Home electrical help please
 

I've just finished a very expensive and painful renovation of Casa Flatbutt and the contractor did not acquit themselves well.

I had new 150 amp electric service installed with all new wiring in the reno and some of the existing structure. Well every time the refrig kicks on or one of the window ACs comes on the lights dim. NO WAY I'm drawing 150 amps but yet the lights dim. Is this to be expected? Am I nutz? If not what should I have the guy look for? Yes he;s been paid in full.

Maybe your feed from the utility is undersized? What size are the cables coming into your house?

Also, some of this may have to do with which lights and outlets are on which circuits. But with a 150 amp service, that should not the case.

Make sure Fridge & A/Cs's should be on separate, dedicated circuits. Are they 20 amp circuits? Is this a subpanel or are all circuits tied into the main panel?

Get a clip on, (over the wire) amp meter, you may have to balance each 110 coming into the box, meaning you may have a lot of big stuff on one side and not much on the other, you want each line coming in to be close on amp draw.

Did you already get the electrical finaled?

Loose neutral/connection somewhere in the circuit or main panel...?

Danny-O I'll have them check for loose grounds ...but on a new panel?

PoP, yes final approval BUT only after three failures for final electrical. I guess I do have a case based on that. Think the town would help me chase these guys?

cgarr, I have no skill for this, thats why I hired a "Pro".:(


dad911, all circuits tied to he main. I still need to map the box because the electrician didn't. Hell I can't even find the breaker for my furnace so I can test that! He may not have wired it into the new panel.

red-beard, dude I have no idea, they are the same size as original and same as everyone else.

Sheesh and contractors wonder why they get a bad rap.
Never should have made the final payment but I saw no way to legitimately with hold as they had passed final inspection. Think I should contact the town?

Do all your lights dim when the AC starts up or only some of them? How old is you AC unit?

Hmm can't say. But you might be on to something there WRT specific circuits being too laden with load. Good thought!

AC is relatively new, energy efficient unit. Lights dim withthe frig too.

I had this exact situation a few years ago. After an addition and upgrade of electrical the lights would dim if any larger appliance came on. After several trips the power company replaced the feed because the crimp on the neautral was loose. This fixed it.

Thanks! I'll call the power company to check the feed.

Loose neutral.

If the electrician who was installing the panel was in a hurry (typically to get to the bar before happy-hour ends), there's a chance he didn't tighten the mains. You should also check the neutrals on the bus bar and be certain there is only one neutral per screw. Also check for wire-nutted connections inside the panel (big no-no).

I recently worked on a home (new construction) where the homeowner kept hearing a loud hum through his TV and A/V equipment. Turned out the main panel (the entire home for that matter) was not grounded.

You'd think an Inspector (especially one that failed 'em twice before) would catch that, but then again...

I had something similar happen with a remodel a few years ago. The electrician put the refrigerator on the upstairs lighting circuit. Every time the fridge or A/C kicked in all the lights upstairs dimmed. Once the fridge was on it's own circuit the problem went away.

Turn of breakers until you figure out which one the fridge is on, and then go through the house testing outlets and lights to see what else is on the same circuit.

Why would he? This kind of stuff could only be seen in the rough if the ref. is wired into the lights.

Flatbutt,

There's a loose neutral somewhere. I don't think he would wire the ref. circuit onto the lighting cir. But then, these guys???

His work should be good for one year after final punch list and final payment. Final punch list should not have anything to do with final inspection. Call him back. We would accept final payment until the final punch list is finish between owner and contractor.

Jeff

Yes, typical contract language includes a one-year warranty of work, although I don't know the details of your arrangement and it sounds like (given the difficulty you had getting a guy out there in the first place) it might be tough to enforce it.

Best of luck getting it worked out... Sounds like this has been a pain from day #1.

Did he tie the lights in with the receptacle circuit - or vice versa?