Porch lights flicker

[Barnyard]

I went out the garage door the other night and saw one of the cfls flickering. Just as I turned it off it stopped flickering and stayed on. I could not tell if the other two on the wall were flickering. When I turned them back on all was well. Last night Rosanne turned on the front porch lights, not cfl, and both lights were flickering. the phone that is plugged into the outlet next to my desk started beeping at the same time indicating a loss of power. Just before turning off the light switch the lights stopped flickering and stayed lit same as the garage door lights the night before. These are all on the same breaker.

I turned the breaker off until I could check things out. I pulled the panel today and checked all the screws in the panel and they were tight.

No other lights or receptacles seem to have a problem.

What do I look for next. Could one bad switch or outlet cause this? I'm leaving the breaker off until it is fixed.

[Don McCombs]

It may be the breaker itself.

[Barnyard]

It may be the breaker itself.

Don, I figured I would replace it, but then how do I know if the problem is solved? Hate to have a fire.

[Don McCombs]

Three different fixtures in three different locations exhibiting the same or similar issues. My money is on the breaker. Change it and see what happens. Then again, I’m not your insurance agent.

[Jim Becker]

Any evidence on the breaker of overheating (look at the back side too)? What brand is the breaker box?

[Barnyard]

Any evidence on the breaker of overheating (look at the back side too)? What brand is the breaker box?

Jim, it is a Square D. I will get a new breaker tomorrow and swap it out. to be safe, but I will check for any hot spots. Two years ago I had to replace one of the two way switches on the garage outside lights because it had a burnt spot.

[tst]

just swap the breaker with another in the box to see if makes a change

[Barnyard]

just swap the breaker with another in the box to see if makes a change

The lights are working fine right now, swapping the breaker really won't tell me much. This is a sporadic thing. As I said, even if I put in a new breaker it may not tell me if it is fixed. The best bet now is to check the backside if the breaker for any hot spots as Jim suggested.

[Don McCombs]

You could also check the connections for that circuit coming into the breaker box, for tightness. That may not tell you anything definitive, either.

[Barnyard]

You could also check the connections for that circuit coming into the breaker box, for tightness. That may not tell you anything definitive, either.

Did that first thing yesterday. Nothing found.

[Lt.Mike]

A short while back I went through a flickering light issue in my kitchen and family room.
This drove me nuts and sometimes the power would go out for a short while but when I got to the box it was back on and I couldn’t find anything wrong. I replaced breakers, changed outlets. Found and fixed obvious issues that needed repair so that was good but the flickering continued. Then finally one day the the power went out in the kitchen and stayed out.
I went down to the box and with the panel cover off checked the breakers for power.
It seemed like every other breaker was dead.
My panel has breakers that clamp to rails. Two phase lines in, one providing 110 power to the left rail one to the right and together 220 volts.
I found that the right rail had no power and it was dead coming in from the street.
I called an electrician who said to call the power company, he could come out and charge me $175 to tell me what I already knew but it’s theirs to fix.
I called the company months back telling them a tree branch fell on the wires in a storm and they said they’d check it but they never did.
This time I told them an electrician told me one phase of power is out and they were here in a half hour! Of course the power mysteriously came back on by then. The power company guy hooked his box to my meter and shook my wires but was unable to confirm a problem and told me the problem was in the house. Nope, I told him then showed him where I check in the box for power and he believed me. He went up on the house removing the wraps and checking the connections down the line to the pole. At the pole he found a damaged crimp on the wire and burnt jacketing.
He cut it back and recrimped it. Haven’t had a problem since. If they did the right thing the first time I called it’d never have been a problem.

[Barnyard]

Just for clarification, when the lights blinked, it was a rapid blink not a short one flicker. as if something kicked on somewhere else. They were off and on, off and on.

[Don McCombs]

What else is on that circuit?

[Barnyard]

What else is on that circuit?

Living room outlets, one outside outlet, one outlet by my desk, but not where the computer sits, and possibly the range hood.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

If the feed to your house is aerial go shake the guy wire. If buried, shake the guy for the last pole. Had a bad connection on the tap at the transformer once. Took a while to run it down, then let the power company worry about it.