Samsung pn64d8000 causing voltage dips

It kinda sounds like maybe that circuit is already heavily loaded with other devices, and adding a 500 watt TV may be the straw that is breaking the camel's back.

1. How many amps is the circuit breaker for that circuit?

2. Besides the TV, list all of the other devices that are on that circuit.

3. That light that's flickering when the TV is displaying bright scenes - is that a table lamp that's plugged into the same circuit as the TV? Or is it a ceiling light that's on a different circuit ?

Yep... its probably the breaker. Great code ideas.

Well you didn't quite answer all my questions but one glaring thing is that there should not be any wall plugs on an overhead ceiling light circuit - wall circuits usually have 20 amp breakers and are always separate from ceiling light circuits (which usually have 15 amp breakers).

Did someone (like an un-licensed electrician?) do some rewiring in your house in recent years or some sort of room addition or renovation where circuits were added or tapped into? Arc-Fault breakers work just fine and i've supplied hundreds of them to electricians without a single issue, so if you're having an issue with it then it was probably not installed/wired correctly, which might explain why you're able to plug stuff into the same circuit as your recessed lights - that doesn't happen in my industry.

Changing the Arc-Fault breaker won't accomplish anything as it's not the cause of the problem, so don't bother. The problem is with the circuit that it's sending voltage to - specifically the fact that wall plugs are connected to a ceiling light circuit.

What were the voltage readings you were getting from that Arc-fault breaker before you removed it? Were they fluctuating? With or without a load?

I have been in the Electrcial Contractor industry for 38 years (mostly in the wholesale end but also have done wiring) and it's a fact that at least here in California, ceiling circuits are always separate from wall circuits. They are never combined. I think this is dictated in the NEC but not sure, and not sure if wall and ceiling circuits are combined in other states. But we sell 5 rolls of 12/2 Romex to every one roll of 14/2 (i do sales and i stock the store up so i know), and they always use 12/2 and 20 amp breakers for the wall circuits and only use 14/2 with 15 amp circuits for the ceiling circuits. And these circuits are never combined. Ever. There has to be a reason why we never combine them here - and i don't think it's just a California thing. And the wall receptacles are always 15 amp - this is allowed on a 20 amp breaker as long as the receptacles are side-wired and i believe that they do this because they can put more receptacles on a 20 amp circuit than they can on a 15 amp circuit so that would actually save money. The 20 amp wall receptacles are usually used on single dedicated circuits (washing machine, microwave oven, dish washer) and are the only receptacle on that circuit. This goes for multi-unit apartment buildings, condos, townhomes, and single family homes ranging from 2-bedroom to 6-bedroom beach houses from Palos Verdes to Malibu. I do the material list take-offs directly from the construction plans and this is how all the homes are engineered.

Either you live in Canada (they use 14/2 for wall circuits and ceiling circuits), or your electrician wired some circuits wrong. I know dozens of licensed electricians that i would not allow to wire my house, they're that bad. I can't tell you how many horror stories we've heard from electricians who were correcting previous incorrectly done work performed by licensed electricians. Hell, my best friend's 3-room addition was wired by a licensed electrician but upon final inspection he had 13 corrections on the notice that had to be corrected. And one of em was he'd tapped into a wall circuit to wire the overhead can lights in a guest bathroom and it was against code. It took us two weekends to correct all the stupid stuff this licensed and so-called "Title 24 Specialist" did incorrectly. He was a moron.

I think that your arc-fault breaker was having issues because the shared ceiling/wall circuit is not wired correctly, possibly an issue with a shared neutral somewhere. An Arc-fault breaker is much more sensitive to wiring issues where a regular breaker isn't affected, so by removing the Arc-fault you're taking a band-aid approach to a bigger problem. Arc-fault breakers (and GFCI breakers) are pre-tested before they leave the assembly line by law, and i have never ever gotten one back defective (Murray, ITE, Cutler Hammer, GE). Your issue has to be a problem with the way that circuit is wired.

I really think you need to get a 2nd opinion from a licensed and competent electrician, it won't take him long at all to trouble-shoot the issue and find the cause. House wiring is super easy.


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Edited by RandyWalters - 2/25/13 at 7:20am