Dishwasher stopped - main voltage low

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Lizard1977

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#3256738 5-Jul-2024 17:06

richms:
Press FUNC till it displays it. You can see current of the connected load, but without one there is still a voltage and frequency reading that you can cycle thru.

May as well get a smart socket that has a power meter in it for less that is useful in other ways. Voltage should be pretty close to the same thruout the house, and if one place is showing too low for a dishwasher to run and another is fine, you either have 3 phase with a dropped phase, or else a massive problem internally. https://www.bunnings.co.nz/arlec-white-grid-connect-smart-plug-in-socket-with-energy-meter-single-pack_p0273367

I actually have one of those already. In the Grid Connect app it only shows current power (watts), current load (%) and cumulative load (kwh). How would I get it to show voltage?

Lizard1977

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#3256818 6-Jul-2024 09:35

Last night the lights in the kitchen dimmed so low it was like candlelight. I turned off everything else but those lights and essential appliances. While dinner was cooking on the gas hob I turned off the kitchen lights and went into the lounge. The lounge lights were fine. About an hour later, everything was back to normal. I notice it only happens in the evening. It's not an issue during the morning when I would often have lights and heaters/heat pump running.

I rang Powerco yesterday and asked for a callback but they never got back to me. Should I treat this as an emergency and use their emergency number?

kiwiharry

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#3256826 6-Jul-2024 11:06

Lizard1977: Last night the lights in the kitchen dimmed so low it was like candlelight. I turned off everything else but those lights and essential appliances. While dinner was cooking on the gas hob I turned off the kitchen lights and went into the lounge. The lounge lights were fine. About an hour later, everything was back to normal. I notice it only happens in the evening. It's not an issue during the morning when I would often have lights and heaters/heat pump running.

I rang Powerco yesterday and asked for a callback but they never got back to me. Should I treat this as an emergency and use their emergency number?

If it was me then yes I would call the Powerco's emergency number. You need to talk to them ASAP.

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tripper1000

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#3257480 8-Jul-2024 16:12

1) When your lights go dim, is it all lights in the house or just one section of the house? (i.e. I'm narrowing it to a weak/faulty feed to the house (and the lines company's domain) or a weak/faulty circuit within the house (and an electricians domain).

2) Are you in a traditional house, or maybe in a backyard granny-flat/cabin or dodgy flat build in the basement of an existing house? I have come across circuit overloading due to shady/non-compliant/historical add-on's to electrical circuits in houses that have had cheap alterations.

Is the low voltage following a shower (associated with the hot water cylinder reheating etc)?

However, I'm a little a bit concerned your wiring could be getting hot. Just take a peak at the circuit board. If it is old-school porcelain fuses (vs modern switched circuit breakers) just confirm that they have fuse wire installed and not nails/paper-clips/copper wire etc (a job for day time with the mains turned off). If not a problem on the street side wiring, and a dodgy wiring job in the house, usually some clever/dangerous dick has put non-fuse wire in the fuse holder to "fix" the problem of the fuses doing their job. This is a recipe for fire, since the wiring is then the weakest link.

Also keep your your ears and nose on alert. When you're experiencing dim lights, can you hear switches/outlets/switch-board sizzling/buzzing/crackling or can you smell burning? This can occur not only from overloading but also switches/Circuit breaks contaminated by water leaks, ant infestations and old age.

tweake

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#3257554 8-Jul-2024 17:41

tripper1000:

1) When your lights go dim, is it all lights in the house or just one section of the house? (i.e. I'm narrowing it to a weak/faulty feed to the house (and the lines company's domain) or a weak/faulty circuit within the house (and an electricians domain).

that would depend on if the house was single phase or multi phase.

alasta

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#3257558 8-Jul-2024 17:56

tripper1000:

However, I'm a little a bit concerned your wiring could be getting hot. Just take a peak at the circuit board. If it is old-school porcelain fuses (vs modern switched circuit breakers) just confirm that they have fuse wire installed and not nails/paper-clips/copper wire etc (a job for day time with the mains turned off). If not a problem on the street side wiring, and a dodgy wiring job in the house, usually some clever/dangerous dick has put non-fuse wire in the fuse holder to "fix" the problem of the fuses doing their job. This is a recipe for fire, since the wiring is then the weakest link.

I got a huge fright when I encountered this at a rental property that I was living in a number of years ago. I had already been living there for a year when I discovered it, so I always recommend that people check fuses whenever moving into a place with the old style fuse wire arrangement.

MadEngineer

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#3257618 8-Jul-2024 22:26

I used to have nightmares as a kid of lights that would dim down low for no reason. Then to scare me awake the lights wouldn’t turn off with the light switch at which point things would get extra silly and paranormal.

Today if it happened it’d be just as nightmarish and I’d be getting a sparky in immediately.

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Lizard1977

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#3257655 9-Jul-2024 08:46

tripper1000:

1) When your lights go dim, is it all lights in the house or just one section of the house? (i.e. I'm narrowing it to a weak/faulty feed to the house (and the lines company's domain) or a weak/faulty circuit within the house (and an electricians domain).

2) Are you in a traditional house, or maybe in a backyard granny-flat/cabin or dodgy flat build in the basement of an existing house? I have come across circuit overloading due to shady/non-compliant/historical add-on's to electrical circuits in houses that have had cheap alterations.

Is the low voltage following a shower (associated with the hot water cylinder reheating etc)?

However, I'm a little a bit concerned your wiring could be getting hot. Just take a peak at the circuit board. If it is old-school porcelain fuses (vs modern switched circuit breakers) just confirm that they have fuse wire installed and not nails/paper-clips/copper wire etc (a job for day time with the mains turned off). If not a problem on the street side wiring, and a dodgy wiring job in the house, usually some clever/dangerous dick has put non-fuse wire in the fuse holder to "fix" the problem of the fuses doing their job. This is a recipe for fire, since the wiring is then the weakest link.

Also keep your your ears and nose on alert. When you're experiencing dim lights, can you hear switches/outlets/switch-board sizzling/buzzing/crackling or can you smell burning? This can occur not only from overloading but also switches/Circuit breaks contaminated by water leaks, ant infestations and old age.

Thanks for this.

It's mainly just in the kitchen, and I've only noticed it in the evening (but I'm not generally at home during the day, and generally don't have lights on when I am home during the day). I have noticed some flickering of lights in the hallway and toilet when it happens, but the lounge, for instance, doesn't seem to dim.
I would describe it as a traditional house. 1960s construction. Semi-detached. I don't think the wiring is shady. When I had the inspection done prior to purchase they did a visual inspection of the electrical systems (obviously, non-invasive), and commented that the wiring is TPS, and circuit breakers are RCDs. No concerns were raised with the electrical systems. I know they won't go into as much detail as an electrician, but at the visual level everything seems okay.
I don't think the low voltage has followed a shower. Hot water is via a Rinnai gas infinity system.
No old-school porcelain fuses as far as I can tell. They're all modern switch fuses.
I can't hear any buzzing or crackling when the lights dim.

I've messaged Contact (it's so difficult to actually get them on the phone) and they've asked for more information. They've said that if it turns out to be an internal fault then they will charge $150 + gst, so I'm wondering if maybe I should get an electrician in first. There is a separate issue that needs to be looked at (when the dishwasher + tumble dryer + kettle overload the circuit) so it might pay to get them to look at both issues at the same time.

Bung

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#3257660 9-Jul-2024 08:58

If you have RCDs you are likely to have a lighting breaker and 2 power circuit breakers grouped on 1 RCD. A poor connection at the RCD would then affect some lights and some appliances. You can easily work out which breakers control various lights and sockets.

Lizard1977

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#3258385 11-Jul-2024 11:07

Powerco came out on Tuesday (while I was out) and had a look. They weren't able to check inside my house, and I got a fairly perfunctory voice message on my phone which said they couldn't identify any issue with the supply and that the most likely conclusion was an internal wiring issue, and to contact an electrician. He did say it was single phase power. I've reached out to my usual sparky and will see what they say.

There haven't been any more issues of light dimming since the weekend, so the issues are definitely intermittent. Hopefully the electrician can work out what's going on.

Yoban

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#3258459 11-Jul-2024 14:18

Lizard1977:

Powerco came out on Tuesday (while I was out) and had a look. They weren't able to check inside my house, and I got a fairly perfunctory voice message on my phone which said they couldn't identify any issue with the supply and that the most likely conclusion was an internal wiring issue, and to contact an electrician. He did say it was single phase power. I've reached out to my usual sparky and will see what they say.

There haven't been any more issues of light dimming since the weekend, so the issues are definitely intermittent. Hopefully the electrician can work out what's going on.

Sounds like it is not the same issue I have had, based on feedback from powerco, which matched your symptoms of flickering lights etc. The root cause was the fuse up the pole was stuffed and needed replacing and also the one in the box outside the house. Cables are overhead across the road and then underground to the house

kiwi_64

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#3258461 11-Jul-2024 14:26

I've had similar symptoms to this, and in both cause the cause was a faulty external (PowerCo) fuse feeding the house.

In the second instance, it was my current house with underground powerfeed, and the streetside plastic cover (at the street/verge) was noticeably warm to the touch.

Both resulted in a very prompt fix/resolution

richms

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#3259504 14-Jul-2024 20:14

Lizard1977: I actually have one of those already. In the Grid Connect app it only shows current power (watts), current load (%) and cumulative load (kwh). How would I get it to show voltage?

Yours doesn't look like this?

Richard rich.ms

Lizard1977

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#3259559 15-Jul-2024 08:22

Nope, it looks like this

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