constant flickering lights and lamps

[koodgipo]

Hi there, hope you can help. Ive read all the posts containing the word 'flickering' but none were relevant, so.....

for the last week or so, all the lights and lamps in the house have been flickering intermittently. One morning earlier in the week also, I had just turned the gas central heating on, (back boiler) and I could hear the iginition for the pilot light going on & off really quickly, so I turned evrything off before my daughter and I were blown up. There were very strong winds in the area at the time, so I put it down to that, but now the winds have gone, and I'm still all a flickering. I stay in an upper level maisonette, and everyting is on the one floor. im now worrying that there's something wrong with the wiring. Its a council property at the moment - pending my purchase under the right to buy scheme, so I'm not sure if this is something I'd need to get checked out of my own pocket, as my offer letter stated the council would only keep the property wind and water tight, and would not be responsible for any other repairs while the purchase is in process. As a single parent I dont exactly have much spare cash floating about to pay an electrician. Any advice????

thanks

 

[andy]

Hi there, hope you can help. Ive read all the posts containing the word 'flickering' but none were relevant, so.....

for the last week or so, all the lights and lamps in the house have been flickering intermittently. One morning earlier in the week also, I had just turned the gas central heating on, (back boiler) and I could hear the iginition for the pilot light going on & off really quickly, so I turned evrything off before my daughter and I were blown up. There were very strong winds in the area at the time, so I put it down to that, but now the winds have gone, and I'm still all a flickering. I stay in an upper level maisonette, and everyting is on the one floor. im now worrying that there's something wrong with the wiring. Its a council property at the moment - pending my purchase under the right to buy scheme, so I'm not sure if this is something I'd need to get checked out of my own pocket, as my offer letter stated the council would only keep the property wind and water tight, and would not be responsible for any other repairs while the purchase is in process. As a single parent I dont exactly have much spare cash floating about to pay an electrician. Any advice????

thanks

what exactly is flickering?
are the fluorescent energy saving lamps? when do they flicker? what what is changed (something plugged in/switched on?) when they start to flicker?

as for backboiler ignition, itll spark until it lights. sometimes takes a few seconds. added to the wind, it could have made it harder to light. maybe someone who knows more about the backboilers will know better

 

[koodgipo]

i couldnt put it down to any one appliance, it just seems to happen whether or not anything else in the house is on. They were all filckering around half an hour ago, but have stopped now, yet nothing has been turned off since then. The lights are just bog standard bulbs. notihng fancy. i have energy saving ones in the the hall and bathroom, they flicker too, but not as noticeably. Could it be the supply? Or could we go up in flames? The council have been resurfacing a lot of the roads up here the last few weeks, but dont think theyve been digging.

 

[andy]

when flickering, is this when they are on and do they go off/on quickly? it could be something with the power coming into the house. does anything else show any signs of this? does it happen at a certain time? try speaking to a few neighbours and ask if their lights do the same. dont ask just 1 - ask a few (due to the fact they could be on different phase to you and not have the problem).

 

[koodgipo]

cheers andy, shall do so in tha morning. going to bed now with a book and candle lol. only left the fridge on. hehe, paranoid now.

 

[andy]

cheers andy, shall do so in tha morning. going to bed now with a book and candle lol. only left the fridge on. hehe, paranoid now.

i wouldnt be too worried about it.

if you neighbours houses are doing the same thing then its 99% chance of being a fault with the supply to the house. in which case you should contact your DNO

 

[Adam_151]

Have a look near the fuse box and meter, is there any kind of smell here when you have a few fairly high loads running, do the tails get warm, same for the main switch, carefully try and shake the tails to see if this causes any flickering

 

[plugwash]

be extremely carefull if touching the tails looking for bad contacts. you really don't wan't one of them to come out and the live end touch you.

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oh and figure out how to pull the service fuse before you start. If you do end up with a live tail exposed you wan' to stop it being live PDQ
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moderator

please note 10a which is here

 

[kendor]

Sorry to disagree here but i believe that it is bad advice to suggest that the tails to the meter be "wiggled" to see if there is a loose connection, this should be left to a qualified electrician to sort out , supposing there was an arc and the person involved in the "wiggling" was unaware how dramatic a splash can be and had their face too close at the time or being startled by the flash and crack of an arc possibly causing them injury.

 

[Lectrician]

This is very common of a live or neutral 'rotting' up the pole. Especially if it is an aluminium service drop. If you overhead fed, it could be just you flickering, not your neighbours.

Sounds as the problem is circuit wide, so from CU backwards.

I have also seen a CU change done, with the spark not tightening up the MCB's correctly on some circuits.

 

[saxton]

i'd get it checked out, this happened to a relative of mine two years ago (christmas eve), the lights had been flickering occasionally for years, but, never thought anything of it, got up one morning, switched the heating on, loud arching from the CU and then a big bang, really, no electric for a week.

Also, another relative of mine, bought a three year old house, they'd been there about 12 months, no problems, went on a 4 week long holiday, came home, switched the cooker on, and the CU burst into flames! (i forget the make of it now, it'll come back to me no doubt, think it began with a D though), and basically, i saw the remains and it were nothing but molten plastic!

They have a switch by their meter though, before the supply enters the house, is this a new thing? all we've got is the 100a service fuse, and the meter, in a cupboard outside the house.

 

[securespark]

I tend to agree that it might be a bad connection somewhere affecting the whole install. Might be worth asking the DNO to check their side of things?

 

[baldelectrician]

CALL THE COUNCIL TO GET IT FIXED

My sister had a similar problem when going through the purchase of her council house

1. heating went on blink
2. guy fixed it
3. immediately disconnected it- stating she needed another vent
4. council refused to fix as purchase was in progress.

I called council muppet in chief of maintenance (Kermit, I think)

Asked the following questions

1. Do council own the house at present? REPLY YES
2. Is there a safety issue? REPLY YES
3. I asked him to confirm in writing that he was going to charge a council tenant for work to be done in their house (which they are legally obliged to do), with the full knowledge that young children are in a house without heating. REPLY- THAT DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT, WE'LL GET IT DONE TOMORROW!!!

The council are liable for all safety and related maintenance until the house is sold.

Call them and insist they fix it, or you will get it fixed and bill them directly as they are obliged.

Threaten to go to papers etc, ask for names and direct dial numbers before any discussion- this gets them awake.

 

[koodgipo]

cheers for that. I shall call the council and kick some ass tomorrow! my neighbours lights havent been flickering, so definately need it checked out.

thanks again to everyone who has replied. I'll make sure I let you know what the outcome is.