I had the utility co. come out and they replaced the "connections" where the lines run to / at the house before the meter since he said that they looked very worn. didnt help. I am doing a mini remodel and I am replacing all outlets and switches. So far the 7 I did werent grounded so I connected a ground wire to the outlet box and that gave a good ground, wires are tight, and are not stab in the back style. I know that I will have to check the box but I dont seem to have a main/100a breaker at the box or outside at the meter. I would need to unscrew the panel to expose the wiring to look, is it safe to do this just to look even though no main bkr? I would feel confident doing almost all the electrical work (really just basic stuff) but I dont want to pay a pro to look for a loose wire. Since no main bkr...I dont have a choise but to have a pro put one in since the wires are hot right?
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- No main breaker / flickering lights
problem 1 house has 100 amp service, never tripped a breaker. I have noticed that alot of the lights in the house flicker very slightly. The only thing that makes it flicker more is when printing on a laserjet printer. Running central AC is fine as is running all else. I have read about a loose ground or neutral anywhere in the house.
The reason they are "pros" is because they are trained profesionals. If you have to ask if it is safe you already know it is not. Hire an electrician. It's the right thing to do.
It sounds to me like the breakers are arcing on the buss bar. This happens on older panels. The best fix is to upgrade the service and change the panel, sometimes you can move the bad circuits to another spot on the buss. This should be address quickly by a licensed/qualified electrician, it's not really a homeowner project.
There is a very good chance that the problem is in the printer itself. For instance, I'm sitting next to an older HP 4MPlus right now that causes flicker when it prints; HP acknowledges that the printer is flawed (but won't offer a fix ;-) and tells folks not to worry. I've seen "built-in flicker" in lasers from Canon, GCC, Brother, and others...it's annoying, but not a big deal.
Before you embark on a big project that may not be needed, make sure your laser printer isn't the culprit: take it to another home, print with it, check for flicker.
