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Solar Wizard
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He's not talking about flickering, he says they dim for a split second. Candles flicker, they don't go dim for a second.
Clothes Dryer
- Thread starter bstump
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He's not talking about flickering, he says they dim for a split second. Candles flicker, they don't go dim for a second.
Whether or not I expect it is a different story. I'm just concerned that it could be an issue and damage other electronics. If that's not the case, then I'm not very concerned about it. As I said above, we have not had this issue in other homes we have owned (newer built homes, that is).
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Solar Wizard
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It's voltage sag not surge so yeah, you're good.
fromport
Solar Addict
My LED lights in a bathroom were flickering where there was a 1400 watt oven in the kitchen in use.
The house was hardly using anything ( less than 2500 watt total) on a 200 amp main breaker.
No flickering when my 40 amp EV was charging (at 240 volt)
Utility company came out and installed a monitor and after 4 days decided to replace my overhead supply line to the house.
No more flickering since.
weird ?!
MurphyGuy
It just needs a bigger hammer
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If you're grid tied, then the flicker is probably caused by the small'ish 10ga wire. If this flicker is an off grid thing only, then its almost certainly either your inverter or your battery bank not being able to deliver the instant rush. My guess is on the inverter.
I have two SMA Sunny Island inverters, best on the market, and my electric dryer will make the lights flicker when I'm off grid. (Doesn't happen when grid tied). Its not a big flicker, but you can see it if you're paying attention.
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Resistive vs Inductive load on an oxidized overhead feed.
fromport
Solar Addict
When I bought the house, it had a 100 amp service.
I pulled permit and replaced the 100 amp zinsco with a 200 amp panel.
They left the original supply line in, saying it was enough for the 200 amp.
Me and 4 other homes are on the same power pole transformer.
They did upgrade the supply line along the street and from the street to my home:
New and old, home is from 1955 so could have been original supply line still ;-)
Is now 1/0 alu
The only LED flickering issue I have is when I dim them. When they aren't dimmed there is no flickering. My light switches have 3 dimmer settings, so I'm working to figure out the best setting to see if I can eliminate flickering.
We are not grid tied. We are full off-grid.
I tried capturing the flicker on video, it's so quick you can't even see it, lol. I guess I'll just move on and deal with it.
Thanks!!
fromport
Solar Addict
Conventional dimmers with incandescent lights use phase shifting and would often see flickering with brownouts because of heavy loads kicking in.
A LED light needs to be driven with constant current, dimming is done with either lower voltage or duty cycle regulation of the full current.
I guess both methods are prone to brownouts as well.
In my case, there was no dimming, just on/off and I would experience the flickering. very weird.
I thinks there is a market for a cheap device to actually be able to record power fluctuations and download/view those events for inspection
;-)
redalertdt
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My concern is that it would be slowly damaging something....Also not sure if there is a way to know how quickly the inverter will respond when you buy it. It's weird when every 5-10 min. as the oven is cycling on/off the lights dim each time...disconcerting, and not something I've experienced on grid power (not to the same extent).
My biggest question is if I buy a different/new inverter how would I know how quickly it responds to a 4000w on/off thermostat. My inverter setup is a magnum 4448 (3 in parallel) so it's a tier 1 supplier...
My biggest question is if I buy a different/new inverter how would I know how quickly it responds to a 4000w on/off thermostat. My inverter setup is a magnum 4448 (3 in parallel) so it's a tier 1 supplier...
redalertdt
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I will say, probably not a bad idea to check all of your connections in the box etc. and make sure you don't have a loose neutral or hot. I went through mine and tightened everything up a little bit. Some connections weren't as tight as when it was installed.
PreppenWolf
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Build a small greenhouse then over the line?
For what it is worth, my grandparents' old house years ago had a very old geothermal heat pump setup that worked great, but would cause a very noticeable light dim/flicker every time it kicked on. They never had any electronics issues, and just had basic surge suppressors at most.
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You guys are killing me.
I was just at a cabin that has its own transformer can and 320 amp service.
The feed for the 40Kw boiler splits off at the meter, the other feed goes to the main panel. That heater has 8 5kw elements that have time delay switches so that only 10kw is turned on at once in 30 second increments.
The lights in the cabin dim for a split second each time an element turns on.
The electric dryer makes the lights dim for a split second when you turn it on.
I was just at a cabin that has its own transformer can and 320 amp service.
The feed for the 40Kw boiler splits off at the meter, the other feed goes to the main panel. That heater has 8 5kw elements that have time delay switches so that only 10kw is turned on at once in 30 second increments.
The lights in the cabin dim for a split second each time an element turns on.
The electric dryer makes the lights dim for a split second when you turn it on.
Do you know how many amps your dryer uses on high? I'm trying to figure out the high to medium amperage ratio. I have a dryer that uses 24A 120/208V and 26A 120/240V I don't understand why the 240 is higher other than is the 208 three phase? So I know it use this no more than 26 amps on high. I'm trying to figure out about what it would use on medium. Yes, I'm going to get a ant meter soon. Thanks
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Well the dryer can't take three phase. I now understand when the element is connected to 208V can't draw as many amps because the resistance is set at the heating element.
If the dryer was to run at 120V the wattage would be 1/4 of what it would be at 240. If you shortened in the heating element by 1/2 it would draw twice the current on 120 then if the heating element remain the same length. The wattage would be 1/2 of what the dryer originally was at 240 with the heating element, the original length. The amperage used by the heating coil would be the same as it was originally designed at (though only making half the power).
Would 26A at 120V be more stressful or unsafe on the element wire as 26A at 240V?
If the dryer was to run at 120V the wattage would be 1/4 of what it would be at 240. If you shortened in the heating element by 1/2 it would draw twice the current on 120 then if the heating element remain the same length. The wattage would be 1/2 of what the dryer originally was at 240 with the heating element, the original length. The amperage used by the heating coil would be the same as it was originally designed at (though only making half the power).
Would 26A at 120V be more stressful or unsafe on the element wire as 26A at 240V?
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
I don't know either but since the wire is half the length but the same amount of apps. However, that doesn't make any sense now that I think of it because it's the same wire gauge, same amps.
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