Electrical advice

I have one 15 amp circuit at the house that is giving me an issue. The voltage is fluctuating from 122.2 to 122.9 making the lights dim. It's done this for a few months and I just thought it was the bulbs. I replaced the light fixtures and the same happens. It is only on this circuit....all the other sources in the house are steady as in voltage. Should I try just checking all the connections on the circuit? New breaker maybe??

 

New breaker. Assuming that it worked previously. Breakers go bad. You can try tightening the lugs as a loose connection on the breaker could cause the wires to vibrate resulting in lights dimming/flickering. You can test the theory by moving the breaker to another position on the panel and see if it continues.

 

Heading to lowes in a few mins

 

Is it an AFCI? Arc-fault circuit? (Looks like a GFCI) - those notoriously are sensitive (and completely overkill IMO but now the new standard here)

 

It is actually

 

Are you lights on a dimmer switch and did you just replace your bulbs with LED's? Had that happen at my house, didn't realize I had to buy a special dimmer switch when I switched to LED bulbs.

 

They are led....not on a dimmer

 

Well, AFCI breakers suck and for a 15A lighting circuit totally overkill. I’m not saying you should swap it out for a standard 15A breaker, but you CAN swap it out for a standard 15Aa breaker - AFCI’s are a money grab. This is what I’d do:
Ensure lugs are tight on both bus bars and breaker - if issue is not resolved
Swap breaker into a different spot on the panel
If issue is not resolved
Swap out breaker with new AFCI
if issue is not resolved
Swap out for standard 15A breaker
If issue is not resolved
Check all fixtures to make sure that there are no loose connections

One of these will solve your issue unless you’ve recently hung some artwork

 

Can you just take the afci out and put a 15a standard in? I have a extra one at home...and no new art work...lol

 

22 year Master Electrician here.

That small of a voltage fluctuation won’t have anything to do with lights flickering or dimming. First thing I would do is call the utility company and make sure they don’t have a smart meter or transformer issue. They should check it at no charge. The next thing I would check is HVAC equipment. Especially an electric furnace. When these large appliances turn on they can cause internal surges on your electrical system that you can see with your lights dimming.

 

This happens when the heat and such isn't on...and it's just the bathroom light fixtures. A few other outlets are on the circuit and same with them....I'm just figured the little fluctuation is making the 4 60 watt bulbs flash....it's not like a strobe light....just minimal

 

Sounds like you have an imbalanced load. Like I said. Call the power company first. What state are you in? Can you recreate the issue and record it?

 

Georgia

 

Would it fluctuate on the 240 or whatever comes into the box?

 

There’s a lot of variables that come with dimming lights. It’s hard to say without being there. What year was your house built?

 

Yes. As long as the breaker is for that panel

 

Have you swapped the bulbs? Could be something as simple as that…

 

Well it did it with the old fixtures...and different bulbs....house built in 2003

 

Crazy I know, but much like a Tundra, rodents can get in the attic and chew wires. Was visiting my brother once and his doorbell was ringing by "itself", yep mouse in the attic.

 

This is the only guy to trust here. Period.

A 0.7v change is not going to move the needle on a light bulb, and dollars to donuts you're not able to see it with your eyes. As you turn appliances on/off your lights will change voltage slightly regardless. This is either psychosomatic, or we're not getting the full picture (i.e. your volt meter is crap).

Likely you have a loose neutral (unbalanced load). This can cause all sorts of wacky effects.

 

This is not a breaker or afci issue. Voltage fluctuations are normal. Many leds will work with 100 to 277 volts without issue.

If anything I would suspect a marginal connection.

 

I agree and disagree. That’s why I said ensure the lugs on both busbars are tightened down. However, if this were the case, one would have to assume that there would be flickering on the other lights on that circuit (assuming they’re LED as well). Minor fluctuations in V can affect LED’s. I don’t think he’s imagining it.

 

I would definitely agree that less than a volt fluctuation you will not see in your house. I’m a power lineman for local utility and voltage fluctuates nonstop depending on load and demand in the area. Just small enough that you don’t notice like the above said I would suspect a connection issue or a neutral issue

 

I have not heard or seen of a case where someone's brain can catch a voltage drop that tiny on an LED. Not to say it can't exist, but most LEDs have an operating range between 110-130v, so that rounding error of 0.7v is not going to be seen. That will occur on any circuit at any given moment as appliances kick/off.

I have seen issues with T12s and T8 LEDs causing issues on ballast fed lights, or voltage drop (and minor dimming) on LEDs/incandescents when running big draw saws or A/C compressor kicks on in the summer. I've also seen loose neutrals that cause a ton of fun things to happen. This may be for the circuit, the panel lug, or at the pole. The last two would likely have issues across circuits - and most noticeable on the microwave, but stranger things could happen based on how OPs house is wired.

It's unlikely to be the breaker - that wont cause voltage drop.
It could be loose neutral or hot.
It could be the lights are on the same circuit as some outlets - causing more noticeable effects.
It could be a bad multimeter or some cheapo from Harbor Freight.
User could be looking at the multimeter and putting the decimal in the wrong place (0.7v is really 7v).
It could be that the fixtures are not LED compatable or that the fixture is old and not making good contact with the bulb.

It could be entirely in OPs head, or their spouse is trying to play tricks on them and drive em nuts.

Perhaps it's Occam's razor at play, as what OP is seeing is flickering rather than dimming. Some people are more sensitive to others on this.

 

Agree 100 percent I see it all the time the issue might be the at the transformer affecting 20 houses and only one person calls it in.

 

It has been 40 years since I actually worked as an electrician but I have done a lot of residential work over the years for myself and my friends. I agree that if it is not related to a large appliance starting up then it is likely a loose neutral. It is a pain in the neck, but that means opening each box in the circuit until you find it and ensuring the neutral is connected properly. In my experience, the most likely place for this would be in a receptacle where the wires are pushed in rather than wrapped around a screw.

 

Put a meter on the main A&B lugs to see if the fluctuations are from the street. Test to neutral, then to ground to see if they are equal. If only that one particular load fluctuates, then it's one of fixtures or in the switch box. The fluctuations can occur between the street's ground (neutral) or the house ground (green). If there's a shoddy connection for one of those (neutral or ground) in that circuit, you will get the fluctuations which is the potential difference between the two ( .7volts). They are suppose to be the same but they can create this type of Ghost if the wiring/fixture is comprised.

 

That would be a worse case scenario but it is possible.

 

I found the problem ....kinda crazy...my wife always sleeps with a heating pad....I got home from work and started troubleshooting...and it was doing fine. So I started turning things on in the room and it was the heating pad. I checked phone chargers and all. So problem solved.....

 

Good deal glad you got it taken care of