Baffled by Mysterious Snapping

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applebear

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Hopefully most are familiar with my house drama, as I am going to skip through to the point. Right about the same time the contractor and furnace guy did work on my house, a loud random snapping started.

I assumed it was something the contractor did as he messed with a wire over on the one wall of the house. But the people helping me, have looked at it and corrected any issues and found no real serious ones with the wiring work. So we have ruled that out, and the snapping continues.

The furnace guy had to drill down between the walls to get a wire through to the thermostat and I thought, maybe that was the culprit. I talked to an electrician and he said it was doubtful, as if it was a arch issue, it would have blown fuses and burnt out by now.

I am concerned what is causing this snapping sound, as it is very random and sudden. I will just be sitting here and SNAP. It always sounds like it's coming from the direction of that wall...however ONCE it sounded like it was coming from my computer and I later found a cracked charger I had hooked up to it that I had to toss. It was all most like too much power was delivered to it?

It *could* be it's not even a electrical issue, but no one is sure how to determine it without hearing it and it doesn't happen enough to be caught by anyone else.

Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be or suggestions? I am wondering when the fusebox is updated, if that would help any...but it's just so frustrating not being sure what is even causing it or even if it's electrical for sure. :confused:
 
I don't think so, most of the piping is near the back end of the house...though the kitchen is right off this room, so could be possible there's a pipe near that I'm not remembering.
 
Run the hot water for a while until the pipes get warm and then listen for popping while it cools down. Is there any heat ducts in the area.
 
I will do that, and let you know if it happens around then. I can say most the time it's happened has been during real cold spells [but not always]. There is a heat duct by that wall.
 
No snapping when letting hot water run and pipes cool down.
 
No snapping then either. It's extremely rare and random, making it hard to pin point what exactly is causing it. They thought maybe it was something from the side being exposed causing it, but have heard it since then. They suggested mousetraps [as I was getting some in after the side was exposed]...all clear.

This is closest I could find to it...is higher pitched though, all most like it has a chirp to it. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3JiE7i1768[/ame]
 
Runs everything except the dryer, water heater and furnace. Only things I can think of that are running at the time of the snap is the fridge and light/computer in main room.
 
Re-post that video in appliences with the make and model of the fridge, Jeff will have a better idea for what to look for.
 
Do you think when replacing the fusebox, that could correct the problem? I've had electrical issues over the years, some times they just resolve themselves and others a bit more worrisome.

Unfortunately there really isn't anywhere to move my computer at this time, nor do I think it would matter in spot or another. I could look into a surge protector? Think I remember brother saying it's good to have them on computer, but I've never really looked into them.

Thank you Neal...
 
I have heard a snapping sound come from my speakers at random times; could it be something like that? Also some plug-in timers make a loud click when they cycle.
 
No video is not mine, is closest I could find to the sound...as mine seems higher pitched, like it has a chirp to it.

The snapping is not next to me [except once, when it sounded like it came from computer area], and is usually off to the other side of the room...I just can't pin point 'where.' Only thing over there are outlets and the thermostat.
 
I read somewhere that it could be a bad thermostat. In that thread, someone suggested that you could take the cover off the t-stat and look for burn marks (dark spots on the metal parts) where the spark may contact. Seems to be a simple inspection and then we can rule that out or replace it. On a completely different thought, could it be a smoke alarm giving you a low battery alert? The "chirp" makes me wonder. I'll just keep throwing out things that we can check - totally hit or miss, but maybe we'll get lucky.
 
I think it like the snap you can get on speakers when a capacitor helps start a motor, like fridge or furnace and when a moter slows down sometimes they kick in to keep the speed up. They can give you a spike in voltage. If it is a spike, where is the leak, anywhere, insulation is weak or in a box???
I did post a question in appliances
 
The thermostat is new, but checked anyway just in case I maybe got a defected one and the snapping did start around the same time...don't see anything though. No smoke alarm.

Other than that, fridge is getting on older side [approx 13 years]...I can't think of anything otherwise, that is running on a regular basis and at the time of the snap.
 

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