lights dimming in the evening low voltage ?

shagal

hi all
just had esb out to check voltage due to lights dimming in the evening
very nice man who checked the voltage at the meter showed 229v and 219v with 3 kw kettle switched on cant remember what amps but said it was with in the norm but did mention that it was only 2.30 in the afternoon ,so he checked connections and all seemed well even went and checked connections at transformer for the estate (14, 3 bed bungaloes) noted that it was a 50kva
so he said he will log a request for a meter to be fitted to record voltage for a few days.
wondering now is 50kva large enough to feed 14 houses at peek times just thought id post to see what happens .
any feed back would be appriciated
thanks

tomdempsey200

the voltage drop on the supply seems quite high there.. I wouldn't expect a 10 volt drop when switching on a kettle so there may be a problem

2011

shagal wrote: »

so he said he will log a request for a meter to be fitted to record voltage for a few days.

This is key as it will show up any issues.

It would be interesting to see what the volt drop is when a few people that are on the same phase switch on 8.5kW showers!

My advice is to sit back and see what they find.

Bruthal

Transformer would probably want to be 3 or 4 times that size.

shagal

2011 wrote: »

This is key as it will show up any issues.

It would be interesting to see what the volt drop is when a few people that are on the same phase switch on 8.5kW showers!

My advice is to sit back and see what they find.

it was the shower that drew my attention to the problem serious dimming of lights which i wouldnt have noticed during the summer evenings but noticing now as the evenings are drawing in and lights are on earlier
so as you say will just have to wait and see what happpens with the meter when it is fitted just hope it is left in long enough to get a good idea of what is going on though, he said three days but it seams a bit short to be worth while

2011

shagal wrote: »

just hope it is left in long enough to get a good idea of what is going on though, he said three days but it seams a bit short to be worth while

Some people might be tempted to ensure that there is an excessive volt drop recorded by asking neighbors to switch a little more on than normal while that equipment is in place

shagal

2011 wrote: »

Some people might be tempted to ensure that there is an excessive volt drop recorded by asking neighbors to switch a little more on than normal while that equipment is in place

ohhh that would be naughty,but any way i dont know which houses are on the same phase as myself
lol:rolleyes:

tomdempsey200

it's no harm to also eliminate any possible installation issues..usually at the DB(fusebox)

a registered contractor would check that


but it sounds like there may well be a supply issue ..you wouldn't expect more than a few volts of a drop usually when switching a kettle on if the testing is accurate

tomdempsey200

Bruthal wrote: »

Transformer would probably want to be 3 or 4 times that size.

i don't think it would be 3-4 times 50kva

the total connected load is 14*12kva=168kva before diversity

i think diversity of 0.5-0.6 or so...higher for electric heated homes

Bruthal

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

i don't think it would be 3-4 times 50kva

the total connected load is 14*12kva=168kva before diversity

i think diversity of 0.5-0.6 or so...higher for electric heated homes

It was off top of head sort of post. 50 kva seems a bit on the small side for 14 houses. Sounds like there is another problem anyway.

tomdempsey200

Bruthal wrote: »

It was off top of head sort of post. 50 kva seems a bit on the small side for 14 houses. Sounds like there is another problem anyway.

yes...i would say it is small