Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#147068 7-Jun-2014 22:52
Send private message

Something weird going on with electricity in our home. Had 2 electricians over to check it out, both couldn't tell me what was wrong.
Symptoms:
1) 3-bulb lights can't hand more than 2 bulb. After you add a third one, one of the three burns out within a couple of days. We've got a 3-bulb spotlight and a 3-bulb pendant - same story for both. So far tried the following - bought better quality bulbs (that helped a bit, but not for long), replaced the switch (didn't do anything).
2) Tivo keeps rebooting. I had it replaced once, and the new brand new unit has the same problem, so I don't think it's a Tivo issue. It's just that occasionally the Tivo just reboots itself when I try to change channels. Really annoying.
3) Cordless vacuum cleaner seems to take ages to charge - longer than the manual suggests. Had it replaced - same story with the new one.
That aside, nothing strange seems to happen. Fuses don't trip, electrical appliances don't get killed by power surges, all is normal. All this has been going on for 3-4 years now, so it's not a critical issue, just a mind-boggling one.

Am I going nuts? Can all these symptoms be related, or are these just coincidences?




Hello, Ground!

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
Aredwood
3885 posts

Uber Geek


  #1061104 7-Jun-2014 23:22

Are the light bulbs the energysaving type? And are those lights connected to a dimmer?



DarthKermit
5346 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #1061144 8-Jun-2014 02:18
Send private message

What's your voltage reading? Should be +/- 5% of 230 volts I think.




Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?


Sidestep
1013 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #1061150 8-Jun-2014 07:02
Send private message

A friend complained her bulbs blew a lot. Esp her 3 bulb kitchen spotlights were blowing in a similar way.
She had the switch replaced (because she could see a occasional flash in there..)
No change.
I took a close look inside the fitting. The copper coated 'tabs' were badly burned and eroded, every time she turned on the lights there was a mini arc.. Two of the 3 bulbs would take turns blowing.
House built in the 80's. Bad rural power supply. Almost all her fittings - bayonet and screw showed some sort of damage.
Local sparky replaced everything, showed us a couple of switches he replaced - also had arcing/burning damage.
Hope this isn't your problem!



gzt

gzt
17120 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #1061152 8-Jun-2014 07:50
Send private message

Kookoo: Am I going nuts? Can all these symptoms be related, or are these just coincidences?

I am not an electrician. Yes these symptoms could all be related. Imho many electricians will not have the experience or equipment to accurately diagnose and locate the cause in every single 'could be' case. I could speculate on the possibilities a bit and provide some links but it's not really helpful.

Have you talked to your retailer about the issue? They would be best placed to offer advice on the next step.

For instance Northpower (a lines company) have a process for looking into these issues:

http://northpower.com/network/services/voltage_fluctuations

Start the process with your retailer.

Yeah after investigation it could end with them recommending someone they know with the experience and equipment (which apart from you paying three times) is not really a bad thing.

networkn
Networkn
32351 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1061202 8-Jun-2014 11:19
Send private message

We have a similar issue with a chandelier which has 6 bulbs, one in particular blows more than the others, but mostly they blow a similar amount. I think I must have replaced about 12 bulbs last year! It takes the highpin g9 240v 40w bulb. I did consider replacing the entire thing, but I would like more light but don't know what type of lighting I should use.

NZtimbo
165 posts

Master Geek


  #1061733 9-Jun-2014 12:20
Send private message

1 - Bulbs will not last as long as they should if: they get too hot (i.e. 100watt lamp in a 60watt downlight), or bad connections on fitting causing lower than expected voltage, dimmers pulse voltage so they should be OK generally.
2 - Your tivo should have a multi voltage power pack so this could be a bad connection or surges spiking it, or if you've only replaced the unit and not the power pack then replace the power pack.
3 - They always take longer than expected.  Once again the power pack will be multi voltage so the vacum should be getting it's required voltage no matter what's comming from the supply.

Tim

Inphinity
2780 posts

Uber Geek


  #1061748 9-Jun-2014 12:51
Send private message

Perhaps you're getting periodic voltage drops, and if there's no spike following, then circuit breakers are unlikely to trip.

I would be inclined to stick the TIVO on a UPS, and see what difference it makes.

 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
andrewNZ
2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #1061757 9-Jun-2014 13:16
Send private message

Where do you live? city, town , rural, very rural.

Do you notice your lights flicker or go dimmer at any time?

floydie
474 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #1061993 9-Jun-2014 17:38
Send private message

youll probably find the lamp holders are stuffed. as they heat, they transfer the heat from the bad contact into the lamp and it blows. as the bad joint is overheated it often looses its tension, so the problem gets worse.

Blowing lots of lamps in one fitting is a sure sign of a bad lamp holder.
also the bad contact onto the lamps can set up a type of harmonic/noise in the system which may have shortened the life of the TIVO. i once saw an instance of noise on an audio system that only happened at night......traced it to a bad lamp holder in the laundry.

my suggestion is replace the light fittings with QUALITY units. and get your sparky to triple check your neutral (get him to do an earth loop impedance test)

Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1064479 12-Jun-2014 21:29
Send private message

Aredwood: Are the light bulbs the energysaving type? And are those lights connected to a dimmer?

Nope. Lights aren't energy saving, and no dimmer.




Hello, Ground!

Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1064484 12-Jun-2014 21:48
Send private message

gzt:
Kookoo: Am I going nuts? Can all these symptoms be related, or are these just coincidences?

I am not an electrician. Yes these symptoms could all be related. Imho many electricians will not have the experience or equipment to accurately diagnose and locate the cause in every single 'could be' case. I could speculate on the possibilities a bit and provide some links but it's not really helpful.

Have you talked to your retailer about the issue? They would be best placed to offer advice on the next step.

For instance Northpower (a lines company) have a process for looking into these issues:

http://northpower.com/network/services/voltage_fluctuations

Start the process with your retailer.

Yeah after investigation it could end with them recommending someone they know with the experience and equipment (which apart from you paying three times) is not really a bad thing.


Now that's an excellent point. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing on the Genesis website about voltage fluctuations.
I tried contacting them using their online contact form, but it keeps returning error messages like "The requested URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator."
I wonder if they are recruiting web developers. They could do with one that's for sure.




Hello, Ground!

Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1064489 12-Jun-2014 21:56
Send private message

NZtimbo: 1 - Bulbs will not last as long as they should if: they get too hot (i.e. 100watt lamp in a 60watt downlight), or bad connections on fitting causing lower than expected voltage, dimmers pulse voltage so they should be OK generally.
2 - Your tivo should have a multi voltage power pack so this could be a bad connection or surges spiking it, or if you've only replaced the unit and not the power pack then replace the power pack.
3 - They always take longer than expected.  Once again the power pack will be multi voltage so the vacum should be getting it's required voltage no matter what's comming from the supply.

Tim


Thanks Tim
No, the bulbs are of the correct wattage, and both fittings are new and were installed by a sparky. No dimmers.
The Tivo plugs into a surge-protected power board. I've since replaced the Tivo and the power board. Not sure what you mean by power pack though?
I'd say so, but then I noticed that my DECT handset never reaches full charge. It's been the case with the previous DECT and is the case with the new one. Strangely enough the one that is charged from the base unit does get fully charged, but the one in the kitchen is in the perpetual charging mode. If I plug it into the base unit instead, it does get fully charged, so it's not a handset issue.





Hello, Ground!

Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1064490 12-Jun-2014 21:58
Send private message

Inphinity: Perhaps you're getting periodic voltage drops, and if there's no spike following, then circuit breakers are unlikely to trip.

I would be inclined to stick the TIVO on a UPS, and see what difference it makes.


Haven't got a UPS, but it's not a bad idea - it's a good thing to have anyway, so I'll look into it, thanks.




Hello, Ground!

gzt

gzt
17120 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #1064491 12-Jun-2014 21:58
Send private message

Kookoo:
gzt:
Kookoo: Am I going nuts? Can all these symptoms be related, or are these just coincidences?

I am not an electrician. Yes these symptoms could all be related. Imho many electricians will not have the experience or equipment to accurately diagnose and locate the cause in every single 'could be' case. I could speculate on the possibilities a bit and provide some links but it's not really helpful.

Have you talked to your retailer about the issue? They would be best placed to offer advice on the next step.

For instance Northpower (a lines company) have a process for looking into these issues:

http://northpower.com/network/services/voltage_fluctuations

Start the process with your retailer.

Yeah after investigation it could end with them recommending someone they know with the experience and equipment (which apart from you paying three times) is not really a bad thing.


Now that's an excellent point. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing on the Genesis website about voltage fluctuations.
I tried contacting them using their online contact form, but it keeps returning error messages like "The requested URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator."
I wonder if they are recruiting web developers. They could do with one that's for sure.

There can be more to it than simple voltage fluctuations. I expect 'voltage fluctuations' is a way of simplifying a description. Just call them. For anything that is not a simple question and simple answer, web contact is useless anyway.

Explain the problem, explain that electricians have found no faults with the house wiring and ask for assistance in resolving the issues.

Kookoo

787 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1064496 12-Jun-2014 22:04
Send private message

andrewNZ: Where do you live? city, town , rural, very rural.

Do you notice your lights flicker or go dimmer at any time?


Jafa from the North Shore. A typical suburb. It does look like occasionally lights dimmer, but we've got circular fluorescents in the lounge, and it's harder to notice with these ones.




Hello, Ground!

 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.