Lights both brighten & dim

sounds like a problem with the neutral / ground .... its time to have a licensed electrician and/or power company tech investigate.

Considering your username, I wonder if this post is legitimate. But assuming it is... You have lost your neutral connection and are effectively putting 240v through all your circuits. Since you have the two legs in series, it "approximately" cuts the voltage in half; but only approximately since the two legs are not balanced.

This is a serious problem and should be fixed immediately. Don't screw around with it; if you can't find the problem, get someone in who can.

I had this same problem once. Problem was in the meter base in the form of a loose connection.

Thank you all . . . a professional electrician will be called. When the problem is found I will post the results

Sounds like a corroded nuetral at the house service attachment point. Call your local Hydro provider to come and check the wiring at the service attachment point. That is where it usually is corroded which causes a bad connection.

DO NOT CHECK THIS YOURSELF! MUST BE BY A QUALIFIED PERSON.

Dave

I'll echo other's advice. Sounds like you have lost your neutral connection to the outside power supply. This is a dangerous condition. Call an electrician to come and check this out. I would unplug any expensive electronic equipment in the house until this is fixed. Computers, TVs, stereo, etc.

--Dale

Seconded. I had this problem as well. I knew it was time to call someone NOW when I noticed the ground wire was glowing slightly where it clamped to a water pipe! (it was a #14 or #12 wire. Older house) The cable from the pole was bad.

Anyone know what current is necessary to get a #14 uninsulated wire in free air hot enough to glow?

I'd shut off all power. There could be some device somewhere that could overheat and burn if it gets too much voltage. John

It isn't the wire itself that got hot, it is the high resistance at the connection. It is like having a small heater connected to your #14 wire. The current depends on the resistance. A 7-watt night light glows brightly with only 60 mA of current! I suspect your connection only glowed a dull red, so the temperature was much lower than a light bulb filament.

Ben Miller

Yes it was a very dull glow (probably wouldn't be visible if the light was good there. Picture a dungeonlike basement) I don't know if the connection was bad, but I think it was OK. It was the wire itself that was glowing.

The wire was encased in the same kind of armor as BX cable, except it had just the single uninsulated conductor in it and was smaller diameter. I could only see a glow from the short exposed piece between the end of the armor and the clamp (maybe 2-3 inches).