A very audible, higher frequency noise started in my basement this past Saturday. It has been continuous for the past several days. The sound seems to eminate from the area where I have a stationary tub, water softener, gas fired hot water heater, and gas furnace. The main gas line and the AC refrigerant line run through this area as well. There are also plumbing vent lines that are in hard, direct contact with floor joists. I have yet to isolate the cause. I have shut off power using the main 200 amp breaker. No change. I have shut off the water at the main valve in the house and then drained the water lines. No change. I have closed the gas valve at the meter. No change. Our utility company has sent both their electric and gas service people to our house. They say it is not caused by the utilities. I talked to the water and sewer district people. No idea as to the cause.
The house is 13 yrs old. Half the basement is finished – the other half, where the noise seems to be centered, is my wood working shop.
I plan to temporarily cover the plumbing vent pipe on the roof to see if the sound stops. Do you have any other suggestions as how to isolate the source or any ideas as to what might be causing it?
Replies
Any chance a stored tool is turned on?
Youth and Enthusiasm Are No Match
For Age and Treachery
I have only one battery powered tool and it has not been charged for some time. I forgot to mention that we have a CO detector but it is on the second floor and it is quiet. The smoke alarms are powered by house power - not batteries.
Is it completely constant? No change whatsoever?(A battery operated tool wouldn't run for days, of course.)
Youth and Enthusiasm Are No Match
For Age and Treachery
Hard wired smoke alarms have backup batteries, as I found out last week when we couldn't figure out what the intermittent beep was.
Do you are any of your neighbors have a roof wind turbine vent.
I had one on house a several hundred ft away across a cove. The high pitched sound bounced around the houses and it was very hard to tell where it was comming from.
You mentioned that you shut off the water and gas. And also had the power co out.
Did you shut off all of the power?
-- Air whistling through a crack in heating/cooling ductwork.
-- Air coming into or out of the house "shell" through a crack, due to a static pressure difference.
-- Gas whistling. Often this is the flame itself, oscillating at a high frequency, but could be gas leaking out of a crack in the pipe, eg.
-- AC refrigerant either moving through pipes or leaking out through a crack.
-- Wind blowing across a rooftop vent.
-- Noise coming through drain pipes, possibly due to something like gas leaking into the drain below ground and then going up the vent. (When you get up on the roof, listen at each vent to see if you hear the sound.)
-- Electrical, from some computerized equipment or a variable-speed drive on something. Also check any lighting dimmers, and electronic fluorescent ballasts.
-- Water heater can make an intermittent gurgling/whistling sound when badly plugged with sediment.
-- The place is haunted.
-- You already are crazy.
It's called TINNITUS!
Taos hum?
_______________________________________________________________
my tagline has fallen and can't get up
Get a really directional microphone and hook it up to headphones, the kind that seal on (or in) your ear. This will make it much easier to find the source of the noise, as it will drop off significantly when the mic is pointed in the wrong direction and get louder as you get closer to the source.
How to get a directional mic? It might be built into a portable recorder designed for dictation. Or you might have to go to a music store and rent a mic, pre-amp and cans (headhphones).
10$ stethascope will do the same if you add a small cone to it..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Do you have kids?
Last week I found out that a Tamagotchi, when the battery wears down, emits a really, really annoying high pitched squeal, not too loud, that goes on for days. And that Tamagotchis are easy to lose under the sofa cushions.
You just never know what it could be. You may have to crawl around on your hands and knees for a while.
what are Tamagotchi...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
is it possible that there is a broken water main, and you're hearing the noise thru the pipe...odd thing is you probably wouldn't even notice the drop in water pressure, bu trust me, you might when you get your water bill....
DAMHIKTI wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then
it could be before the meter..
shut the water off at the street...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I thought it was that thing that Charo used to do:
gutchi, gutchi!
or something like that..._______________________________________________________________
this tagline space for rent
never mind..
The Tamagotchi (‚½‚Ü‚²‚Á‚¿ Tamagotchi) is a handheld digital pet created in 1996 by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. The Tamagotchi is housed in a small and simple egg-shaped computer. Three buttons (A, B, and C) allow the user to select an activity to do, these include:
Feeding the Tamagotchi piece of food or a snack, which are definifed as "healthy" and "unhealthy" options, respectively.
Playing a game with the Tamagotchi, which keeps its happiness levels topped up.
Purging the Tamagotchi's environment of its excrement, this is done by "flushing" the screen.
Checking its status: Its age, weight, discipline, hunger and happiness levels.
The Tamagotchi evolves into one of a wide range of characters three or four times in its lifetime depending on how well the user takes care of it, and which version of Tamagotchi the user has. Tamagotchis were one of the biggest fads of the late 1990s. In addition, there are now versions of the toy that can connect with other Tamagotchis, called Tamagotchi Connection.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
If I found one of those making a high pitch noise b/c the battery was dead the pour "digital pet" would soon find itself in a digital pet cemetary.... death blow courtesy of Douglas
I am forwarding this message to http://www.lawrencehumane.org/ so that they can keep a watch on you/
I'd never hurt my real dog, an annoying kid's toy is another matter...
well there this one time I bought a new pair of $200 pair of Redwings and he chewed on one of them... I wanted to kill him... After he saw me coming and yelling he decided that under the bed was a good place to chill for a while....
so how long do you think CAG will be on the adoption list...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Aliens!
One trick we use to find noises is with a very long screwdriver. Hold one end tight to a suspected source and put your ear on the end of the handle. Listen around, you'll find it. Watch where you put it, of course!
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
So what was the noise?
inquiring minds want to know...
_______________________________________________________________
the cat unraveled my string theory
I have yet to isolate the cause. A friend came over friday evening and he looked for two hours. I taped the water heater exhaust and furnace inlet and exhaust pipes closed but the sound continued. I temporarily capped the vent pipe on the roof - no change in the sound. I used a stethiscope but could not isolate it. My order of smoke matches arrived Monday and I will try them.
Since it has gotten colder here in southwestern Ohio, the noise is not as loud. In fact, it actually stopped for about 30 seconds while I was working in the basement last night.
Thank you to everyone for your suggestions.
And the sound didn't seem to be coming OUT of the vent pipe when you were up there?
Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. --Mahatma Gandhi
Weird.
Nothin' like a mystery, keep us posted._______________________________________________________________
the cat unraveled my string theory
maybe we don't want to know...
something has taken up residence under the floor..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
and those are courtship mating sounds..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 10/24/2006 2:40 pm by IMERC
Time to call Mulder and Sculley ???
Get over it....... The angry going eat you up. ~Brownbagg '06
Time to call Venkman and Stantz.
Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. --Mahatma Gandhi
I had a stud finder buried in a bucket that made me nuts with the squeel. Thought it was something to do with my alarm. SWMBO said that I was making it go off. She must have been frisky....