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I have a portable AC. For years, it worked as well as can be expected. Recently, it caused lights on the same (and only) circuit to flicker. The problem went away after turning it off, and came back after turning it back on.

I'm thinking about replacing the largest capacitor (which I assume is for the compressor) because it didn't start cooling when it should, and that seemed like the capacitor most likely to cause problems.

My bigger concern is with the lights flickering. They continued to flicker for a few minutes after unplugging the unit. Turning the lights off and on didn't fix it. They're LEDs, and those are finicky about voltage. I also heard an air purifier fan sound funny during the flickering. Could it be something else on the circuit trying to "catch up" after running on low voltage? The building is old and a lot of the wiring is knob and tube. Are there any wiring issues that could happen from high or wildly variable current draw that then go away a few minutes later?

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    As with another recent question with old wiring, if possible adding AFCI breakers would be a good safety improvement.
    – crip659
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 11:18
  • As Solar Mike suggests below, a poor connection could heat up (more under bigger load like AC), causing small physical movement further affecting the connection further. It would take a few minutes after the big load stops to cool down again.
    – Armand
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 14:40

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Often there will be a loose connection somewhere.

This seems to affect your lights and that is good as you now know there is an issue. If this is also affecting heavier load devices then that loose connection could be getting hot and may even cause a fire.

Get this checked out - this is a safety issue.

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