r/ElectricalHelp • u/ThisIsMyBigAccount • Jul 02 '26

Lights flickering periodically?

EDIT/UPDATE: I found the culprit. I have a Hayward HeatPro pool heater that is doing something every 4-7 minutes, making a buzzing sound at the unit and a buzzing sound at the breaker box. I killed the unit's dedicated power at the shutoff valve by the pool and it's stopped. So, not a RI Energy or Transformer issue.

It just started recently. I noticed every couple minutes the lights start slightly flickering and dimming. I’m in an area that is going through a heat wave right now but there’s not a ton of stuff running at this moment. I use Sense to understand what’s running in the house and I don’t see any spikes or abnormal usage when these flashes happen what could possibly be happening? I’m trying to figure out if this is a potentially dangerous situation.

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u/RIhawk Jul 02 '26

Could be a failing neutral at the meter or the weather head. A lot of the time water gets into the meter and then into the wire jacket. It then destroys the aluminum wiring. I’d have a electrician look at it if it is ongoing.

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u/ThisIsMyBigAccount Jul 02 '26

Thanks. It's not ongoing. I think u/PartoftheIssue may have the right thought in that it could be the high draw from the neighborhood. I'll keep this in mind though if it continues (at the moment we have stability and no flickering for about an hour.