through the tree.

On 2018-05-13 by Pauli

I had the problem of flickering lights, and other problems that I did not realize were also related, for a while. After a recent storm the electrical
system turned my house, quite literally, into the amityville horror house

- it turned out to be that the wire from the transformer to the house had grown into a tree and overheated unitl one wire finally burnt out.

How this could have caused all the really weird events that happened I do not know but it certainly did since they all went away after it was fixed.

On 2018-05-09 by (mod) -

Turn OFF power to the circuit immediately (at the circuit breaker in the electrical panel) as it sounds like a hard short or other unsafe wiring condition.

Obviously never touch even the electrical panel if doing so is unsafe, such as if you're standing in water.

Then ask your licensed electrician to look at the circuit as well as the GFCI. The GFCI may in fact have saved you from a shock or fire.

On 2018-05-09 by Anonymous

Have a electrical box that's flickering cannot reset GFI

On 2018-05-08 by (mod) -

Phillip

Your electrician, who can assure you're not going to burn down the house or get shocked to smithereens, will probably check the sorts of items we list in the article above.

Keep in mind that this is a dangerous situation as we don't know what's wrong and at least some of the things that can be wrong can cause a fire or shock.

On 2018-05-08 by Phillip Pina

Lights flicker, window ac goes on tv turns off.

On 2018-01-27 by (mod) -

Charlie

You could be seeing a variation in voltage delivered from the power company itself, but for safety it would make sense to have a licensed electrician examine your service entry wiring, meter connections, and connections of electrical service into the main panel and main breaker, as well as any signs of damage in the electrical panel. Any of those conditions can mean that there are serious safety hazards at the property.

On 2018-01-27 by Charlie

All my light in the house flicker at the same time and then it just randomly throws breakers and the lights get real bright and the dime and then bright again what could be the cause?

On 2017-11-07 by (mod) -

Steve, thank you for posting that helpful comment. It's an important reminder that the bad wire or connection could indeed be at the utility pole or actually ahead of the Service drop.

On 2017-11-06 by Steve F

Just had a similar problem, BUT when I checked the (digital) electric meter it was reading all zeros. It's a three-phase system and one of the wires ON THE POLE was shot. Repair man climbed the pole and replaced the wire. Now, everything's fine.

This is the most important source of such problems and you appear to have ignored it completely. And it's fairly obvious from the meter showing zeros. Why are you so obsessed with the breaker panel? Is this a case of, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?

On 2017-11-03 by Scott Momberger

Recently my power bill surged to $600 (with solar panels) with no significant changes in routine. Then the fan in my bathroom burnt up.

Then some of my circuits worked and some didn’t. The lights were intermittent. My neighbor also experienced problems. My meter and my neighbors meters weren’t working, but we still had some power.

One thing was his pool pump circuit breaker controlled the street light. When the PG&E guy came out he said the ground was hot by the access.

The wires coming in were burnt. PG&E claims this has not affect on my bill. I can’t explain my drastic increase any other way.

On 2017-10-10 by (mod) -

Lynda

Our best advice on flickering lights is in the article above. Because there could be a fire or shock hazard it would make sense to ask for help from a licensed electrician. If ALL of the lights are flickering the problem is probably in the incoming electrical service wires or at your main electrical panel.

If just one circuit of lights is flickering turn OFF that circuit and leave it off until your electrician can find and fix the trouble.

Also be alert for

- the presence of aluminum electrical wires

- the presence of known-problem electrical panels like FPE Federal Pacific electric

both of which could be involved in the flickering problem you name.

On 2017-10-10 by lYNDA

MY LIGHTS IN MY MOBLE HOME ARE FLICKING AND i WANT TO KNOW WHY

On 2017-10-08 by (mod) -

Paul,

At this point it's possible that some of the components in your panel that are badly burned should be replaced. That decision of course will be in the hands of your licensed electrician.

What I suspect, without more information, is that the new aluminum service entry cables were either not sufficiently tightened in the bus connection, or were installed without proper preparation of the wire ends by abrading and applying the appropriate antioxidant paste.

On 2017-10-08 by Paul

I live in Newberg, Or. My home was built in 1979. I do have aluminum cable coming into my indoor electric panel. I have lived in this house for 25 years and have never had an electrical problem. My next door neighbor had a bad cable from the power pole. PGE (Portland General Electric) decided to replace my neighbor's cable and my cable, as we were on the same power pole connection.

PGE didn't warn me before disconnecting or reconnecting the power to my home. I have whenever possible switched my circuit breakers off with exception of two that controlled an entry light and kitchen lights when power is off or an outage has occurred. I know it's not good to have all the breakers on when power is restored.

When I discovered the power was restored I noticed flickering lights and no power to outlets in different areas or rooms in my home.

I looked at my breaker panel and discovered most if not all of the "B" individual breakers were the ones that were causing the power problems. I then looked at the 200 amp "main" breaker and found one of two contacts plates on the buss that goes inside the main breaker was burned or slightly melted.

Is it possible that when PGE connected my new cable to the power pole that a power surge, incorrect connection(s) or a few on off connections occurred when connecting to the power pole caused my main breaker switch to get too hot and therefore damaged? Thank you for your help.

On 2017-09-17 by (mod) -

Philip,

I hear that some steps have already been taken to address this flickering lights problem. A few observations and suggestions follow:

1. A corroded ground connection is a safety hazard but should not at all be a factor in flickering lights. If correcting a ground connection were found to make a difference in how lighting behaves we would know that the incoming neutral from the power company was defective.

2. Replacing "all connections" is a bit unclear: there are connections at the service entry - overhead or underground - at the electric meter, from the meter into the panel, in the panel to the main breaker and bus. If the flickering affects all power in the building then I agree that the problem is most likely somewhere in the main panel or outwards to the electrical service.

If flickering were only on individual circuits then the problem is at the panel or downstream from that point.

You have a relatively recent electrical panel (Murray 200A in 2000/2001) so I'm not suspecting presence of a problem brand of panel/breaker.

Is there any aluminum electrical wiring? In the panel, in branch circuits, on circuits to heavy duty appliances like a clothes dryer or electric range?
Are the incoming service entry wires aluminum? Aluminum connections can oxidize and give a bad connection and may oveheat without tripping a circuit breaker.

What was meant by "still had flicker in system till all breakers in house were off except two next to my panel and when one flickered i switched to the other to eliminate it. " switched to the other? what do you mean -you switched wires? What do those breakers control?

Even when connections were re-made it's possible for there to be a bad or loose connection between an incoming aluminum service entry wire (hot or neutral) and the panel connections. Sometimes the screw (steel) binds in the terminal block (plated aluminum) so that the installer thinks the connection is secure when in fact it's loose. That's something for your electrician to check.

If your service entry wiring is underground it could also have been damaged enroute to the building.

Let me know what those investigations find.

On 2017-09-17 by philip ercolano

flickering light for two months now . used to be a short flicker that would last a second but now can last up to 4 seconds and now is resetting my clock on my stove , loss of power in my stereo that i lose my HDMI cable signal to my tv , any light that is on will flicker.

I had power company out 3 times and checked power to house , replaced all connections. and asked surrounding neighbors of any problems.

I hired a electrician and he found only an oxidized connection on the ground of the incoming water main. my lights do not flicker when any major appliance goes on or off. stove, dishwasher , electric dryer , washing machine, fridge, microwave, oil burner , wall mounted ac are all on separate breakers.

one by one I've turned off breakers and still had flicker in system till all breakers in house were off except two next to my panel and when one flickered i switched to the other to eliminate it.

So every breaker in my house was turned off. does this mean it is the house main ? its a Murry box and breakers. 200 amp service . updated in 2000/01.

is turning off breakers the correct way to find or eliminate an open neutral ? all appliances are new except fridge and micro but they were turned off and still had problem. no breaker is getting hot ive run different tests even had most fixtures on to cause a voltage drop but no flicker .

no buzzing in panel no rust or water in panel , heat gun shows all breakers at 79 degrees. if there is a loose neutral is in the house somewhere wouldn't turning off that breaker be the best way to find it ? help!


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