I am having a strange electrical problem. It is affecting about half of my house. I have put a volt meter in an outlet and have steady 116v for about 2 minutes then it drops to 75v for about 2 minutes, lights dim, frig shuts off etc. It is affecting my air conditioning and frig plus many lights and outlets. The lights dim, the frig goes on and off, the air won't work at all not even the fan. I have tried to turn off the air at the inside unit, unplugged frig, unplugged everything in the house, except hot water heater. Anyone have any ideas as to what could cause this.

Thanks
Doug

There is a loose, bad, or corroded connection someplace in the wiring or equipment, anywhere from the connections on the pole or transformer, aerial connections, meter, panel, Main Breaker.

When not so much in the home is affected, it could be a branch circuit breaker, or splices etc in the interior wiring. Your symptoms are too wide spread and indicate a distribution level problem.

Unless your very good at electrical work ,this requires a knowledgeable professional that can inspect all the many connections that can be the cause, and know how to repair it properly. The electrician can quickly determine if the utility is at fault.

Is your air conditioning and water heater 120 or 240 volts?
Its likely a loose Hot or loose Neutral. If voltage was dropping on 1 leg and rising on the other leg, a neutral problem, if voltage is dropping only on on leg, then likely a bad hot feeding panel.
Meter will tell all.

Ok I just unplugged the hot water heater and all the lights, frig, outlets went totally off. So I tried to lower the hot water temp to see if I could get it to stop running and the lower thermostat turn lights, outlets, etc. on and off. Is this crazy or what. So I tried to remove wires to hot water heater and no luck everything has no power, not just the reduced voltage. So I was wondering does this make any since to anyone. Or is my home just the victim of a poor electrician? This is a Whirlpool hot water heater and I can not figure out if it is 110 or 220. And does anyone think replacing the thermostat would help?

Thanks to everyone who replied.
Doug

No, your problem is your main power to your house. You have a bad connection somewhere between your panel and the utility transformer. Call your utility company about your problem and they can check to see if it is on their end, or call an electrician to check the connections in your panel.

So I tell you what the problem is and how to fix it, and you unplug the water heater.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bleumoon

Ok I just unplugged the hot water heater and all the lights, frig, outlets went totally off. So I tried to lower the hot water temp to see if I could get it to stop running and the lower thermostat turn lights, outlets, etc. on and off. Is this crazy or what. So I tried to remove wires to hot water heater and no luck everything has no power, not just the reduced voltage. So I was wondering does this make any since to anyone. Or is my home just the victim of a poor electrician? This is a Whirlpool hot water heater and I can not figure out if it is 110 or 220. And does anyone think replacing the thermostat would help?

Thanks to everyone who replied.
Doug

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How is that working out for you?

Why didn't I think of changing the thermostat?

TK is correct, you should have just called in some help when he gave you the answer.

If one of the hot legs to your home has a loose connection and your water heater is on you could measure voltages of around 75V from power being fed through the water heater's element and back to the panel. The element in the water heater would act as a resistor and drop the voltage. You would also find that things requiring 240V would no longer function properly, like your air conditioning.

Now, call the power company and have them check it out. If it isn't on their end call an electrician.