Lights flickering in 2 rentals

[Matthew Paul]

I got a call from a good tenant . he describes how when they start the dryer all the lights dim in the house , then they will flicker for a while .  He wants me to call an electrician , I tell him I will look at it first , he was dead on in what he said . So I had a thought , let me check the house next door , so I went in and turned on the lights and then the dryer , it did the same thing .  I check another building on a separate meter on the property , yup it is acting funny .  I stop by 2 neighbors , they have noticed the same thing .  So I tell them to turn off all electronics , even the heat if its controlled by a  board .  Everyone was like why?    Well I suspect its broken neutral on the supply line , if I am right you could toast electronics , and if there is too much draw on the line it could fry electrical panels or worse .   

Called Balto gas and electric ..    they were there in 1/2 hour ................    I was right , a broken neutral on the main feeder .      5 houses  were using electric with no neutral .

Floating neutral wire of a broken neutral is a very serious problem 

[Matthew Paul]

Originally posted by @Kevin Manz:

You an electrician 

No  I am not an electrician . But I am a contractor , I have dealt with electrical problems . Simple checks with an electrical tester and multi meter and I determined WHAT the problem was . I then had to find the source of the problem , Then by checking the properties that are fed off the same pole and determining they had the SAME problem told me the problem was on the utility company side .