Strange phenomenom

[stiles watson]

I stepped into the shower and the 12 volt overhead lights went out, both in the bedroom and in the living room and kitchen. Finished the shower, got out, tapped on the floor and they came back on. When Dianna took a shower, it did not happen. When I looked under the shower area in the basement, I could not see why or where it might be happening. I called my favorite service manager and he was left scratching his head too.

There are two wires running under the shower area. One is a two wire, yellow and white and the other is a two wire, red and white. I assume the white is ground and the red and yellow are hot. When it happens, it is not popping any fuses. My reasoning tells me that I have a broken wire or a connection getting stretched. Whatever is happening is happening behind the basement wall, I think.

Any help from you electrical gurus would be appreciated. I don't think Dianna wants me to stop taking showers.

[gobears]

i think diana is messin with you...

[racerjoe]

sounds like a broken wire to me or a staple finally worked its way thru the insulation of the wire

[BB_TX]

Look for a place on the wire where it may be flexing. If a wire "wiggles" back and forth enough times, it can break inside the insulation and still look perfectly fine. With the lights on, wiggle all the wires while Dianna watches inside for the lights to flicker.

[CORattler]

Good suggestion, but wouldn't Dianna have to be standing in the shower while looking for flickering lights?
I'm going with the gremlins theory!

quote:Originally posted by BB_TX

Look for a place on the wire where it may be flexing. If a wire "wiggles" back and forth enough times, it can break inside the insulation and still look perfectly fine. With the lights on, wiggle all the wires while Dianna watches inside for the lights to flicker.

[Art-n-Marge]

Maybe when stepping into the shower causes any overhead wires to be affected not just what's under the shower. Maybe when stepping into the shower stalls pulls downward ever so slightly and affects wiring overhead causing the same type of issue from above. I'm just trying to suggest looking at it from another direction. I do realize that taking the ceiling apart will be a lot of work, but wires doing stuff like that aren't safe and you'll probably don't want to ignore this.

Since it seems to be the whole light circuit and thinking about it a little longer and I'd suspect the wiring at the power distribution panel. My shower stall is on the same wall as the shower stall and if the wiring from the power panel goes near or under the shower stall, you might need someone do walk around in the shower while you examine what wiring is being affected.

I hope you get this figured out.

[Ozz]

Stiles, you will just have to start checking all the wires under there and their connections, one would think it's a flex problem causing it. The different areas leads me to think it's a common wire (negative) problem so I would look for the big white wire passing through that area.

[bigmurf]

Maybe it was Bushs fault. G

[stiles watson]

Well, it is a phantom phenomenon. I wiggled the wires I mentioned and now I can't replicate the problem. Walked on every inch of the shower floor and no blink. I really don't think it went away, but it is hiding.

[Jetson]

The light switch in my bath got so touchy that a vibration or the nearby towel could turn the light off.