My lights in my house flicker when the washer (laundry) is running. is this a potential problem?
Question:is this a potential fire hazard and is there a fix without calling an electrician..
Answers:
You are drawing too much power on the circuit and it could cause overheating in a wire causing a fire. Call an electrician.
If they only flicker with the washer, it has a short.
Washers don't draw that much current when working properly.
Depends, Is this a recent problem, Is the house brand new, has this been going on forever... The safe bet is to have an electrician run a new circuit for the washer but it'll cost ya. Good Luck!
that is a power surge to that area and i wouldnt touch a thing unless ya know what your doing ; and yes call an electrician
Barkley is right call a electrician !!
if your wiring is less than about 50 years old the worst that can happen is tripping a breaker; the power demands are transient and not dangerous; you could try a different plug (ie different curcuit)
Could be a fuse about to blow. Check fuses to make sure they're all in tight.
listen to pharmziggy.
You are probably getting the flicker when the washer motor starts, it is drawing peak power then.
If, however, it is going on continually while the washer is on and you are not popping a breaker, might be worth getting it looked at.
But, after all, that is what circuit breakers are for, to guard against dangerous overloads and shorts.
I am an electrician! If you are from the UK the washing machine will have a 13amp plug on it neway and the fuse inside of it will blow if nething goes wrong with it, and if your american the mcb/breaker at the fuse board will blow. Your lights r dimming because of volt-drop your washing machine is pulling alot of load (amps) and when amperage goes up voltage goes down this is therefore affecting other circuits in the house. One thing you could do is 2 c what circuit the washing machine is being fed from by leaving the washing machine on and turning each breaker off until the washing machine turns off, If it turns out that the washing machine is being fed from a lighting circuit then you have a problem: Consult an electrician. However if the washing machin is being fed from the socket/ring main/receptical circuit then this ok. Dont worry about it.
USA Not enough info. Did this just start happening? Does it happen all the while the washer is running, or only when it starts or changes speed, or only in the spin cycle? If it just started, and it only happens during spin cycle, you probably have a partially loose connection somewhere close by. How close to the panel box is the washer? Check all connections at the panel, at the receptacle, and at any boxes in the circuit. If it only happens when the washer starts up and/or changes cycles, then you have too much of a load on the circuit - there are probably more lights or receptacles on the same circuit with the washer. If that is the case, you need to split up the circuits.
Potential problem: Yes. Fire hazard: It exists, but probably is not an immediate fix-it-right-now hazard. You can wait another few days until an electrician gets there.
I dno't think this will be easy to either find or fix. Have a licensed electrician do the work.
It's fine, your whole panel is either full or really close to being full, and its just having to pull power from other branch circuits for a mila-second. If your house was built recently to pass an inspection it needed to be on its own circuit, and so does another dedicated 20amp within sight for an iron or anything else.
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