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House Lights Flashing


funnyent

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funnyent wrote:

Is it normal for the lights inside my house to dim every few seconds and sort of flash when LOR is running outside?

Yes and no. Most of us see it to a certain degree during high points in the sequence (or maybe more often if you tend to blink a lot of high-power stuff all at once). But it can also be a sign of bad things, like a loose neutral. If you're worried, have an electrician come out.
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funnyent wrote:

Is it normal for the lights inside my house to dim every few seconds and sort of flash when LOR is running outside?

I think it only happens to people who've done a good job sequencing. Good sequencing causes electrons to achieve an "excited" state while passing through the wires in your house. It's like a case of electrical "happy feet". Sit back and enjoy - you've earned it.
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If your electric company is shaddy - you may be pulling more than they intended from a givven transformer.

I know where I USED to live, each house had its own transformer on the pole. Where we live now they load about 3 or 4 houses per transformer.

I had it similar last year before we went LED.

IF your wires are good, your pannels are good, and your not overloading anything - its the same effect as when your AC Unit kicks in. Big heavy load, lights dim.

You COULD put in some AC Capacitors - but I think thats overkill.

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funnyent wrote:

Is it normal for the lights inside my house to dim every few seconds and sort of flash when LOR is running outside?





Is your controller hooked up to one outlet outside that isn't on its own breaker? Reason I ask is I had the same thing happen last year with 16ch on one GFCI. My Main panel box would even hum! I was pulling about 13amps for the display. For most homes, the outdoor GFCI is just one outlet on a circuit along with lights and other outlets. I solved the problem with installing a 100amp sub-panel dedicated to just the lights. However in your case see if you have another outdoor plug that is on a different circuit that you can split your controller on. This should help you this year, but if you plan to expand your controllers you may need to look at getting a sup-panels installed next spring/summer.

Hope this helps

Jeremy B.

PS some information in installing a sub-pannel can be located here:

http://www.brownchristmaslightshow.com/electrical.html
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Last year when I ran Wizzard of Winter I had 30+ amps flashing all at once and the lights inside would dim each time the outside (all of them) would go on.

We only have a 100 AMP box

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funnyent wrote:

Is it normal for the lights inside my house to dim every few seconds and sort of flash when LOR is running outside?

Tim

It is just visible proof your show is running right. :) IE, all of the fixtures are lighting up.

We have a 200amp service to our house. Last year we used about 130 amps of it and it was very noticeable during things like Wizards in Winter.

It is much less noticeable this year as I converted about 60 amps of the display over to LEDs and the draw is less than a tenth of what it was before. (Just for those converted)
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Last couple years, I ran 10,000- 12,000 incands on two to four controllers that were plugged into several outlets around the house.. two of which ran to my kids bathrooms, so if they used a hair dryer, darkness befell the land and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.. usually mine.. In the rest of the house, some lights would noticably dim on high spots in songs.. :X

This year I had to fix that... I have a spa (which we dont use) that uses two 50a breakers in the main panel.. (it splits into four, 20a breakers in the backyard for the spa and toolshed) Tuesday, I had my air conditioning guy who is lic. electrician, cut a hole into the panel to run four-doubled, 20a breakers lines from the back of the panel, thru the wall into my garage (AZ mounts breaker panels outside, and no, I havent figured out why either). Since I'm not using the two 50 spa breakers (100amp), the four 20's means I'm still 20amps to the good (80% rule-ish). :dude:

Ernie cut the hole, I shut off the whole panel, removed the old 50a spa breakers, mounted the new 2x20a ones, ran the lines, mounted the box, wired the eight 20a GFI outlets, everything to code. Ernie inspected, signed off on it (no increase or additional panel was added so no permit needed in AZ), power turned back on, tested.. good to go.. :cool:

The new lines run to eight dedicated outlets for the controllers, and my woodshop during the rest of the year. The house would dim a little when the saws went on, and i couldnt have more than 1 saw on at a time.. The houses in our development all have 200amp service but the few lines in the garage were shared.

I've got the same 12,000 lights now, with 10,000 more to go up this week into seven controllers (just fixed #8).. no dimming noticed anywhere, and the kids can dry their hair till it falls out :)


What cost the most was buying the eight 20a GFI outlets. I already had the switch boxs (2 remodel versions) and wall plates. Ernie gave me the 10-2 wire for the lines. Well, ok, I have to clone his 40gb hard drive onto a new 300gb drive.. and I have a older Prescott motherboard/chip I'm going to give him.. otherwise, I think the job wudda been about $150.

But a real big caution, if you dont have an electrical guy, DONT do this yourself. :shock:

All this says, if you can add even one dedicated line/breaker, that might reduce the house load and you wouldnt see the rest of the house "bounce to the beat".. of course, you need to have the current "room" to change/add any wiring, you just cant hang more breakers in your panel and expect to not be plunged into eternal darkness (until someone finds the panel and resets the breaker) if you overload the panel.

Try to add at least one dedicated line.. (legally too)

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Thanks for your help everyone! I have an electrician friend, and after this season I will address a permanent way to fix it. I also have a spa breaker, which is no longer used, so that's a great idea!

Tim

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Well pg&e just left my house had to pull all new lines from there tranny mine where under sized there falt the never pulled new cables in back in 2003 when I upgraded my panal to 200amp they also are replacing all my stuff that burnt up

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