Talked to an electrician at the hardware store about my flickering lights

He told me I didn't need to rewire anything, just swap out one loose neutral wire in the junction box. Took me 15 minutes and cost zero dollars. Anyone else ever fix a big problem with just tightening a screw?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisa52mo ago

My dad actually did the same thing last summer with our porch light that had been flickering for months, flipped the breaker off, found a loose screw in the box, and that was it, no sparks no smoke just a tight connection and it worked perfect.

hugo_bennett2mo ago

Flickering porch lights can drive you crazy. Good on your dad @lisa5 for catching that loose screw before it turned into a real problem. A quick breaker flip and a tighten saved a headache later. People blow these things out of proportion sometimes but a tight connection is a win in my book.

adam7512mo ago

Hold on a second - a loose neutral wire is definitely a SERIOUS fire hazard, not just a simple fix. You shouldn't be messing with a junction box unless you know exactly what you're doing and everything's turned off at the breaker.