[Pred129]

Hey all.

In my basement we have a fridge that when running, causes the lights in the hall to flicker. This happens randomly and not just on the compressor startup. When the fridge is unplugged, the flickering stops. I'm almost positive the lights are on the same circuit that the fridge is plugged into. So I'm wondering if this extra load is the cause or could it be something else?

 

[jimn]

lLED or fluorescent fixtures?

 

[Pred129]

Fluorescent fixtures. My best guess is that the circuit is on the cusp of tripping the breaker due to overloading but I'm not sure if there would be any symptoms like this for an overloaded circuit. I'm pretty sure if this was the case the breaker would have at least tripped once but it hasn't.

 

[Jim Port]

Sounds more like a symptom of a loose connection in the circuit.

 

[Pred129]

That's what I figured when I first noticed the flickering. The only wierd thing that contradicts that is when the flickering stops immediately when the fridge is unplugged.

 

[Jim Port]

The higher load of the refrigerator exacerbates the poor connection.

 

[Oso954]

It doesn't necessarily contradict it. A loose connection down stream of the lights would not cause a flicker of the lights without a power flow thru that loose connection. Once you have a moderate to high power flow thru that connection, you may see the choppiness of that load in items upstream of it.

 

[Pred129]

Ahh that does make sense. Thanks for the informative responses. Ok I will take a look for loose connections in that circuit and will report what I find. Just out of curiosity though, are there any symptoms for an overloaded circuit besides a tripping breaker?

 

[AllanJ]

You can get dimming or flickering lights when a circuit is overloaded.

But dimming or flickering lights can occur when there is a loose connection even when the circuit is far below overload.