I'm hearing a sound coming from my breaker box.
It sounds like a light wood on wood tapping noise.
It seems to come at different rates , but cositant in rhythm.
Wondering if eny one has an idea?

I sure don't have an idea but I'll piggy back on your question with one of my own.

Often times I hear a low buzz from my 30 amp 2 pole breaker that runs my water heater. It is intermittent and doesn't happen with any predictability. That same breaker is usually warm to the touch.

My guess loose connection, and/ or arcing.

Check the connections and if they are good change the breakers. Eric

That would be my first guess as well.

Thanks !!!

The elements in your water heater could be going bad or have corroded/loose connections. Breaker might just be showing symptoms when one or both elements are heating.

That is certainly likely as well. Thanks !!

check your connections

some times breakers go bad/wear out , they can have a magnetic trip or a thermal trip

if you have more than 1 thirty amp breaker you might try swapping them , see if it follows the breaker or the load.

I suspect it could be wearing out. I use it as a switch. Electricity is not cheap here so I only turn my heater on for one hour per day. The breaker is the switch. I should just put it on a timer I suppose

If you throw the main breaker and kill power while its making the noise does the noise stop? If so you don't want to leave it making that noise.

Perhaps find the individual breaker that makes it stop like that. Then you'll know the wires / breaker to check / change.

White your breaker shouldn't be making noises. If you put a screw driver on it and your ear up against the handle and listen to it then you'll know if its coming from the breaker or the water heater. If its the breaker change the breaker. You can add a switch...


https://a.co/d/bjXXdZT

There are recalls on that stuff. This is a recent one. You should look up the one you have. The make and model is most likely on the inside of the door.

Thanks Troy ! Your diagram made it dawn on me how simple it would be to include a switch ahead of the heater itself.

Both elements never run at the same time , only one at a time …
Breaker could have corroded connection where it plugs on to buss bar …

Is your meter socket right behind your panel and are you fed overhead or underground? I had a call for a noisy meter. Was a fine vibration that sounded like humming/arcing. So loud they had trouble sleeping at night. I adjusted the sag in his triplex and it was gone. Crazy noises can come from high tension wire, especially the old steel that fiddle string at -40. Those noises ramble through everything, wire, insulator, pole, down the triplex to the service mast and dissipating at the house. That was weird, probably not the cause but is a possibility.

A humming warm breaker is probably ready to calf out. Could clip the line and find out what the tank is drawing, maybe the HWT is pooched or on its way out?

A worn out breaker shouldn't make a popping sound. They generally just fail. I would first suspect a loose connection. Any sound coming from a panel is no good and should be inspected and fixed ASAP. (I'm an electrician).

Thanks for all the replies.

It is not a bad idea to check all the connections at the breakers , from time to time.You will quite often find a loose screw. This could be from improper installation, or cold flow of the metal, due to heating or pressure. Aluminum conductors more so than copper. Quite often you detect a bad connection or faulty breaker or control , by smell , usually a burning bakelite smell.. I was a n electrician and lineman, in my former life. have seen lots of weird stuff, old243

“Electricity. We don’t know exactly what it is, but we know what it can do!”
First page of an old Manitoba Hydro (Manitoba Electric Commission back then) booklet from the 20s or 30s. Part of their orientation…lol