Talked to a guy who bought an older home last year, he says that after a good rain that when they run the microwave or any other larger appliance that the lights will dim way down. But it only seems to do it after a good amount of rain. Could this be a ground rod issue having to do with the moisture in the ground?
signs of voltage drop after a good rain
- Thread starter mmas0n
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Cavie
Senior Member
- Location
- SW Florida
Sounds like a POCO issue. Loose connection?. Is it an underground service??
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
If it is overhead I am not sure how ground water would affect this. I am guessing that with rain there is wind and the connection gets moved and arcs for a bit causing these problems. Get the power company there first but I would also check any outdoor panels etc.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
If the lights are just getting dimmer you have some time. If some get dim as others go bright, hurry along because that is a bad neutral connection.
Pierre C Belarge
Senior Member
- Location
- Westchester County, New York
From my experience, I would agree with the guys above that this may be a connection issue either by the utility or possibly at the weatherhead/meter - possibly even at the panel.
If it is only happening after rain (it does get windy without it raining), I would also check to see that the service disconnect/panel or meterpan is not getting wet and may be degraded due to corrosion.
If it is only happening after rain (it does get windy without it raining), I would also check to see that the service disconnect/panel or meterpan is not getting wet and may be degraded due to corrosion.
wirenut1980
Senior Member
- Location
- Plainfield, IN
If the service is overhead, water could be getting in the weatherhead. Wouldn't hurt to check for water in the utility meter box, and main panel.
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
If you call our poco and tell them you have 'fluxuating voltage', they (linesmen) are there in no time. For some reason it's one of those things that gets their attention. I you call and tell them you have no power at all, chances are a linesman will never show up until you have made at least two calls.
hurk27
Senior Member
- Location
- Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
The only way a grounding electrode system could ever cause symptoms such as this would be because some how it is being energized by the ungrounded conductor, and there is no fault path back to the transformer but through Earth, then the addition of rain in the earth could cause a lower impedance causing a high load on the service to the point the voltage drops off, but for this to occur there would have to be a few other problems including the lost of the path back to the source of the grounding system.
Other wise I have to agree with the others, have the POCO check for bad connections, also do a voltage check between the grounding and Earth, if there is voltage then you have other problems.
Be very carfull on these kind of calls you never know what you might find.
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