Flickering light bulbs that get real bright or real dim at times is a warning sign of electrical problems in your home. Voltages that spike high on one phase and drop in voltage on the other phase is the sign of a loose neutral somewhere in your electrical system. Most times this occurs outside at the service drop and is on the power company’s side. But sometimes it can be in the meter base or in your electrical panel.
These fluctuations in the voltage can wreak havoc on any electronics, like a computer that is plugged in and receiving these low or high voltages. Other items can receive damage also from the unstable voltages so it is very important to have this problem repaired as soon as possible.
There are some things you can do to try and locate the problem yourself if you feel comfortable working around electricity. If you don’t feel comfortable with it then it is best to hire an electrical contractor to come in and find the problem and either repair it for you or see to it that the power company takes care of it.
To troubleshoot this yourself you will need a digital multimeter. Set the multimeter to AC 600 volts. First you can test the voltage at one or more of your electrical outlets in the house and make a note of what these voltage readings are at each location. Put the two meter leads into the hot (narrow blade) and the neutral (wide blade) in the receptacle.
While you have the voltage reading on your meter, have someone turn on a light or plug something like a toaster and watch the meter to see if the voltage changes when this toaster is turned on.
If it is a neutral problem then the voltage reading will either go up or down by a considerable amount. Sometimes these voltage spike can reach 160 volts or higher or drop down to 80 volts or lower when a load is applied somewhere else in the system.
Next you need to go to the electrical panel and remove the panel cover so you can gain access to the inside main lugs or breakers. Test the voltage here at the main lugs or the main breaker. Check from one of the hot legs to the main neutral lug. Then check the other hot leg to the main neutral lug. Turn the toaster on again while testing these voltages and make a note of the differences in each hot leg to neutral.
If the voltage on both phases are different, such as one being high and the other phase being lower then that verifies a neutral being loose somewhere in the system. You can relay this information to the power company first and they will come out and check their side of it at no charge to you. If they find the problem on their side they will fix it.
If it is not on their side they will tell you this so you can call an electrician to come out and repair the problem for you. By doing this test yourself you can save money by relaying this info to the electrician saving him the time it takes to troubleshoot it himself.
I am sure he will still check it to verify the problem but any information you can give him from your tests will help him in finding and repairing the problem.
