Lighting issues

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tsherrod

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United States
I have a house that is having what they are saying are strange electrical issues. In their closest, one of our guys installed five track light fixtures with a total of 24 bulbs. Within a month 22 of the 24 have burned out. They are Halogen GU10 50w. I have confirmed the right bulbs were installed. They also have a couple LED recessed lights in the living room that flicker. Both the master closet lights and living room lights are on the same breaker, although separated by the tandem switches. Beyond that, they have said their garage door opener is funky, their hall lights, which are LED cans on LED dimmer, quit working at times. Their sump pump recently failed as they started having these other issues. I have tested voltage at main disconnect, subpanel and fixtures. I get 125.5 everywhere. Could it be voltage surges? Or coincidences?
 

GoldDigger

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Placerville, CA, USA
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It sounds a lot like there are one or more intermittent connections in the wiring system somewhere. The bulbs burning out are consistent either with normal life span or a compromised neutral.
125 volts is above the nominal working voltage of the halogen lamps and could result in up to a 50% reduction in bulb life. You might want to consider a buck transformer on that lighting circuit.
You may not be able to find a source of nominal 130V halogen bulbs in that style, but if you can, it would be another alternative.
 

Dennis Alwon

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Sounds like a bad neutral that is intermittent. When a neutral goes bad it can put a large increase in voltage on one leg and a decrease on the other. The symptoms seem to fit this scenario.

BTW, tracks in a closet is a NO-NO..410.16 has the types of fixtures that are allowed

410.16 Luminaires in Clothes Closets.
(A) Luminaire Types Permitted. Only luminaires of the
following types shall be permitted in a closet:
(1) Surface-mounted or recessed incandescent or LED luminaires
with completely enclosed light sources
(2) Surface-mounted or recessed fluorescent luminaires
(3) Surface-mounted fluorescent or LED luminaires identified
as suitable for installation within the closet storage
space
(B) Luminaire Types Not Permitted. Incandescent luminaires
with open or partially enclosed lamps and pendant
luminaires or lampholders shall not be permitted.
 

tsherrod

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Location
United States
It sounds a lot like there are one or more intermittent connections in the wiring system somewhere. The bulbs burning out are consistent either with normal life span or a compromised neutral.
125 volts is above the nominal working voltage of the halogen lamps and could result in up to a 50% reduction in bulb life. You might want to consider a buck transformer on that lighting circuit.
You may not be able to find a source of nominal 130V halogen bulbs in that style, but if you can, it would be another alternative.

Gotcha. Would I still see a consistent voltage read at every location if the neutral connections were not secure? The owner prefers LED bulbs; they handle over voltage better?
 

tsherrod

Member
Location
United States
Sounds like a bad neutral that is intermittent. When a neutral goes bad it can put a large increase in voltage on one leg and a decrease on the other. The symptoms seem to fit this scenario.

BTW, tracks in a closet is a NO-NO..410.16 has the types of fixtures that are allowed

Good point on track lights. I went straight to trouble shooting and didn't think about the location violation.

Would I be able to pinpoint where the bad neutral issue without using equipment to track it? I tested the voltage at all points to see if it was at least consistent but I do not have equipment to monitor it.
 

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Gotcha. Would I still see a consistent voltage read at every location if the neutral connections were not secure? The owner prefers LED bulbs; they handle over voltage better?

If the neutral is loose you will see a fluctuation in voltage. One leg, as I mentioned earlier may be high and the other low. I have seen 160V on one leg and 80V on the other. Whatever the case it will generally add up to the voltage of the system. Thus 160 + 80 = 240V but it can vary anywhere on that line-- 130 and 110....etc
 

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
IMO, if the problem is all over it may very well be a power company issue or it could be in the panels. My experience is that 95% of the time it is a power company issue
 
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