Lighting interference from wash machine

[sparkync]

I have a customer whose florescent lights in his basement and over the sink in the kitchen plus the round "globe" lights in his bathroom, are blinking in conjunction with the "wash cycle" of his wash machine in the basement. It is a steady blink, the same as the agitator goes back and forth. I checked neutrals in the panel, but all was good. Other lights are not affected and it only happens when the wash machine is going. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[StarCat]

Most modern washers are VFD controlled. This is just one more example of various Technology put out there that when combined with other, unstable Solid State " Tech " does not work worth a damn.
I would guess Jraef can tell us the underlying cause of this matter possibly. I have some LED tube replacements in FL fixtures above the work bench. When I turn on my heat gun, they start this weird and useless flickering. has anyone noticed how bad all this technology is performing, and also the time it wastes?/?

Star

 

[ActionDave]

You've got a bad connection somewhere or exceptionally bad power supplying the house.

 

[synchro]

Maybe the washer and lights are on the same MWBC and sharing a neutral? If so that would provide a common wire resistance allowing washer to conduct noise and interference over to the lights.

 

[ptonsparky]

Blaming technology without knowing the age of the washer can lead us down a slippery path.

I am with Dave until we know more. Could be simple VD on an old service.

Was it always that that way or a new development?

 

[gadfly56]

I had the same issue in my last home with incandescent lights. It was circa 1929 with a 60 amp service and fuses. I'm sure that the washing machine was on the same circuit as the lights. I upgraded my service, and for grins and giggles, put the washing machine on a dedicated circuit. No more flicker.

 

[Jnewell]

I had the same issue in an apartment complex and when I took voltage readings it was dropping the voltage over 7 volts. All the connections in the panel were good but when I checked the main breaker it was arcing and starting to eat away at the bussing. The high amperage pull from the cycling of the washing machine would cause the voltage to drop because of the arcing. Had to replace the meter pack, but it fixed the issue

 

[Little Bill]

I had this issue at a house. Turned out to be the POCO neutral had a bad splice/tap.

 

[Hv&Lv]

This is one of those times where an analog meter is extremely helpful.
you could watch the needle move with the agitator and see if it’s a VD issue on the circuit, check at the meter base to see if it’s POCO splice, or somewhere in between.

i would lean to bad connection somewhere, and depending on you loading at your house, the neutral is where I would start.

 

[kwired]

I have two pendant lights in my kitchen area with candelabra base lamps (LED lamps) that flicker in sync with washer agitation and also with many other anomalies on the lines. Worst of this issue is mostly limited to those two pendant lights. Other kitchen lights on the same circuit (different circuit than washer) never flicker in synch with the washer. I think some solid state or solid state driven lamps are more sensitive to changes on the line than others. Cheaper the lamp/driver the more likely this probably is.

 

[synchro]

I have two pendant lights in my kitchen area with candelabra base lamps (LED lamps) that flicker in sync with washer agitation and also with many other anomalies on the lines. Worst of this issue is mostly limited to those two pendant lights. Other kitchen lights on the same circuit (different circuit than washer) never flicker in synch with the washer. I think some solid state or solid state driven lamps are more sensitive to changes on the line than others. Cheaper the lamp/driver the more likely this probably is.

I certainly agree that there are cheaper LED lamps out there that have marginal designs and do not tolerate voltage fluctuations very well. With candelabra base lamps there may be additional constraints on the component count and component size for the LED driver that require compromises in circuit implementation and performance. So your experience with such lamps is not surprising. I have not seen any direct comparison testing of candelabra lamps with others but it would be interesting to know if there's any consistent difference between them.

 

[kwired]

I certainly agree that there are cheaper LED lamps out there that have marginal designs and do not tolerate voltage fluctuations very well. With candelabra base lamps there may be additional constraints on the component count and component size for the LED driver that require compromises in circuit implementation and performance. So your experience with such lamps is not surprising. I have not seen any direct comparison testing of candelabra lamps with others but it would be interesting to know if there's any consistent difference between them.

I don't doubt they make some compromises on the lamps I have, 1, to keep it small, 2 to keep cost down. These little clear flame tip style lamps don't hardly look much different than an incandescent version. Don't know how they pack all they need into that thing and make it work.

 

[hillbilly1]

I had this issue at a house. Turned out to be the POCO neutral had a bad splice/tap.

Have run across that many times, in fact just had a house I wired 20 years ago start doing weird things when the washer was running, found out the poco didn’t tighten their neutral connection in the meter base. (Underground service).