My house has intermitant power brow

[cxormst]

My house has intermitant power brown outs. Such as digital clocks reset, stereo or TV turns off.
Checked all outlets with testor.-OK
tightened all connections on breaker panel. -OK
Had enmax check supply to the house. - OK

I have narrowed it down to the furnace.(if it is off or not running - OK )

could it be the motor performing poorly or could it be a short to ground from the thermostat?

 

[rempman]

Any of the possible sources you mention may be a problem. Any "shorts" that would cause a draw on voltage to a point of effecting other devices will likely be at a higher temperature than it should be at the point of the "short".

If you can not find a source inside your home consider the following. Have you added any significant load such as a heat pump? If so your service line and utility transformer may not be sized properly. You may have to contribute $ for any improvements.

Ask your neightbors if they are experiancing similar events. Take a look outside and see if anything has changed in your neightborhood. Customers that are connected in common to a transformer can effect thier neighbors. Common sources of problems on older secondary systems are welders and heat pumps. If your utility has performed some maintenance lately they may have changed something.

The utility can install power quality equipment that will assist in tracking down what is happening after you have ruled out most of the possible sources. Be patient with them though, this equipment is generally in use all of the time.

 

[CHDean]

Does the weather affect it? (windy conditions, T-storms)
It sounds like a loose connection or possible intermitant loss of neutral, all of which are most likely utility related.

 

[busbar]

Confirmation of the problem cause would be a clear low-voltage condition {like lamp dimming} occurring with starting of the furnace. Does that happen? Having the problem investigated by a licensed electrical contractor before repair attempts seems like it would be time and funds well invested.

 

[cxormst]

I have asked the neighbors and they are ok.
I had the utility put a besat meter on our service and check all connections. It was Ok so not a supply problem.

I was of the conclusion at one time that it only happened when it was damp or rainy out, but that was also when it was cooler and the furnace was cutting in.

For tha last three days I have had the furnace turned off and been trying different loads with not dimming of lights or brown outs.

I will turn the furnace on again tonight and see if the problem re surfaces.

I wonder if the motor for the humidifer is turned off when the funace is turned off as well?

Thanks for your replies. I will probably do as suggested and hire a professional to look at it. Is there a way of certifing that the electrician will be qualified for problem or trouble shooting processes?

 

[DanDel]

cxormst, what type of service panel do you have? (fuses or circuit breakers, what manufacturer?) If there was a short soemwhere that would cause a voltage drop low enough to cause these problems, something should trip open.
Do the lights dim during these events, and for how long?
What is a 'besat meter' and if it was monitoring your service, what, if anything, did it show during one of these events? Where exactly was it connected?
I wouldn't expect that your average electrician could troubleshoot this problem.
It sounds like you may need a monitoring instrument that will record instantaneous events to find this problem, and an experienced technician or engineer. If you know that the furnace start is causing the problem, you should be able to determine, first, if there is a high current flow(short circuit) or simply an intermittent connection which opens and then burns itself closed during the current draw of a furnace start. Then use the instrument to isolate the source of the problem.

 

[rbulsara]

I agree with Dabdel that an electrician may not be able to resove this problem, as there are so many variables. The problem has to show up when he is there.

It seems that your have narropwed down the problem to the furnace. I would encourage you to work in that direction. Sounds like you have high inrush current to the blower motor. Does your furnace cycle on and off? Is it working ok?

What happens if you force the furnace on and off?

Also since how long has this problem been occuring?

When every thing is running what is the total current at your main panel? (measure each phase?). What is your serice size? I am not sure all of these question are relavant may sometimes provide a clue which otherwise is not obvious.

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: All what is needed is an accurate voltmeter or oscilloscope and turning on-off loads one by one. It just may be some damaged capacitor or starting switch in single phase motors. It should not take that long to find out that culprit.

 

[cxormst]

Besat is a typo (supposed to be Beast)It just measures the votage coming into the house and puts a load on it to see what happens.

I was talking with a buddy(building maintenance guy) He is going to bring over a multimeter of some sort. So we will test out the draw on the motor and see if we have nay stray volts running around.

I think that circuit monitoring device would be the ticket to catch the intermitant error in action.( help isolate it)

I turned on the furnace wtached it kick in and out without dimming the lights. But later this evening they started acting up again (not as bad just dimming the lights) I rushed down stairs and the furnace wasn't running. Go figure.

thanks again for the feed back. Will see what we see tomorrow with the voltmeter.

 

[60hzhmmm]

cxormst, I bet u have a loose connection somewhere. Think back to your dimming, reseting devices, which ones, do u remeber doing it? Once you have at least a couple figured out find the circuit breaker or fuse that controls them. Turn breakers off until one bags all the known dimming/resetting devices. If you can narrow it to a specific circuit you will be able to fix it. The most likely problem is a wire going to a wall outlet is loose. In this case find every single outlet on that circuit. Wack each one gently with your hand. Lights dim or blink? If not the actual circuit breaker could be failing. I've seen several do this. They either have internal probs or the connection between the breaker and the panel. The last problem can be a bad wire nut connection under the house or in your attic where all these outlets and ceiling lights get their power. U may have to crawl around with a screw driver wacking junction boxes.

None of this is very sophisticated but may be what it takes..

Good luck!

 

[DanDel]

cxormst, how long does this dimming last? Is it a second or two or just a quick on-off?

 

[RAMConsult]

I investigated a similar problem and found a loose corroded connection at the grounding clamp on the water main, replacing the clamp solved the problem. Also check the tightness of the bonding screw (if required by local authorities) on the grounding bar in the main breaker panel.

 

[cxormst]

Thanks for the tips we have a multi meter that we will use this weekend to test all breakers etc (see if when a load is introduced what happens, any voltage to ground etc.)
I have to ground connections to my plumbing - one from the panel that checked out cleaned up and reset. the other between our gas line and plumbing that i replaced.
The longest brownout that I have noticed lasted a second or more (just enough to reset the clocks)

 

[DanDel]

This sounds like a loose connection which breaks intermittently, causing your problem. I had a similar situation at my home several years ago, and it turned out to be a burnt connection at the utility service drop to the pole line.

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: Also, clamp-on ammeter may help.

 

[RAMConsult]

Get the grounding connection off of the gas line ASAP! Specifically prohibited by most codes due to explosion hazard.