Flickering lights

[Max]

Hi Folks,

Our downstairs bathroom light and the kitchen lights flicker intermittently at the same time. They don't always flicker though. What is a typical cause of this? The dryer is in operation and maybe the washer too. We have a couple of fridges, my computer and a couple of lights on but no TVs, music, etc. The well pump is only on when demand is there and it's only on for a short time when it is running. Is the flickering just an annoyance or is it a bad sign? It bugs the hell out of me when I am in the kitchen sometimes and the light flickers. It's the sort of flicker that you notice more out of the corner of your eye rather than staring at it.

Cheers, Max

[HayZee518]

Something is loose somewhere. Could be a neutral or a hot feed to a circuit.

[Max]

So even though these lights only flicker sometimes and work fine other times, this could still be the case? I would have thought that a loose wire would cause the problem all the time. Then again, I'm not a trained electrician.

[HayZee518]

whatever is combined for loads on that one circuit will flicker. vibrations from someone walking nearby where the junction box or outlet is - is enough to cause the wire to move. I found a lot of contractors just strip a wire and gather them together and twist on a wirenut. I myself give the wire bundle a twist with the pliers THEN use the wirenut. I've seen wirenuts fall off connections too!

[Max]

OK, thanks. What I need to do is try and determine all the loads on that one circuit and fault find each one. I know that vibration isn't causing the problem because this happens when nobody is moving (although I appreciate you were using that just as an example). That said, the washer / dryer would certainly cause vibration but they are not on the same circuit as the downstairs light (I hope).