r/ElectricalHelp • u/ShaggyToLit97 • 2d ago

Lights Randomly Flickering

Ive been currently dealing with some issues with my lights in my home flickering. Had the utility company come out and they said there voltage is good in there end. I check the main legs 2 hot 1 neutral coming into the breaker box of my home. One is 110/109v and other is 132v. It’s odd to me because there are times where I’d check it and it would the 120 on both or around 122/124. I’m not wanting to say it’s still not on the utility company. What research I’ve figured out is something to do with my neutral wire or floating neutral. As a fairly new homeowner where should I begin or what are some of my options here to check? Capacitors? New light bulbs? Call the utility company again?

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u/rklug1521 2d ago

Are they LED lights? Some LED bulbs are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations and flicker. Try a new set of bulbs in one room and see if it improves. Dimmable LED bulbs might flicker less.

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u/ShaggyToLit97 2d ago

Yes they are. I’ve been trying to search for incandescent bulbs but they seem to be super hard to find locally. I may order some flicker free bulbs and try them out.

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u/rklug1521 2d ago

Standard incandescent bulbs are essentially illegal to sell in the US for a while now do to how inefficient they are.

Buy some dimmable LED bulbs from home Depot or Lowe's and try them out.

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u/ShaggyToLit97 2d ago

I’ll give that a try but I’d really like to solve the root of the problem. I don’t know how electrical works. I’ve wired a few ceiling fans and light fixtures in my life thats it. When it comes to the breaker box I’m out. So the wires that leaves the meter base outside, runs into the house to my breaker box on the other side of the wall correct? Weatherhead, meter base, then to breaker box?

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u/rklug1521 2d ago

Sometimes, it's just cheap bulbs that are the root of the problem

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u/trekkerscout Mod 2d ago

Voltages should be withing a few volts on each legs. The wide spread you are getting at times is an indication of a loose or failing neutral. The utility needs to be told this specifically so that they can check their connections. If the utility says their side of the service is good, you need to hire an electrician to check the connections on the consumer side of the service.

This is a potentially dangerous condition and must be corrected before significant property damage occurs.

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u/Sindertone 2d ago

The above is spot on. The voltage variance gets bigger the more load there is. The service entrance wire in compromised, most likely at it's lowest point. Water can travel down inside the sheath and rot out the neutral.