Pulsing lights

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jap

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Electrician
This would be a question for someone who knows more about the power company side of things than I do.

I have a consistent pulse that is noticeable in my incandescent fixtures!in my house.

The pulse in the lighting occurs every second for about 10 or 12 seconds, then a short pause then the cycle starts all over again. I've ruled out any loose neutral or connections on my side.

The pulse does not change with the load on the house. I've shut the whole house down and put an incandescent test lamp on the main and have the pulse. The voltage is 123 by the meter but consistently fluctuates 1/10th of a volt every second in a consistent pattern over and over.

The power company came out and said we see the pulse in your house but it must be on your side since we have a 5% +or- range and we are within that.

Instead of arguing with the field guy any more than I had too, I just simply strongly disagreed.

Any ideas?

JAP>
 
Ask for the engineer for the POCO to come out. If they have the "beast" (load they add to the lines) have them hook it up and check the voltage.
 
jap said:
The pulse does not change with the load on the house. I've shut the whole house down and put an incandescent test lamp on the main and have the pulse. The voltage is 123 by the meter but consistently fluctuates 1/10th of a volt every second in a consistent pattern over and over.

The power company came out and said we see the pulse in your house but it must be on your side since we have a 5% +or- range and we are within that.
Click to expand...

With everything off at your house except for an incandescent lamp, the problem clearly doesn't come from your house.

But you might need to delve into the POCO power quality requirements to see if you have any leverage. 123V - 0.1V every second certainly is within +-5% of 120V, so that doesn't help you. If the only requirement is to deliver power in a certain voltage range, then the POCO might meet spec. But they might have some other requirement that would help you.

-Jon
 
Commercial/industrial customer in your area has a load that is causing this?

Has to be significant enough load to cause voltage drop on primary, or there is a poor connection on a primary distribution component and that load is enough to effect it.
 
Something don't add up

Something don't add up

jap said:
The pulse in the lighting occurs every second for about 10 or 12 seconds, then a short pause then the cycle starts all over again. I've ruled out any loose neutral or connections on my side.

The pulse does not change with the load on the house. I've shut the whole house down and put an incandescent test lamp on the main and have the pulse. The voltage is 123 by the meter but consistently fluctuates 1/10th of a volt every second in a consistent pattern over and over. >
Click to expand...

You say every second for about 10-12, then a pause, then repeat. Are you saying bright for 1 second, dim for 10-12, bright for 1 dim for 10-12? By read a constant voltage during the dim section I would think you might be seeing a rise every 1 not a drop for 10-12.

You say the meter don't change more than .1 volt +/-, if that was the case how can you see it with your eye?

Faster meter or recording device is needed.
Cowboy
 
Like a blinker on a car, not a huge difference, just a very subtle rise and lower of the brilliance of the incandescent bulbs.

It is consistent, 12 pulses up and down then a 2 second pause then 12 pulses up and down then a pause over and over.

JAP>
 
winnie said:
With everything off at your house except for an incandescent lamp, the problem clearly doesn't come from your house.

But you might need to delve into the POCO power quality requirements to see if you have any leverage. 123V - 0.1V every second certainly is within +-5% of 120V, so that doesn't help you. If the only requirement is to deliver power in a certain voltage range, then the POCO might meet spec. But they might have some other requirement that would help you.

-Jon
Click to expand...

Our POCO is not just concerned with 'sag', but 'flicker' as well. Here they would likely be inclined to get involved due to the 'flicker'.
 
jap said:
Like a blinker on a car, not a huge difference, just a very subtle rise and lower of the brilliance of the incandescent bulbs.

It is consistent, 12 pulses up and down then a 2 second pause then 12 pulses up and down then a pause over and over.

JAP>
Click to expand...

That does sound like a pulse charger. But it seems odd that it's affecting your home. Have you asked your neighbors whether they have the same problem?

The PoCo response is totally unacceptable. Did you demonstrate the lamp test at the panel to them? You should, as it proves the problem isn't something within your home's wiring. They are likely to freak out at you putting a load on the unprotected panel lugs....wear your PPE!!!
 
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