Cycling Power Meter

Electrical question — Lights are dimming and going bright depending on what other appliances are in use…?

Went to our beach house this weekend. As the weekend progressed, I was getting less and less electricity. By Sunday morning the microwave wouldn’t heat (although the light came on); washing machine wouldn’t finish a cycle; heater wouldn’t run. But, lights would still come on (but dimming and brightening). I hadn’t been to the house for about a month. Checked the meter, couldn’t see any sign that power had been shut down or limited in some way. What could be causing this?
Bobweb: Thanks so much for the quick and thorough reply! I am going to leave this open this evening in case anyone has further details, but it sure sounds like you know your stuff! Again, many thanks!

You’ve got a bad connection in one of the main service wire connections in your power box where all the circuit breakers or fuses are located. That could cause a fire due to the heat generated in a bad connection, so you need to get this fixed. I wouldn’t want to sleep in the house myself until it is repaired. It probably will be an easy repair, where the electrician simply tightens up a set screw that holds the wire, but if the problem has persisted long enough he might need to replace the connector block or move the wires to a spare connector block that is not being used. So basically you’ve got to pay him to drive out to the house and work for 3 hours at most which should be less than $325 dollars, unless there is some extenuating circumstance. The parts cost should be negligible. It’s possible it could be in the electric power meter or outside service wire, so call your local power company first to make sure that the bad connection is somewhere in your house in which case they’re not obligated to fix it.

Edge 705 – Power meter setup