Electrical wiring FAQs about flickering lights in manufactured & mobile homes.

This article series describes How to Inspect Mobile Homes or Manufactured Housing Electrical Wiring, Electrical Panel, and other Electrical Components for Defects: detailed procedures, defect lists, references to standards.

Flickering Lights in Mobile Home Electrical Systems

Troubleshooting Questions & Answers for Campers, Mobile Homes, Doublewides, Manufactured Homes

Found here: with focus on the causes of flickering lights, here you will find diagnostic questions & answers about manufactured or mobile home electrical system defects, troubleshooting, repairs, codes.

These questions & answers about flickering lights in mobile home electrical systems were posted originally at MOBILE HOME ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS or otherwise possibly at the bottom of this very article.

Photo: mobile home crossover wiring switch connector - if loose, this connector can be an occasional source of flickering lights.

Watch out: some causes of flickering lights in a mobile home might be due to the presence of aluminum electrical wiring or overloaded circuits or other electrical defects that can mean there is a serious risk of life-threatening fire or other electrical safety hazards.

The best immediate step to take is to turn OFF the circuit breaker or fuse that controls the circuit that has the flickering light problem. Then call for help from a licensed electrician.

At the page bottom RECOMMENDED ARTICLES you'll see links to detailed flickering light diagnosis and cure pages at this website.

On 2022-04-11 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - getting shocked throughout electrically live home is very dangerous situation

@Victoria,

What you describe is a very dangerous situation - there is an electrical wiring error or a damaged wire or connection that is making some of the grounding system in your home electrically-live.

Touching any electrical receptacle or possibly even a pipe or metal siding, especially if the person touching it is standing on wet floor or ground or touches a grounded electrical pipe means that that person can be badly shocked or even killed.

There is also some risk of an electrical fire.

I'm sorry because I know this is easier for me to say than for you to live with, but the only safe thing for you to do is to either turn off all electrical power or at least turn off circuits that are causing the effects that you have described. That means turning off any circuit of which you are suspicious by going to the electrical panel and switching the circuit breaker to the off position.

Then you need prompt help from an electrician who will start at the electrical panel and trace the circuits to find the defect, wiring error, or damaged connection or device.

Please keep me posted about what you do and what happens - as you leave us quite concerned for your safety.

On 2022-04-11 by Victoria - when the AC kicks on it will flicker a light in the hallway

COMMENT: So throughout my whole mobile home touching things we get shocked like there's a short and a wire somewhere and when the AC kicks on it will flicker a light in the hallway and you can almost hear like the electrical short what could the problem be where could it be could it be the electrical box or a wire throughout the mobile home

On 2022-02-19 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - flickering lights and power loss

@Chris,

Sure, g

Let's start with the diagnostics at

ELECTRIC POWER LOSS / FLICKERING LIGHTS

On 2022-02-19 by Chris

I have a 2019 double wide and sometimes about 90 percent of my power goes out for about 5 to 10 minutes and then comes back on none of my breakers are tripped can you help me

On 2022-02-18 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - flickering light diagnosis

@Melissa carroll,

The most common explanation would be a loose electrical connection somewhere on that circuit. The safe thing would be to leave the circuit turned off until you have an electrician trace the circuit to find the defect and fix it.

Please use the on page Search box to find our article titled

Flickering light diagnosis

On 2022-02-18 by Melissa carroll

Our electric flickered 3 or 4 times real fast then came back on...but now our 1st bedroom going down the hall doesn't have any electric but the living room and second bedroom past it does...could it be a faulty breaker...help

On 2021-10-03 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - vacuum cleaner causes lights to flicker

@Tyler,

That makes me want to start with the vacuum cleaner itself; it could have an internal short or a failing motor.

On 2021-10-03 by Tyler

@inspectapedia.com.moderator, I can plug the vacuum into any outlet in the home and the lights will flicker. On both accounts the lights never fully go out the just dim a bit the go bright again and again and again

On 2021-10-03 by (mod): lights flickering in new doublewide home

@Tyler,

I don't understand the last part of your question about what happens when your vacuum cleaner is turned on and off, but from your description I suspect one or two specific problems:

1. the washing machine is on a circuit that powers too many other things: the circuit may be overloaded

2. there is a loose electrical connection in your home's wiring that needs to be found and repaired.

As this is a brand new home, I'd be surprised if #1 is the case, so most-likely someone has left one or more electrical wiring connectors loose in the home.

That's unsafe; an electrician will trace the circuits in your home to look for and find a loose connector -maybe more than one if the same person did all of the original electrical work.

On 2021-10-03 by Tyler - washing machine causes lights to flicker

I have a 2021 double wide been in it for three days when my washer is on the lights flicker when the rotation starts and when my vacuumed cleaner gets turned on then off again in any outlet of the house what could this be?

 

On 2021-08-26 by (mod) - mobile home walls are wet inside continuously around the sockets. our plugs melt and lights flicker. Sparks at electrical outlets.

@Catherine Hiegert,

Watch out: I agree that you are describing a dangerous situation that risks electrical shock, injury, or a fire.

I don't know your location or situation but if that were my home, I would turn off all electrical power and call for help from a licensed electrician and probably as well from a home inspector or builder who is familiar with mobile home construction and leaks.

I suspect that there are roof leaks, exterior wall leaks, or plumbing leaks that are wetting your electrical system. The result risks short circuits and electrical failures.

If you are leaving power on you should leave everything that you possibly can turned-off and un-plugged,
and
do avoid touching wet electrical receptacles or wall switches
and

important: be sure that you have smoke detectors (and CO detectors) properly installed, located, tested, so that if there is a fire you have warning and can get out,
and be sure that you check all of the fire exits from your home to be sure that they are accessible and operating.

Please keep me posted.

On 2021-08-26 by Catherine Hiegert

my mobile home walls are wet inside continuously around the sockets. Also our plugs melt and lights flicker. Also, sparks in all outlets...i feel in grave danger. What can i do & should i use any of my outlets? The light switch doesn't turn the light off when I flip it...help!

On 2022-01-06 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - Lights were flickering then went out.

@Carol,

What you describe is unsafe.

You need an electrician on site. She may find a loose connection, damaged receptacle, or a similar problem.

Leave the circuit turned off.

Always be sure you have working smoke detectors, properly located and tested.

On 2022-01-06 by Carol

I live in an 1980+ single wide. We have lost all power to a front bedroom, 2 walls and overhead light in living room and kitchen and hall lights and front porch light. When these went out tried to run extension cord from tv to outlet on working wall.

When extension was plugged in lights came back on and outlets started working. Lights were flickering then went out. Checked breaker box threw all breakers nothing, went out to meter checked the breaker there it's fine. The outlet extension was plugged into was bad do capped it off. Help

On 2021-05-25 by (mod) - now lights flick on high then lighter

@Anonymous,

I can't tell if the problem is the electrical service coming into your panel or the main breaker or one or more individual circuits in the building.

The safe thing to do would be to turn off the main breaker and all of the circuit breakers.

Then you could try turning on the main breaker and one circuit breaker at a time to see if most of the circuits are behaving normally. If you switch on the breaker and the lights dim, flicker, etc. then leave that circuit off as it is unsafe.

Ultimately you need a licensed electrician on site to find and fix the problem.

On 2021-05-25 by Anonymous

Clothes were drying in the dryer. Power went off whole trailer. It is 10 years old. Flipped circuit breaker, back on, but now lights flick on high then lighter. The stove/oven won't work now, got a message on the screen. No circuits on breaker are off. What can we do?

On 2021-05-02 by (mod) - laundry room switch in doublewide makes a noise and lights blink - 2009 doublewide

@Olga,

I don't know what the switch is doing or what is controlling so of course I can't tell you what to do with it except that

when you have a switch that makes a buzzing noise when you turn it on, that sounds like an electrical short or a failing electrical component.

Watch out: Either of those could be unsafe and could be risking a fire

so I would leave that switch turned off until you have an electrician look at it.

On 2021-05-02 by Olga

We have a 2009 double wide and I've got a double switch in laundry room. When I turn light on the switch makes a noise and light blinks. I've never seen that kind of switch before. Should I replace the switch with a new one.

On 2021-02-21 by (mod) - dim lights in 1996 doublewide

@Stephen Smith

Dim lights may mean a poor (and thus unsafe) electrical connection anywhere from the main electrical panel to the light fixtures on that circuit.

Your electrician will trace the circuit to find a bad connection or bad light fixture.

Watch out: the wiring may be unsafe, risking fire or shock.

On 2021-02-21 by Stephen Smith - dim lights in half of 1996 doublewide

1996 double wide .. Half of double wide rooms has full power and rest is like on a dimmer switch at half power. No blown fuse or tripped fuses

On 2020-11-27 - by (mod) - lights flicker, then go out

Ann

The loss of electricity on one side of the doublewide is likely to be at one of the "crossover" connectors that plug the two sides of the home's electrical wiring together.

Ask your electrician to take a look

at MANUFACTURED HOME CROSSOVER CONNECTORS

and let me know what you find as that will help other readers too.

On 2020-11-27 by Ann williams

Only one side of my double wide losses electrify, had electric guys out , but a day later same flickering then goes out again. Could this be a junction box?

On 2020-10-24 - by (mod) - flickering lights when your washing machine runs

Ken

Two common causes of flickering lights when your washing machine runs are overloaded electrical circuit or a fairly washing machine motor or electrical control or electrical contact in that circuit.

Typically you would need help from a licensed electrician to sort that up as safety is involved

On 2020-10-24 by Ken

Lights flicker when washing machine washes

On 2020-08-02 by Jen

We recently are having issues with lights/power flickering. We don't have a washer/dryer central air anything that draws more power. It seems random, does not happen only when something new is turned on or off, and is throughout the house.

When they flicker, appliances like a fan will turn off momentarily too.

It started sometime after our neighbor moved in/got a washer/dryer/central air,they messed with his meter box, and for whatever reason our power was off when they did that, even tho we have a separate box.
It's a 1983 mobile home

On 2019-12-11 - by (mod) - electrical equipment in a home causes lights to dim

Jeremy

Usually when any electrical equipment in a home causes lights to dim it's because the equipment is drawing abnormally high electrical current - at least potentially a dangerous condition risking a building fire or an electrical shock.

It's of course possible that simply too many things are being connected to a single electrical circuit.

THe most likely explanation is that your dryer is drawing high current, is damaged, and is unsafe.

You want help from a licensed electrician, on-site.

On 2019-12-04 by Jeremy

My furnace makes my lights go dim so had to shut it off lost power to my living room and if I turn one light on fine when I turn a second light on it goes dim if I shut off one of the lights it brighten if I turn my dryer it turns the power off to my home no breakers are blown or flipped now my hot water tank isn't working

On 2019-06-21 by (mod) - flickering lights & burnt mobile home doublewide electrical panel?

Watch out: This is unsafe: risk is fire or shock or worse. It'd make sense, as horrible and inconvenient as it is, to turn everything off at the main switch and ask for help from a licensed electician.

We can't know without inspection and testing if the problem is panel, wire into the panel, or even service entry wires coming to the building.

Keep me posted on what you're told.

On 2019-06-21 by Donna Gibbs

I was told it sounds like the Panel burnt out in my double wide. Only about half of it has electricity..... Lights flicker so it is cut off. What panel is this? The actual electrical panel? Or where the 2vhalves are put together?

On 2019-02-11 by (mod) - doublewide home lights were orange for two dayd, other side lights are flickering all the time.

Joa

Orange dimming of lights sounds like a low voltage problem -

but if the problem were from the power company ALL of the lights would have looked the same.

Since just some of your lights dimmed that sounds more like a circuit, breaker, or electrical panel defect such as an overheating, corroded connection (or something else).

Continuing flickering lights is a similar symptom.

We don't know if the underlying problem was a defective breaker, aluminum electrical wire (unlikely in a home built in 2000), improper wiring, etc.

What is the brand of electrical panel and breaker - that may be helpful.

Watch out: the danger here is of an electrical fire - injury, or worse.

Safest is to leave OFF any electrical circuits that are acting oddly, dimming or flickering.

You need an experienced, expert licensed electrician on site.

On 2019-02-11 by Joarthur

A weeks ago the kitchen and 2 bathroom side of my 2000 fleetwood double wide lights were orange for two days.

This week they are working ok but the other side lights are flickering all the time. Called the power. The disconnect breaker was bad and burnt. Told us to get another one and more wire because we had to move it.

We did and he came back and walked us thru it. The good news is at least we found that burnt breaker, the bad news for us is the lights are still flickering.

Turned all the breakers off the all back on. Still flickering. Next step is to check the plug that connects the 2halfs. ANY OTHER SUGGESTION? bought this home new in 2000 and never a problem.

On 2018-07-22 by (mod) - double wide looses power in half lights flicker and power goes nothing goes out in panel box

Eleanor

I cannot be as smart as your on-site electricians. However you could ask two things. One is to ask them to check under your unit to see if there is a connector joining the side that loses power with the side that has power and probably your main electrical panel.

if that connector becomes loose or corroded you could be losing power.

if they don't find the problem that way the electrician's need to identify one of the circuits that has no power and trace it forward from the electrical panel to find the opening.

On 2018-07-22 by eleanor mills

1996 dutch double wide looses power in half lights flicker and power goes nothing goes out in panel box the only way power comes back on is turn the AC back on. When this happens our meter reads low energy.>

Duke energy has been out 3 times and shut me down cant find nothing, 2 electricians cant find nothing.
please comment

On 2017-09-21 by S Anderson - Bathroom lights just flicker when switch is turned on

Bathroom lights just flicker when switch is turned on what causes this

On 2017-09-21 by ginny - current falls off when I plug in my toaster

I installed 5 gfi outlets in a 77 model mobil home. All check fine with my voltmenter and light checker. All current on outside pole checks fine, inside breaker current is good, but when I plug microwave into the outlets, toaster, or any other appliance it pulls the current on the whole unit down to almost nothing.

The new refridgerator kicks on and it also pulls the current down. I have tried these appliances in all rooms and even though the outlets are mostly all new and check out fine for current it still pulls down badly. What else can I check or do. The outlets are 15amp and the breakers in the inside breaker box are 20 amp.

Could I have a weak ground somewhere? I have been doing my own setups and work for about 28yrs. now but never ran into this problem. I only do my own mobil homes

On 2017-06-09 by (mod) - Lights no longer work. Flickering and dimming really bad.

Heather

FIRST turn OFF any electrical circuits that are acting weird - right away - at the electrical panel, to reduce the chances of a fire or shock injury.

Then you'll need help from a licensed electrician. What I worry about is that some electrical components, connectors, or even the panel got flooded, leaving switches, wiring, receptacles, or other components water-damaged, shorting-out and unsafe.

The electrician will trace the bad circuits to look for both water damage and loose or corroded connections.

On 2017-06-09 by Heather

I had a plumbing problem, so kitchen flooded twice, I live in a double wide. Everything was fine for awhile but then central air started struggling really bad. Lights no longer work. Flickering and dimming really bad. Don't know what to try

On 2017-01-16 by (mod) - fix flickering - check wiring of lights in a 98 single wide mobile home

Tonya

Watch out: flickering lights means there is unsafe electrical wiring in the home. An electrician may find loose wires, a failing switch, or something more serious like aluminum electrical wiring.

Watch out too: working in an electrical panel - all due respect to hubby - risks death by electrocution of you touch something live.

Hubby could have missed a loose connector in an electrical junction box somewhere in the circuit.

I'd suggest help from a licensed electrician. She will perhaps start where I would : looking at wiring in the panel, then tracing the bad circuit s to find all of their junction boxes and connections, looking for unsafe wiring or a bad connector or damaged wires.

Meanwhile leave any bad acting circuits off.

On 2017-04-17 by (mod) Lights in my double wide are dimming at about 2 min intervals

Jon

Is there any equipment or electrical device that is turning on and off like a short-cycling water pump?

On 2017-04-17 by Jon

Lights in my double wide are dimming at about 2 min intervals. Happened over winter also. Park electrician replaced breaker box outside and repaired faulty wiring in another box. Problem started happening again.

 

On 2017-01-16 by Tonya

We own a 98 single wide mobile home. My question is just inside the front door we have two double switch light plates.

One set is for the porch and two front outside lights and the other controls the hall light and ceiling fan/light in the living room .

There is also a hard wired smoke detector located up above these light switches.

One day the hall light flickered and went out shutting down everything on those double switches.

After setting awhile the ceiling fan worked again but trying another light on those switches shut it all down again.

My husband checked all the wiring on the outside lights, hall light, ceiling fan and smoke detector and found nothing loose.

He also replaced the circuit breaker and again after setting awhile the ceiling fan worked but turning other switches on those double plates shut it all down. Any idea what we may be missing?

Question: lights flicker or get brighter then dimmer when appliances run

(Dec 29, 2016) Rebecca said:

Anytime my furnace, dryer, or washer comes on my lights get brighter and then when they go off they get very dim, like there is no power going to them.

We check all of the voltage with a multimeter and everything was in the 120 found one plug that was burnt up and removed it and turned that breaker off, but everything is still getting brighter and dimmer, help

Reply:

Sounds like an overloaded circuit, Rebecca.

...

Continue reading at ELECTRIC POWER LOSS / FLICKERING LIGHTS - home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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