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Hot take: everyone says to check the neutral first, but my worst call was a phantom voltage on a three-way switch loop
Got a service call for lights flickering in a finished basement in Springfield. Homeowner said it only happened when the washing machine ran. Spent a whole day checking the panel, every connection, and the appliance circuit itself. Everything metered out fine under load. The problem was in the switch leg for the basement lights, which shared a wall with the laundry room. A nail had nicked the travelers, and the vibration from the washer was inducing just enough voltage to make the LEDs glow and flicker. Took me eight hours over two visits to find it because I kept looking at the power feed and the neutral path. I was so sure it was a bad shared neutral. Ever have a problem that was in the last place you thought to look because the usual fix didn't work?
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brookep621mo ago
Yeah, phantom voltages are the worst. That story from @the_ben about the rain splice is a good reminder to check for weird paths. Sometimes the problem just isn't where the power comes from.
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