Can condensation/humidity cause dim/flickering lights?

[railbird]

I live in a 30+ year old house with copper wiring & the fuse box in the garage closet. Last Thursday, during unseasonably warm and humid weather, all the lights in the house began flickering intermitantly, but fairly violently (the digital clocks blinked and needed resetting several times). Then, Friday evening, they all dimmed for minutes at a time, then returned to normal, with no flickering. During this the fridge motor would cut out, but the light was on inside, dimly; the built-in flourescents wouldn't even come on. I tested the voltage at a couple outlets in the 85-90v(DMM) range during the dimming, then it would jump to 122v and back down again. Later that night,(when a cold front came through and it rained heavily), everything went back to normal and has been fine since. The TV worked perfectly this whole time, but it otherwise appeared to be a whole house problem. The garage floor was wet enough that I slipped three times on it that day, plus I had just gotten out of the shower and had wet hair, and I was was working after dark with a flashlight, so I didn't do any tests on the fuse box during the dimming, except to open the closet door and check for smoke/smells/noise. Last winter, there was an occasional flickering problem, but no dimming. I checked the fuse box then, but found no loose connections, signs of arcing, smells, noises, etc. I rent the place from a mean old bat who won't call an electrician since everything seems okay now(I don't have insurance). I'd like to know if it would do any good to test anything now that the problem isn't occurring, and if so, what tests to do. I'm comfortable doing anything inside the box, but have never worked on the meter side of the wall. Thanks.

[Speedy Jim]

Call the utility (with the owner's approval) and ask them to check it out. It may or may not be their problem but they are usually helpful in locating the cause.

Jim

[Art]

Don't know where you live but in Raleigh NC, the utility company discovered that about 20 years ago it used a bunch of bad splicing joints underground. In my last house I had occassion to call and turns out my house had one of the bad joints. That is how I found out about the problem.

[m Ransley]

I had the same thing it was the main comming in, the utility co fixed it free

As far as the lanlord notify him in writing of the flickering and volts. It will damage- ruin electrical equipment , which he could be liable for, or call the bldg inspector if he does nothing.

[Chris Perdue]

I'm with Jim on this one...sounds to me that the utilities' side of the meter may have a broken nuetral somewhere(since it seems to be a "whole house" problem...)

[Joe Fabeitz]

I'd check with a few neighbors, first, to see if they had the same symptoms at that time.. It may have been a more widespread problem.