House wiring? (slightly off-topic)

[Glen]

At 12:44 PM 12/27/00 , Robert Donker wrote:
>You have a relatively new house showing what is an extraordinary behavior on
>your AC. This is more likely a low AC voltage (remember, a 100 W bulb @ 100
>volts draws 1 amp, a 100 @ bulb @ 50 volts draws 2 amps) causing excessive
>current in the lights. 

I'm not sure I understand how you intended that to be interpreted. If I
understand you correctly, you have just stated that a 100 Watt bulb
connected to a source of 100 Volts would pass one Ampere of current. (So
far, so good.) You also seem to say that very same bulb when connected to
only 50 Volts would then pass 2 Amperes of current. If this is the meaning
you intended, it is totally incorrect. The same bulb will actually pass
less amperage when connected to a lower voltage source.

Perhaps you intended to say the right thing, but it just ended up being
worded in a confusing manner?


As for the original problem of the man's light bulbs blowing too often, I
suggest he contact a qualified electrician in his area, or his local power
company for advice. There are many things which could contribute to such a
situation, and it is not easy or prudent to try and troubleshoot this via
an email mailing list. I can vouch for the "poor ground/neutral scenario"
that another poster mentioned. That is certainly one possibility. I've seen
it happen myself, but I'm sure there are others possible causes as well. In
the case that I saw, some aluminum wiring had disintegrated inside the
cable between the electrical meter and the breaker box. The resulting poor
connection gave all sorts of crazy voltage problems, and it was a definite
fire hazard as well.

Since this is such a high-stakes diagnosis, I would definitely contact a
fully qualified professional in my area to handle the job. If you have any
serious wiring problems, it could possibly pose a serious fire hazard for
your home. It might not simply be a threat to your light bulbs and
synthesizer gear that we are talking about. Let's hope that you've just
been buying a poor grade of light bulbs lately, but to be sure, have the
situation checked by a professional to determine what is really happening.


Good luck,
Glen