KItchen lights flickering


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Old 11-15-21, 06:23 AM
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KItchen lights flickering

I have six recessed lights in my kitchen ceiling. About a week or so ago, I noticed that when I first turn them on in the morning (or after they have been off for a while) they all flicker rapidly, and then after 30 secs or so they flicker more slowly, and then eventually it stops and they work fine. Almost like they flicker until they warm up. Nothing has changed from an electrical standpoint in the house, this just started out of the blue. No other lights in the house have this problem. Also, these are just standard lights, not LEDs. Thoughts?
 
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Old 11-15-21, 06:47 AM
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Sounds like the filament is shaking inside the bulb when you turn them on, which slows as the bulb reaches operating temperature.

Probably something that always happened and you just never noticed before. But once you notice it, you fixate on it. Or the effect could simply increase as the bulb ages.
 
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Old 11-15-21, 06:50 AM
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Loose connection would be the thing I would look for first. Perhaps the wires to the switch are "stab" (push-in) connected, and are getting loose/corroded. If so, connect them to the screw terminals instead.
 
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Old 11-15-21, 06:51 AM
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XSleeper nah, I doubt its that. All six lights are doing the same thing (and flickering in unison), and they all started at the same time.
 
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Old 11-15-21, 06:53 AM
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Thanks I Mullins , I was just thinking the same. This isn't a "stab switch" as the wires are hard-wired into the switch (it's a time switch). That being said, I have the exact same timer switch on another set of lights that is working fine, so I am going to swap them out and see if I get lucky
 
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Old 11-15-21, 09:48 AM
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> they all flicker rapidly, and then after 30 secs or so they flicker more slowly, and then eventually it stops and they work fine. Almost like they flicker until they warm up.
A damped oscillation, maybe starting at 3 Hz.
Never seen such a thing for lamps.
​​​​​​​The problem is probably upstream of all the lamps.
Try to get more clues.

 
 

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