A few weeks ago I asked for advise regarding lights dimming or brightening when the garbage disposal was activated. The thread was shut down. Perhaps the moderator thought I was a DIYer trying to fix his problem.
Anyway, I'm a GC in the SF Bay Area and I recently completed an addition and remodel. We upgraded the service. We have had this problem with the lights since the owner moved in. My electrician could not solve the problem.
I called PG&E and they put some kind of meter on the panel and found different voltages on the two incoming hot wires (a 6 volt difference). The PG&E rep said it was probably some loose wiring on their part, and that he would fix the problem. The problem still remained. I called PG&E again and met the rep at the site.
He told me that there were 3 buildings (1 single unit and 2 duplexes) serviced by a 10 kva transformer and that this should be enough to power these buildings. However, when he measured the voltage at each connection he told me that there was 120 volts at the transformer, but there was a voltage drop at each connection to the house. With a 14 volt drop at our connection.
I asked him if this could cause the lights to flicker, but he was evasive and said he have to take more readings and send the information to their engineer. Its been more than a week and PG&E still has not responded.
My question: can this voltage drop cause the lights to flicker? I'm not trying to fix the problem myself, but would like to become educated so I can get the parties who can fix this problem ( my electrician or PG&E) to fix this problem.
Thanks
Anyway, I'm a GC in the SF Bay Area and I recently completed an addition and remodel. We upgraded the service. We have had this problem with the lights since the owner moved in. My electrician could not solve the problem.
I called PG&E and they put some kind of meter on the panel and found different voltages on the two incoming hot wires (a 6 volt difference). The PG&E rep said it was probably some loose wiring on their part, and that he would fix the problem. The problem still remained. I called PG&E again and met the rep at the site.
He told me that there were 3 buildings (1 single unit and 2 duplexes) serviced by a 10 kva transformer and that this should be enough to power these buildings. However, when he measured the voltage at each connection he told me that there was 120 volts at the transformer, but there was a voltage drop at each connection to the house. With a 14 volt drop at our connection.
I asked him if this could cause the lights to flicker, but he was evasive and said he have to take more readings and send the information to their engineer. Its been more than a week and PG&E still has not responded.
My question: can this voltage drop cause the lights to flicker? I'm not trying to fix the problem myself, but would like to become educated so I can get the parties who can fix this problem ( my electrician or PG&E) to fix this problem.
Thanks