Advice ref blinking lights all circuits

[Lukeowl]

Hi there,


I should start by saying I am not an electrician, but am after some advice as we have a problem that we aren’t getting any answers on.

In January, we had a new fuse board installed to replace an old edition one. This is a recent Wylex model with circuit breakers. The electricians who installed it also added some outdoor lights, a couple of sockets in the kitchen and updated a few sockets around the house for us.

Approx 10 days after the work completed we began to notice intermittent blinking on lights across both upstairs and downstairs lights and on lamps plugged into sockets. There is no rhyme nor reason to the blink – it doesn’t matter if any appliances are running or none, so we’ve ruled out a surge due to boiler, fridge, etc.

We spoke with the electrician who did the work, they inspected the connections at the board and said everything looked fine and they suggested it was likely to be a supply issue. Powergrid came out, inspected and setup voltage recording device and left that running for about 8 days. They say that there is no fluctuations from their side that would cause “flicker” so have said it’s not an issue from their end.

I’ve spoken with the electricians who did the install again, but they seem void of any idea on what to look for or what could be causing this problem.

Does anyone on this forum have experience of similar issues being related to anything non-supply related – so from the board onward internally? Is it possible a fault could be present on the board itself?

From searching google, there’s lots of suggestions that flicker on all circuits including sockets is likely to be a supply issue, but this isn’t really what I’d call a flicker. It’s a very short blink. More noticeable on filament bulbs than the LED types. Not ever so frequent enough to cause headaches or anything, but frustrating, annoying and worrying as I have 2 young kids and I am really paranoid about electrical safety (which is kind of the reason we had the old fuseboard replaced in the first place!).

Thanks in advance for any advice or ideas offered.

 

[Squid]

when all else fails, call in:

May The Power of Laugh Be With You,

Where did you dig that one up from?

 

[Wilko]

Apologies if you've already given this detail - how often is the dimming, how deep and duration?
I love a fault - much more interesting than TV

 

[Lukeowl]

Apologies if you've already given this detail - how often is the dimming, how deep and duration?
I love a fault - much more interesting than TV

Hi there.

It’s hard to answer with specifics. I’ve noticed it pretty much daily - at different times of day and no real set interval between.

The dimming itself is almost like a blink. It’s not what I’d call a flicker - it’s more a flash. Imagine looking at a light and blinking while doing so - it’s very quick.

I can’t really think how else to describe it.

Sometimes I’ve noticed it two or three times in a 10/20 minute period, other times I’ve not noticed it at all in the same time span.

It’s frequent and obvious enough to be a concern to me though.

 

[Kjr79]

Main tail are in reverse live and neutral, probably mixed at the meter when they changed the tails

 

[littlespark]

These questions have maybe been answered before.
Do the lights flicker in unison across all the circuits? Have you tried a table lamp in an alternative socket ie, cooker unit? Still flickers?
If it does, it must be something common to all circuits, such as the supply. If this only started happening after the CU change, then very possibly a loose connection on something that has recently been worked on.
Have ALL connections been retightened? even the factory fitted? (Neutral link between mainswitch and neutral bar?)
It is very easy to misalign the busbar when fitting MCB's. It can sometimes slip up behind the clamp of the breaker, and tightening up the connector screw makes no difference.
Working on the CU tails may have loosened them at the meter just by moving them around. Not something your electrician can check if the seals are still in place.
How does the supply cable come into the house? Overhead wires can give problems, but of course that's up to the Network to check.

We would all be interested to find what the problem is once its been identified.

 

[shaun1]

Main tail are in reverse live and neutral, probably mixed at the meter when they changed the tails

Why would this cause a flicker?

 

[Kjr79]

Reverse polarity!! Energy savers

 

[littlespark]

Reverse polarity!! Energy savers

Politely disagree.
I don't think it would be reverse polarity. The OP said it was ceiling lights as well as table lamps. Likely to be bayonet cap fittings - doesn't matter which way round they're put in... and also said it happens with filament lamps... not 'energy savers' in the sense that if they are CFL or LED.
And between the electrician, his return visit and the ones that came to check the supply, someone would have visually noticed the cables being reversed between the meter and the CU.

 

[Kjr79]

L NN L

Let’s hope your right pretty scary that these electricians haven’t been able to resolve it ‍

 

[Lukeowl]

Politely disagree.
I don't think it would be reverse polarity. The OP said it was ceiling lights as well as table lamps. Likely to be bayonet cap fittings - doesn't matter which way round they're put in... and also said it happens with filament lamps... not 'energy savers' in the sense that if they are CFL or LED.
And between the electrician, his return visit and the ones that came to check the supply, someone would have visually noticed the cables being reversed between the meter and the CU.

I should say that it has been noticeable on LED GU10 bulbs, and also on the old energy saver types (not LED - the ones that looked like small tubes in a loop). It was just more noticeable on the filament type bayonet bulbs. I’ve replaced all them filament types with LED bayonets now and it’s no longer noticeable on those lights, but is still happening on the GU10 bulbs in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

 

[Toneyz]

The OP had the DNO out to data log so that would and should have picked up something supply side.

Would a data logger pick up a blink/flicker like this? My instinct tells me a slightly loose connection.

 

[Kjr79]

It’s a flash as opposed to a flicker, and all the connections have been tightened including the manufacture fitted?

 

[Rpa07]

Would a data logger pick up a blink/flicker like this? My instinct tells me a slightly loose connection.

I don’t know but I’d like to think so as a diagnostic tool. Maybe a member has experienced the positive that a data logger produces.
Until we can all get there and wiggle and tighten we’ll have to hang fire until we get an update!

 

[Kjr79]

could you take the cover off the board and take a pic of everything including the meter?

 

[telectrix]

May The Power of Laugh Be With You,

Where did you dig that one up from?

tinternet. it's a marvellous tool.