More electrical woes

[dj1701]

So, the power in my home is fluctuating. The UPS says 114v and sometimes 139v and everything in between. The lights are constantly dimming then getting bright again.
The UPS in the computer room just decided to shut itself off at random after running fine for a year. I swapped it out for another, and the same thing happened. I removed it, and the computer is now on a surge protector strip.

I moved the UPS to the coal stove and it worked for a couple of hours, then it too shut itself off. I ran one there all winter with no problem. Now upstairs, I have a UPS connected to my computer. It randomly switches to battery power. In the software some of the logged events say lost power or voltage exceeded threshold level.

I reported the lights to NYSEG twice already and have heard nothing.
Never ending electrical issues pulse 4 identical UPS devices all going bad at the same time is not likely. I have 2 new fire extinguishers arriving today.

Day two,
Now for some reason when the dryer was running the lights to the back room were barley lit and one in the bathroom would not come on at all. This never happened before. Washer shut off the lights were normal again. I tried to recreate it but could not do so.

 

[MossRoad]

So, the power in my home is fluctuating. The UPS says 114v and sometimes 139v and everything in between. The lights are constantly dimming then getting bright again.
The UPS in the computer room just decided to shut itself off at random after running fine for a year. I swapped it out for another, and the same thing happened. I removed it, and the computer is now on a surge protector strip.

I moved the UPS to the coal stove and it worked for a couple of hours, then it too shut itself off. I ran one there all winter with no problem. Now upstairs, I have a UPS connected to my computer. It randomly switches to battery power. In the software some of the logged events say lost power or voltage exceeded threshold level.

I reported the lights to NYSEG twice already and have heard nothing.
Never ending electrical issues pulse 4 identical UPS devices all going bad at the same time is not likely. I have 2 new fire extinguishers arriving today.

Day two,
Now for some reason when the dryer was running the lights to the back room were barley lit and one in the bathroom would not come on at all. This never happened before. Washer shut off the lights were normal again. I tried to recreate it but could not do so.

Are the circuits that you are seeing problems on all on the same side of your breaker panel?

Or do they happen on circuits that are on both sides of the panel?

 

[seville009]

I have no electrical skills, but if that was happening to me, I’d get an electrician in pretty quick. Even if NYSEG came out, if the problem is something inside the house, they’d probably wouldn’t be able to fix it, but would have you hire someone. If they spot a dangerous condition inside, they might even shut off the power until the issue is fixed.

 

[MossRoad]

I'd first guess at loose connections at your meter, main panel, sub panel, etc...

If you're not comfortable digging into those boxes, get an electrician.

 

[Cycledude]

So, the power in my home is fluctuating. The UPS says 114v and sometimes 139v and everything in between. The lights are constantly dimming then getting bright again.
The UPS in the computer room just decided to shut itself off at random after running fine for a year. I swapped it out for another, and the same thing happened. I removed it, and the computer is now on a surge protector strip.

I moved the UPS to the coal stove and it worked for a couple of hours, then it too shut itself off. I ran one there all winter with no problem. Now upstairs, I have a UPS connected to my computer. It randomly switches to battery power. In the software some of the logged events say lost power or voltage exceeded threshold level.

I reported the lights to NYSEG twice already and have heard nothing.
Never ending electrical issues pulse 4 identical UPS devices all going bad at the same time is not likely. I have 2 new fire extinguishers arriving today.

Day two,
Now for some reason when the dryer was running the lights to the back room were barley lit and one in the bathroom would not come on at all. This never happened before. Washer shut off the lights were normal again. I tried to recreate it but could not do so.

What is UPS ?

 

[mjonesnh]

Had similar issue 2 years ago with voltage fluctuation, lights dimming and brightening . Utility found loose neutral at pole. recrimped connection and issue disappeared

 

[ronjhall]

Had similar issue 2 years ago with voltage fluctuation, lights dimming and brightening . Utility found loose neutral at pole. recrimped connection and issue disappeared

Had similar problem. Same fix.

 

[dj1701]

What is UPS ?

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or uninterruptible power source is a type of continual power system that provides automated backup electric power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from a traditional auxiliary/emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions by switching to energy stored in battery packs, supercapacitors or flywheels. The on-battery run-times of most UPSs are relatively short (only a few minutes) but sufficient to "buy time" for initiating a standby power source or properly shutting down the protected equipment. Almost all UPSs also contain integrated surge protection to shield the output appliances from voltage spikes.

 

[dj1701]

 

[SteveS42240]

Contact your electrical supplier and explain you are having electrical problems. It COULD be a transformer failing. If they don't find anything have a good competent electrician come check your main breaker and panel box for a loose connection.

Steve.

 

[gstrom99]

Had similar issue 2 years ago with voltage fluctuation, lights dimming and brightening . Utility found loose neutral at pole. recrimped connection and issue disappeared

A loose connection is obviously a bad thing, but how would it cause voltage to INCREASE?

 

[ultrarunner]

3 causes I have experienced.

Loose wire in the system ranging from outlet to circuit breaker panel to meter to pole. Bad neutral can cause all kinds of strange.

Damaged underground feeder not located until steam seen coming up from the ground on the forest floor.

Faulty transformer and causing wide fluctuation…

 

[CliffordK]

What is UPS ?

Uninterruptible Power Supply.

It contains a battery bank to switch to battery power. Often used with computers or servers to protect from blackouts and brownouts.

There are large and huge commercial/industrial ones, and small consumer grade ones.

A similar device is a Line Conditioner, but without the battery pack.

 

[mrmikey]

I'd say bad neutral, that would explain the voltage going up.
Here's a good explanation:

 

[CliffordK]

Because this is a whole house issue, it reduces it to essentially the connection to the main breaker/ground. And something outside with the utility company.
I like the idea that it might be a poor ground connection.

As far as whether that could cause over-voltages, I played around a few years ago with 220V and a floating center ground. It was rather odd, but yes, a load on one side could throw the voltage on the other side wonky.

Now, diagnosing on your end. It will depend a bit if you are comfortable with the main breaker box.

One relatively safe diagnostic you could use would be an IR camera or IR thermometer. When you're running a heavy appliance (for a while), then a shorted connection would likely show up as a hot spot in the box. Primarily concentrating on the big wires at the top, or the bus bars.

A floating ground would show up if you turned off most stuff in the house, then turned on a single 110V high power device (1500W hair dryer?) Checking your breaker box with an electrical tester, then every other breaker would be high or low.

 

[mjonesnh]

A loose connection is obviously a bad thing, but how would it cause voltage to INCREASE?

Utility said un-balanced load. 1 leg was 110 volt and the other leg was 132 volt . Both legs voltage up and down. Do know when neutral was re-crimped the problem disappeared

 

[garry1p]

I suspect you have a bad neutral and where I live the power company says they are not responsible for open neutral problems.

Caution: What can happen is 180VAC or move volts on one leg and 60VAC on another fluctuating can and will damage everything electrical in your house.
I doubt it is fluctuating that much right now but it will get worse. in time.
If you know how to use a digital meter it is easy to check at the breaker panel.

 

[Oaktree]

I suspect you have a bad neutral and where I live the power company says they are not responsible for open neutral problems.

Not responsible for the problem or not responsible for damage done? If it's on their side of the meter, it's absolutely their responsibility to fix.

I agree, it sounds like a flaky neutral somewhere.

 

[LouNY]

Yep, most likely a poor neutral.

 

[caver]

A loose neutral will make your house seemed possessed. Personal experience in more of an industrial setting in my Navy Seabee days.