HELP! Interior electrical issues when lights are running!

[jdr004]

I just finished my show and began my first year with LOR and it ran beautifully...Until I noticed my interior lights were flickering.  Not only were my lights flickering, but my UPS back ups were buzzing and my desktop computer (not at all hooked up to LOR) was also buzzing.  This only happened when LOR was on and running the show. 

 

I thought it might be the FM transmitter so i shut it off...Didn't make a difference.

 

Here's my setup:

 

1 - 16 channel light controller and 1 - FM transmitter with SD showtime module (less than 30 days old)

 

All the lights I have are LEDs and drawing less then 500 watts per side.

 

I have a dedicated split outlet directly to my panel with 2 - 15 amp breakers (brand new)

 

I have 100 amp service to my house and with EVERYTHING in my house running (including the lights)

I'm only drawing 30 amps balanced per leg.

 

Here's what I've tried so far...

 

1) Check all connections (box, outlet, panel)

 

2) Plugged in 2 -1500 watt heaters to dedicated outlet - line voltage stable, no buzz from breakers

 

3) Replaced both breakers (again)

 

4) Switched dedicated outlet wires with 2 other 15 amp breakers in box.

 

5) Called hydro company - did line tests couldn't find any issues (replaced service to my house as a precaution) Have a voltage meter hooked up to home for testing purposes

 

6) Had electricain charge me $160 to do everything I already did and say "that's very strange...there's something not right with your light box"

 

7) Took LOR to neighbours house and plugged it in on a single power bar on the same circuit...breaker didn't trip and house lights flickered.

 

I don't know what else to do!!  I can live with the flickering I suppose...but the electrical buzzing noise from my components and breaker are quite worrysome as it could be arcing and creating a fire hazard.

 

I've read the forums about lights flickering being "normal" But NO WHERE mentioned any buzzing from electronics or breakers.

 

Thanks folks for your time

 

J.R

[plasmadrive]

Can you clarify something for me..

 

7) Took LOR to neighbours house and plugged it in on a single power bar on the same circuit...breaker didn't trip and house lights flickered.

 

Do you mean you plugged your controller into a single outlet using a power strip and his lights flickered?

What load did you use at his house if any?

If you did use a load, did you load both the 1-8 and 9-16 sides? 

If no load try unplugging the 1-8 side and see what happens. 

 

I love a good puzzle! 

[Tim Fischer]

Flickering is common with larger shows, especially using incandescents, but yours seems excessive for the loads you state.  You might want to bring in an electrician to make sure everything is OK with your service - sometimes a loose neutral in the panel or meter could cause this, and it's a dangerous situation.

[plasmadrive]

Flickering is common with larger shows, especially using incandescents, but yours seems excessive for the loads you state.  You might want to bring in an electrician to make sure everything is OK with your service - sometimes a loose neutral in the panel or meter could cause this, and it's a dangerous situation.

Tim, you must have missed the part where he says

 

"6) Had electricain charge me $160 to do everything I already did and say "that's very strange...there's something not right with your light box"

Also, if this happened at the neighbors house it would be unrelated to his power panel.  That is why I am hoping he will be able to answer my questions..  Something is for sure wonky..

[Tim Fischer]

Flickering is common with larger shows, especially using incandescents, but yours seems excessive for the loads you state. You might want to bring in an electrician to make sure everything is OK with your service - sometimes a loose neutral in the panel or meter could cause this, and it's a dangerous situation.

Tim, you must have missed the part where he says

"6) Had electricain charge me $160 to do everything I already did and say "that's very strange...there's something not right with your light box"Also, if this happened at the neighbors house it would be unrelated to his power panel. That is why I am hoping he will be able to answer my questions.. Something is for sure wonky..

Oops, that's what I get for skimming! No idea then, but if the electrician is ok with it I wouldn't worry too much. Flickering interior lights sort of goes with this hobby

[plasmadrive]

Oops, that's what I get for skimming! No idea then, but if the electrician is ok with it I wouldn't worry too much. Flickering interior lights sort of goes with this hobby

I think at this point he is probably more annoyed then worried..  but it sounds like a good puzzle..  

[rwertz]

I think I'd be a little concerned if it was me. It sounds like the lighting load is well below what should cause an issue for a 100 Amp service. It certainly shouldn't be enough to cause issues with a UPS (especially since the lights are on dedicated breakers). I had my electric company come out and run a "Line Buster" on my service and they said it was fine. Ultimately it wasn't.

 

Tim mentioned a possible issue with the neutral connection. I had a bad neutral connection in our house from the day it was built. We never knew till we started animating our light. To troubleshoot it you could run a sequence that repeatedly turns all the lights on for 2 seconds then off for 5. Go around checking voltage at the 120V outlets in the house and see if they are moving 5 volts or more.

 

The reason I recommended different on and off times is that it might help you notice a symptom I had. Whenever our microwave kicked on our dining room lights got brighter. After taking some measurement I could see that the total 240V was solid. But whenever a load was applied one 120V leg would decrease by 5V while the other 120V leg would increase by the same amount. That's a sure sign that you have a neutral issue somewhere between your panel and the transformer on the pole. (The transformer could still be common factor between the houses.)

[Max-Paul]

Its a trap! Doesnt this sound a bit fishy. Both legs of his service is drawing 30 amps each "balanced" leg. I suppose everything in his house runs on 220V except for his LOR box. But hey his seq. is programmed so it turns on the same size load from bank 1 and Bank 2.

[jdr004]

Can you clarify something for me..

7) Took LOR to neighbours house and plugged it in on a single power bar on the same circuit...breaker didn't trip and house lights flickered.

Do you mean you plugged your controller into a single outlet using a power strip and his lights flickered?

What load did you use at his house if any?

If you did use a load, did you load both the 1-8 and 9-16 sides?

If no load try unplugging the 1-8 side and see what happens.

I love a good puzzle!

[jdr004]

Plasma drive - I had the exact same load on... I ran extension cords to a power bar on a single outlet.

I got a response from LOR support today saying the electrical hum is normal. I'm still worried it will wreck some electronics

[jdr004]

Max - I don't know what you mean? I have only a few 220 devices setup. 1 being my dryer. The other a heater. Everything else is 120.

I say balanced because the electrician took a reading making sure I wasn't overloading one leg.

[jdr004]

I'm replying on my cell phone because the computer is making a buzzing noise... So I shut it of... And it's still making the same busting noise. It as well is hooked up to an APC UPS device.

[plasmadrive]

Plasma drive - I had the exact same load on... I ran extension cords to a power bar on a single outlet.

I got a response from LOR support today saying the electrical hum is normal. I'm still worried it will wreck some electronics

Ok.. define "hum".  if this is a constant hum whether the lights are running or not that is not normal.  This is something I would worry about.. not in a danger sense.. but it shouldn't be there.

 

If it is a "noise" that shows up when the lights flash.. that's another story.  This is not something I would worry about.

[jdr004]

It's a "buzz" and definitely is only on when the lights flash. When the show is off there's absolutely no issue. No buzzing from the panel, no buzzing from electronics and no lights flickering. I just want to be sure that by having this buzzing noise I'm not frying my other electronics. My computer power supply buzzes the same as the breakers in the panel and the same as my ups systems.

[rwertz]

Good point. I believe most of the hum I've heard described on the forums over the years occured while dimming. It shouldn't be present when the lights are off. And I don't think it typically occurs at 100% intensity either.

[jdr004]

To further clarify it's not constant but rhythmic... So yes when the lights flash it buzzes.

[jdr004]

And I just got in trouble from the wife saying she's going to get electricuted because her hair straigtener is making the same buzzing noises

[scottam67]

My LED net lights, when they dim, cause buzzing on all my speakers that are on (TVs, radios and computers) and lights flicker slightly. Unplug the nets, no issues. I have up to 28 nets and it happens with a few or all. Just need to live with it

[jdr004]

Weird I have 2 net lights... Will definitely give that a try. Thanks

[KStatefan]

And I just got in trouble from the wife saying she's going to get electricuted because her hair straigtener is making the same buzzing noises

 

The hair straightener is making  buzzing noises with the lights?