i386
Captain
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2004
- Messages
- 3,548
Lately some of my lights have been flickering at random intervals. Sometimes they go out for a few minutes and come back on by themselves.
It doesn't always affect the same circuit in my house. Well, there's one that it consistently affects but there's one or two more that may go out with it.
So started reading about people having a "loose neutral".
I removed the cover off my panel and checked the neutral bus. Everything was tight. I also poked at all the neutral wires with a long wooden dowel. I was not able to get any lights to even flicker.
A little while later some lights flickered and went out. I went downstairs with my meter. Mind you, we have 2 hot legs and one neutral coming from the meter into the main breaker. I took my measurement from the bit of exposed wire where they are terminated into the main breaker. Again, from the meter side of the main breaker where the mains come in. I just want to be real clear about that. I'm in my panel (a good 20 feet from the meter), but I'm probing the wire BEFORE it goes into my main breaker. Anyway, measuring VAC I had 126VAC on one "hot leg" and nothing on the other hot leg. ** Earlier I had 126VAC on both hot legs.
So I call the utility company last night. It was late on a Sunday night so I get forwarded to an after hours dispatcher. I explain the problem to him. He says yea, that's probably gonna be your main breaker going out. So I repeat it back to him very slowly, made sure he understood where I was taking my measurement from. He said well I probably better send someone out.
The guy shows up about 15 mins. later. The first thing he does is pull the cover on meter box and take a reading. Of course the symptom never showed itself the whole time here was there. The reading outside was good. He says everything looks good in there. I ask him to humor me and come in and look at my panel and where I was taking my measurement from. He agreed that where I was measuring from should get 120VAC on both legs regardless of the condition of the main breaker.
He decides to go back out, pull the meter cover and the meter itself. He then borrows my 1/2" socket and proceeds to tighten all the lugs in the meter. Actually he tightens my side inside the meter. There are also 3 lugs where the line coming from the transformer terminate but he didn't tighten those. He didn't admit to them being loose, but they tightened down a lot more than he expected they would.
He said he really didn't know what was causing the problem, but if it happens again to call back. He never came right out and said the problem was on "his end", but he didn't say it was on mine.
Any thoughts on this one?
It doesn't always affect the same circuit in my house. Well, there's one that it consistently affects but there's one or two more that may go out with it.
So started reading about people having a "loose neutral".
I removed the cover off my panel and checked the neutral bus. Everything was tight. I also poked at all the neutral wires with a long wooden dowel. I was not able to get any lights to even flicker.
A little while later some lights flickered and went out. I went downstairs with my meter. Mind you, we have 2 hot legs and one neutral coming from the meter into the main breaker. I took my measurement from the bit of exposed wire where they are terminated into the main breaker. Again, from the meter side of the main breaker where the mains come in. I just want to be real clear about that. I'm in my panel (a good 20 feet from the meter), but I'm probing the wire BEFORE it goes into my main breaker. Anyway, measuring VAC I had 126VAC on one "hot leg" and nothing on the other hot leg. ** Earlier I had 126VAC on both hot legs.
So I call the utility company last night. It was late on a Sunday night so I get forwarded to an after hours dispatcher. I explain the problem to him. He says yea, that's probably gonna be your main breaker going out. So I repeat it back to him very slowly, made sure he understood where I was taking my measurement from. He said well I probably better send someone out.
The guy shows up about 15 mins. later. The first thing he does is pull the cover on meter box and take a reading. Of course the symptom never showed itself the whole time here was there. The reading outside was good. He says everything looks good in there. I ask him to humor me and come in and look at my panel and where I was taking my measurement from. He agreed that where I was measuring from should get 120VAC on both legs regardless of the condition of the main breaker.
He decides to go back out, pull the meter cover and the meter itself. He then borrows my 1/2" socket and proceeds to tighten all the lugs in the meter. Actually he tightens my side inside the meter. There are also 3 lugs where the line coming from the transformer terminate but he didn't tighten those. He didn't admit to them being loose, but they tightened down a lot more than he expected they would.
He said he really didn't know what was causing the problem, but if it happens again to call back. He never came right out and said the problem was on "his end", but he didn't say it was on mine.
Any thoughts on this one?
