# Flickering Lights after power outage?



## Fishbulb28 (Jul 8, 2016)

Step 1, as in do this now: Check the voltages before the main breaker. Check line to line and each line to the neutral. You're looking for a voltage imbalance at each line to neutral that changes as the electrical loads in your home change. One line to neutral voltage may rise as the other lowers. If those are all OK make the same measurements after the main breaker.

If you know, what caused the outage?


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## RAL238 (May 20, 2018)

How frequently do the lights flicker? Every few seconds, every minute or two, or just a few times an hour? 



If they flicker frequently enough, you should be able to see it with a meter. Though some digital meters might hide it if they don't update the display fast enough. If it happens infrequently, then a data logger is a better way to catch it. The power company probably has one they could hook up at the meter or breaker panel and narrow down whether it is their problem or yours.


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

They flicker pretty regularly all day long. It’s a few times a minute. I asked Consumers energy when they were here if they had a way to connect something to the lines to monitor the levels over a timeframe and he said they don’t have anything like that. The outage was caused by a storm.


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

Ok, so I hooked up a multimeter to it, and its reading between 118.1v and 117.1v. Then we turn on all the lights, the dryer, and random other things, and it Bounces between 115.8v and 115.5v. I set up a camera to record the multimeter, and it caught a flicker, the volta went from 117.1v to 115.2v at the lowest.


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

MoparXpress75 said:


> Ok, so I hooked up a multimeter to it, and its reading between 118.1v and 117.1v. Then we turn on all the lights, the dryer, and random other things, and it Bounces between 115.8v and 115.5v. I set up a camera to record the multimeter, and it caught a flicker, the volta went from 117.1v to 115.2v at the lowest.


Caught a couple “good” flickers. One dropped the multimeter to 108.1v and the other a few seconds later to 106.8v.


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## RAL238 (May 20, 2018)

MoparXpress75 said:


> Caught a couple “good” flickers. One dropped the multimeter to 108.1v and the other a few seconds later to 106.8v.



Were you measuring this on the hot side of one of your branch circuit breakers, or on the incoming line from the electric meter?


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

RAL238 said:


> MoparXpress75 said:
> 
> 
> > Caught a couple “good” flickers. One dropped the multimeter to 108.1v and the other a few seconds later to 106.8v.
> ...


I had the multimeter connected to an outlet in the house. Got another drop to 101.2v.


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## RAL238 (May 20, 2018)

MoparXpress75 said:


> I had the multimeter connected to an outlet in the house. Got another drop to 101.2v.



As a next step, I would try similar measurements with the meter connected to electric meter side of the main breaker. If you see the voltage drop there as well, that will point to a problem with the power company, rather than a problem with your main breaker or panel. 

It could very well be due to a poor quality connection on their feed to your house.


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

RAL238 said:


> MoparXpress75 said:
> 
> 
> > I had the multimeter connected to an outlet in the house. Got another drop to 101.2v.
> ...


Ok cool! So would I poke around with the multimeter on the breakers themselves, using the red end on the hot screw of the breaker and the black end of the multimeter on the neutral of the panel? 

Or should I touch the red end of the multimeter right to the thick 200A wire coming from the power company? Would the black end go to a ground?

I hate electricity....


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## RAL238 (May 20, 2018)

MoparXpress75 said:


> Ok cool! So would I poke around with the multimeter on the breakers themselves, using the red end on the hot screw of the breaker and the black end of the multimeter on the neutral of the panel?
> 
> Or should I touch the red end of the multimeter right to the thick 200A wire coming from the power company? Would the black end go to a ground?
> 
> I hate electricity....



I would connect the black lead from your multimeter to ground, and then place the red lead on one of the large hot wires coming into the main circuit breaker. If you only see the voltage drops when things inside the house are turned on and off, you'll need an assistant to do that. 



After you've made a set of measurements with the multimeter on one of the hot wires to the main breaker, move the probe to the other hot wire and repeat the process. 



Doing it this way will allow you to see if the problem exits just on one side of your electric service or both. If you see the problem on both sides, it's possible that it could be caused by a bad connection on the neutral. 



Be very careful when probing the wires into the main breaker. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then it's time to call an electrician!


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## MoparXpress75 (Oct 11, 2018)

RAL238 said:


> MoparXpress75 said:
> 
> 
> > Ok cool! So would I poke around with the multimeter on the breakers themselves, using the red end on the hot screw of the breaker and the black end of the multimeter on the neutral of the panel?
> ...


Excellent information. Thank you very much for your time and assistance. I tested all the breakers individually, but I’m not sure how I feel about poking at one of those large main wires. May be time for an electrician. 🙂

Thanks again. Much appreciated.


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