New fridge killing lights


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Old 05-24-19, 06:14 PM
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New fridge killing lights

Moved in recently. Replaced old fridge. Two overhead original light fixtures are on the circuit. 30 amp breaker. When I plug in new fridge, lights dim and even completely go out.

i can’t imagine this new, relatively small fridge is overloading the circuit that badly. Fridge seems to be laboring too but not sure.Any ideas or troubleshooting?
 
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Old 05-24-19, 06:18 PM
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Is this a rental situation ?
There should not be a general receptacle circuit on 30A....... 20A maximum.

It sounds like there is a loose connection in the circuit and the fridge starting up is making that connection apparent. The fridge isn't the cause of the problem.
 
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Old 05-24-19, 07:38 PM
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Ok thx again. Bought the house. Mid-50s just about everything original. And yes, 30 right there on the breaker
 
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Old 05-24-19, 08:12 PM
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That's going to need some checking into. Receptacles on a 30A breaker are basically not protected.

You need to determine everything on that circuit and check from location to location for a loose connection.
You will also need to replace that 30A breaker with a 15A or 20A depending on wire size.
 
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Old 05-24-19, 08:38 PM
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I wonder if someone else had trouble with that breaker blowing and did the stupid, but common, thing and replaced it with a bigger breaker.

As stated, there should not be a 30 amp breaker on a 120 volt circuit, you need to assess the size of the wire on the circuit and replace it with the appropriate smaller breaker to match (if there is any 14 ga wire on the circuit, the breaker will have to be 15 amp).
 
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Old 05-24-19, 08:44 PM
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I’ll be back at the property Sunday when there’s some daylight out. I’ll let you know then. Keep an eye out for my mini split P1 electrical problem too ha. Think that’s all my electrical issues
 
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Old 05-26-19, 07:03 AM
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I’m doing some tests. Turned the overhead lights on. When I run my skill saw in some outlets, the lights just flicker briefly. When I run in other outlets, including some on a different circuit from the overhead lights, the lights go off completely and saw doesn’t run at full power
 
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Old 05-26-19, 01:22 PM
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Not fun but I'd start mapping all the circuits just to see how much is on each one.
 
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Old 05-30-19, 09:46 AM
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My experience when lights dim when a motor starts there is a loose neutral somewhere in the circuit.
Since your the new owner I suggest that you start at your main service where the meter is and tighten all of the connections. WARNING this might be for an electrician not the homeowner.
A buddy of mine wife had an old home with 4 round fuses for the whole house. Since he was renting the property it was a source of constant problems for the tenants. After the third call I bought all of the equipment and scheduled a Saturday morning and changed the service over to something in the same century. Slowly we rewired the place until it met the current building code.
 
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Old 05-31-19, 10:42 AM
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Didn't start tackling this again until this morning (got a lot to do at this house).

Problem solved. Loose neutral at the panel indeed. I was getting 94.8 volts exactly in the outlets on 3 different circuits when the bedroom overhead lights were on, 120 when they were off.

Tightened all the neutrals at the panel (with an insulated screwdriver) and back to 120 on all outlets with those lights on too.

Noted on the 30 breaker. Just relieved this turned out to be a very minor fix (at least for now).
 
 

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