Electric help
October 20, 2022 12:57 PM Subscribe
I had newly flickering lights and outlets that weren't working consistently. Apartment handyman came a couple times and wasn't able to fix stuff, so today a real electrician came out. He messed around with some stuff, installed the new GFCI correctly (the handyman hadn't) and the green light was on. He did checks of all the outlets on the circuit and all were pulling appropriate amounts of power. We had stuff plugged in to all the outlets and running and there were no flickers or cut outs. He stayed for a few minutes and there were no issues. I was happy and he left. Now, like an hour later, the green light on the GFCI is out, but I still have power from that outlet and downstream. The one lamp plugged in downstream is flickering slightly, but not as badly as before.
So, is this a problem? Can I safely use the GFCI outlet and those downstream even if the green light isn't on? Apartment management was truly awful to me so I don't want to deal with them again about this issue if I don't have to. If it's a safety issue though I will beg them for help and be degraded while I do so and hope they send out a real electrician again.
When I push the reset button, a yellow light comes on briefly and my test item (tiny led light strip) turns off, as I believe it should.
I flipped the relevant breaker/fuse to see if that would reset the GFCI and it did not.
So, is this a problem? Can I safely use the GFCI outlet and those downstream even if the green light isn't on? Apartment management was truly awful to me so I don't want to deal with them again about this issue if I don't have to. If it's a safety issue though I will beg them for help and be degraded while I do so and hope they send out a real electrician again.
When I push the reset button, a yellow light comes on briefly and my test item (tiny led light strip) turns off, as I believe it should.
I flipped the relevant breaker/fuse to see if that would reset the GFCI and it did not.
How big is your building? Do other units have this problem? It may be a problem with the drop from the pole resulting in unbalanced legs or an intermittent ground. Both of these things are bad. If it's just your unit, it could still be a loose connection at the distribution panel. If you've tried the super and the electrician, it's time to call the power company.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:03 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:03 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sites like this say no light equals no power (meaning voltage) but clearly the light has a voltage threshold which I was not able to google up a value for, but your flickering light suggests the threshold is pretty high.
I’d guess that some circuit above your circuit in the circuit hierarchy is overloaded, and voltage is dropping when too many things are connected at that higher level, causing your green light to go off and the lamp to flicker.
This could be a significant problem for the building as a whole, so I would suggest taking a video of the light off and the downstream light flickering and sending it to management/maintenance, because fixing it at this stage could save a lot of money compared to the consequences of a transformer blowing or a fire starting somewhere.
posted by jamjam at 2:06 PM on October 20, 2022
I’d guess that some circuit above your circuit in the circuit hierarchy is overloaded, and voltage is dropping when too many things are connected at that higher level, causing your green light to go off and the lamp to flicker.
This could be a significant problem for the building as a whole, so I would suggest taking a video of the light off and the downstream light flickering and sending it to management/maintenance, because fixing it at this stage could save a lot of money compared to the consequences of a transformer blowing or a fire starting somewhere.
posted by jamjam at 2:06 PM on October 20, 2022
Response by poster: building is only 8 units. i have not been able to speak to any neighbors to see if they have problems too.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:07 PM on October 20, 2022
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:07 PM on October 20, 2022
Response by poster: and the GFCI in my bathroom is old and doesn't even HAVE a light. do i need a new one of those?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:18 PM on October 20, 2022
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:18 PM on October 20, 2022
Existence of a light doesn't matter.
What's important is, starting from "everything powered normally," that you press the TEST button, hear a click, and nothing plugged into the outlet, nor any other outlet you want protected, will have power, until you press RESET. Then they should regain power.
That all being said, a GFCI does nothing for outlets which are flickering. We can break this into two problems: either there is a problem with this circuit in particular, or there is a problem outside of this circuit. If it's this circuit in particular, a combination AFCI will protect you, though it won't actually fix the problem (which is probably a loose wire or piece inside one of the outlets).
If the problem is not this particular circuit, you most likely have a big problem that only the power company can fix. You're not going to be "mak[ing] make apartment management's life an expensive hell for the foreseeable future" if you contact the utility, they'll just check for the problem which can be on their end, usually a loose wire at their connection equipment. They may not be able to find it unless they come by when the problem is present though.
All that being said, I think replacing the GFCI and every outlet on the circuit will probably make the problem go away, because it has the side effect of making all new connections. It's also pretty cheap so hopefully they don't fight you too much.
posted by flimflam at 3:28 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
What's important is, starting from "everything powered normally," that you press the TEST button, hear a click, and nothing plugged into the outlet, nor any other outlet you want protected, will have power, until you press RESET. Then they should regain power.
That all being said, a GFCI does nothing for outlets which are flickering. We can break this into two problems: either there is a problem with this circuit in particular, or there is a problem outside of this circuit. If it's this circuit in particular, a combination AFCI will protect you, though it won't actually fix the problem (which is probably a loose wire or piece inside one of the outlets).
If the problem is not this particular circuit, you most likely have a big problem that only the power company can fix. You're not going to be "mak[ing] make apartment management's life an expensive hell for the foreseeable future" if you contact the utility, they'll just check for the problem which can be on their end, usually a loose wire at their connection equipment. They may not be able to find it unless they come by when the problem is present though.
All that being said, I think replacing the GFCI and every outlet on the circuit will probably make the problem go away, because it has the side effect of making all new connections. It's also pretty cheap so hopefully they don't fight you too much.
posted by flimflam at 3:28 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Did the electrician leave contact information? If so, my first recommendation would be to call him and describe what happened shortly after he left. He was sent to solve a problem and apparently it's not completely solved, he should come back to diagnose what's left of the symptoms.
posted by TimHare at 9:53 PM on October 20, 2022
posted by TimHare at 9:53 PM on October 20, 2022
Yes, this is still a "needs an electrician" job.
My first thought is that there's back-feed somewhere -- meaning the circuit is powered from both ends, so a GFCI could shut itself off but there's still power coming from the other end of the wire, powering the circuit.
This is somewhat dangerous (meaning wires are electrified when outward signs say they're not) and could damage stuff plugged into the circuit.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:08 AM on October 21, 2022
My first thought is that there's back-feed somewhere -- meaning the circuit is powered from both ends, so a GFCI could shut itself off but there's still power coming from the other end of the wire, powering the circuit.
This is somewhat dangerous (meaning wires are electrified when outward signs say they're not) and could damage stuff plugged into the circuit.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:08 AM on October 21, 2022
« Older Rituals or actions to make my big new house feel... | what's the risk of getting long covid while living... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scruss at 1:32 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]