House electrical conundrum

[patssle]

Got a problem, can't figure out. 1970's house with two 120v phases into the box. One phase of the electricity in the house isn't right. The battery backups on the computer are clicking on and off with the software reporting "electrical noise". The lights flicker. There are 3 different circuits on this phase - all do it. On the other phase, all is fine on those outlets and lights. This happened before a while ago, stopped, but now has come back and won't go away. The electric company came out and looked at the meter (they recently installed a smart meter, but this problem pre-dates that) and checked the connections. Still happening.

Any thoughts? And yes, there are smoke detectors in the house - just in case.

[Rusty Heap]

possibly a bad or poor line neutral.

You have a digital volt meter like a Fluke?

Do a voltage check between your Line Neutral coming from the power pole, and your earth ground bus bar.

You say your LIGHTS FLICKER, on this one phase of your box. That may be the key. It's either the hot, or neutral feeding that half the circuits. I'd compare the steady state voltage between the 2 line voltages coming in, as well as the reference to ground. Something is up with that one phase.

If the PUD has checked it, I'm sure they've blessed their side of the power meter and that's their responsibility, the house side of the power meter is yours. If you're not comfortable, a quick house call of an electrician is obviously way over due if your lights are flickering.

remember all voltage is referenced to something, whether 12VDC in a car, or in your house. you may have a fine voltage feeding all circuits, but if your return line neutral is marginal, that's key.

[Hugh R]

I'll bet you have one of your 120V two phase busses in the box that are burned. Half the house works fine, the other half doesn't. You can pull the main breaker and pull the sub breakers and inspect them and clean with a wire brush (better yet, have the power company pull the meter if you don't know what you are doing) , check the breaker contacts too as that is where they may have burned. An unethical electrician will tell you that you need a new panel, an honest one will replace the burned buss for about $100. You may just need to clean them up.

[lane912]

the PUD is responsible for everything up to the meter, after that it is yours-

yes it sounds like a bad or dirty panel bus.
do you have a Fancy infrared thermometer? one phase will be warmer from excess resistance...

check the grounded conductor bus (neutral bus) loose connections here can do the same thing.

be careful!!!
get a tic tracer and make sure the current is off before you go sticking your tool in a panel

[red-beard]

You need to get one of the "good" technicians out to look at the connection to the transformer. My parents house had this problem. The "good" technician diagnosed the problem, detailed what needed to be fixed, etc. The crappy ones came out and said they couldn't find a problem. My father took the written report to them, and they then "figured out" what was wrong and fixed it.

It was a poorly tightened "hot" on one of his phases. The wire was burned. The wire had to be clipped and then put into a spare connector and tightened properly. It sounds like you have the same problem.

[LWJ]

I am not an electrician but this sounds similar to a different experience I had. I had a swinging / pulsing current situation and my Digital Multimeter didn't really pick it up. My old analog meter did. You might try to test with an analog meter first to see if you can find the issue. The power company guys may not have used an obsolete enough tool?

Good luck. That stuff can kill you.

Larry

[cutuoff]

I've come across this problem twice in the last year. Both times it was water that worked it's way into the wire from the meter to the panel. So if it were me, I'd pull the meter from the base to isolate the panel. This is legal in PA without contacting the electrical supplier, but I'm unsure with your state. I would call to confirm with your supplier. Then with the service wire being dead, you can use your meter to ohm out the wire. While your in there, I would also check for signs of water. Just remember the top of the meter stabs are live at all times unless it's disconnected at the service head. If you need more details, just PM me and I'll help you out the best I can. Also In PA, you are responsible for the condition of your electric feed from the supplier's wire connections at the service head. You even own the meter base. They supply the meter, and make the main connections to your house, and that's it. Everything else falls on the homeowner.

Good luck, and be careful

[patssle]

Thanks guys, appreciate the info! Will check these things out tomorrow.