It's unlikely that a dodgy appliance on a different circuit it to blame. If the connections at the CU are fine then look for the first joint after the CU. Possibly a junction box or ceiling rose. Maybe there is a loose connection there.
A complex problem?
- Thread starter PaulMac07
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JohnD said:
Keep your habits to yourself, please. This is a family forum!
stevesey said:
Yes, all of the lights flicker (not constantly, and some times are worse than others, not due to load though). That's why initially, I was thinking more of a supply quality problem. The fact that I had a short outage, that didn't affect my neighbours, and didn't trip any MCB's, made me think it couldn't possibly be an internal problem.
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Ok guys, here's a short summary of events so far....
1. Lights (both ring main lamps & celling lights) have been flickering intermittently for weeks..
2. Last week we had a short outage, which didn't affect our neighbours. The outage lasted 2 or 3 minutes, and none of the MCB's tripped.
3. Our 9kw shower developed faults and stopped working.
4. I loaded up the CU by turning on multiple appliances for 10 or so minutes, which eventually tripped the lights MCB.
5. I checked connections within the CU, all seems good.
6. Today, with very little load on the system, the main RCD tripped. It reset no problem, but it now looks like the electronic ignotion on our gas oven has been affected and has stopped working.....
Is this due to power surges, or supply quality, or do you think I have a major internal fault?
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to these events, and no common denominator.
Help and advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Paul
1. Lights (both ring main lamps & celling lights) have been flickering intermittently for weeks..
2. Last week we had a short outage, which didn't affect our neighbours. The outage lasted 2 or 3 minutes, and none of the MCB's tripped.
3. Our 9kw shower developed faults and stopped working.
4. I loaded up the CU by turning on multiple appliances for 10 or so minutes, which eventually tripped the lights MCB.
5. I checked connections within the CU, all seems good.
6. Today, with very little load on the system, the main RCD tripped. It reset no problem, but it now looks like the electronic ignotion on our gas oven has been affected and has stopped working.....
Is this due to power surges, or supply quality, or do you think I have a major internal fault?
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to these events, and no common denominator.
Help and advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Paul
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PaulMac07 said:
And the last 3 pages were.....?
S
sparkyspike
If, as you say, some of your neighbours were also getting flickering lights, it's worth calling up your distributor and telling them so. Especially since you had a power cut. It's unlikely you'd get a power cut from internal equipment that wasn't obvious.
securespark said:
The last 3 pages were very much appreciated help and advice, but I had added more information in the hope that you could further help and advise, sorry if it's asking too much. I didn't realise there was a 3 page limit.
sparkyspike said:
Thanks mate, I couldn't understand why I could have a power outage, not affecting my neighbours, that didn't involve tripping of the RCD/MCB's.
I'll contact my supplier, thanks to all who contributed.
You might lose power from the supplier but the house either side of you may stay on.
This is unusual, but if for example there is a bad joint on the phase which supplys your house, then it may only effect every third house on your street.
Electricity is often distributed on an underground 3 phase cable, and each house is fed in turn from a different phase.
e.g.
House 1 : L1 phase
House 2 : L2 phase
House 3 : L3 phase
House 4 : L1 phase
House 5 : L2 phase
etc...
This is unusual, but if for example there is a bad joint on the phase which supplys your house, then it may only effect every third house on your street.
Electricity is often distributed on an underground 3 phase cable, and each house is fed in turn from a different phase.
e.g.
House 1 : L1 phase
House 2 : L2 phase
House 3 : L3 phase
House 4 : L1 phase
House 5 : L2 phase
etc...
RF Lighting said:
Cheers for that, I understand the phase setup now. I've noticed that the flickering is at it's worst during peak times in the area (around 4-7pm) then it seems to settle down again. Our 2kw kettle really affects the frequency and intensity of the flicker during these times.
Hopefully the supplier can give me an answer, one way or another.
I had the same problem 5 years ago. I contacted Powergen/EON several times by phone & letter because my lights were flickering. They replied that it was because I live in an agricultural area. (I live on the edge of a town on an estate, and the nearest working farm is about 2 miles away)
So I lived with it. Then one morning I awoke at 2:00am noticed my alarm clock was off and discovered I had no power at all. Lights were on in other houses and so were the street lights. Called up EON who came out and dug the pavement up outside my house and found a bad connection. Power was restored within 2 hours. Neighbours were not too happy that they dug the road up in the middle of the night as none of them were effected. Later I was told that my outside lights (PIR) had been seen flashing on and off shortly before the failure. Don't know why it finally gave up in the middle of the night though when power usage is minimal.
After the repair, all is fine no more flickering lights.
Last September, exactly the same thing happened to my next door neighbour. I was OK this time, other than that I was on holiday and my power was disconnected whilst the repair was made. Eon wouldn't turn it back on without my presence and didn't contact the neighbour who had the phone number for my keyholder and so our two freezers defrosted nicely.
So I lived with it. Then one morning I awoke at 2:00am noticed my alarm clock was off and discovered I had no power at all. Lights were on in other houses and so were the street lights. Called up EON who came out and dug the pavement up outside my house and found a bad connection. Power was restored within 2 hours. Neighbours were not too happy that they dug the road up in the middle of the night as none of them were effected. Later I was told that my outside lights (PIR) had been seen flashing on and off shortly before the failure. Don't know why it finally gave up in the middle of the night though when power usage is minimal.
After the repair, all is fine no more flickering lights.
Last September, exactly the same thing happened to my next door neighbour. I was OK this time, other than that I was on holiday and my power was disconnected whilst the repair was made. Eon wouldn't turn it back on without my presence and didn't contact the neighbour who had the phone number for my keyholder and so our two freezers defrosted nicely.
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