Hello. For the last several months my wife and I noticed a low frequency humming sound in our home. At first this sound was simply "white noise" and not very noticeable unless you really tried to focus on it. However in the last couple of months the sound has been much more noticeable, particularly when all the TV's in the house are turned off. It's gotten to the point where many nights I have to go sleep on the couch with a fan turned on full blast. It's the only thing that masks the sound enough for me to sleep. Ear plugs are of no help. They seem to drown out every other noise except for the hum. Following are more details:

1) Can be heard in every room of the house.
2) The noise is pretty much constant but seems to pulsate/vary in intensity.
3) I've shut off the power and the sound is still there.
4) I've looked throughout the home including the attic and can't seem to locate the source.

Any ideas or feedback would be VERY MUCH appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Chuck

Stratmando

Try turning off the Water.

speedball1

Let's reverse the washer first. Shut the water off under the tank and take the lid off. Remove the three screws on top of the ballcock,(sae image) and pull the stem,washer and float assembly up. Pry the washer out and turn it over. Seat it back firmly and see if that doesn't help.
Sometimes the problem is caused by the ballcock trying to fill while water is seeping out of the tank. The sound you hear is the washer vibrating against the seat of the ballcock. First check ther linkage between the flapper and the flush lever. It should have 1/4" of play when your tank is filled. The water level should be 1/2" below the white overflow tube after the tank's filled. Next feel the flat side of your flapper. Does it have wavey edges? Do your hands come away black? Replace it if it does. And last check the seat itself. Any nicks or rough spots? If so click on back. There are replacement seats that glue right over the old one and are easy to replace. One of the above should take care of your howling.

This happened in a new house some years ago. Only at night and in the early morning. They thought the house was haunted and were about to move out. I caught it in the powder room toilet. It would vibrate and the pipes in the wall would pick it up and carry it all over the house.
One more thing. This could also happen if the ballcock kicking on every time you shut off a faucet. To check this out remove the lid and open and shut the shower valve real fast while watching the float ball. If it bobs up and down you have located the source of the problem. It is a sort of water hammer and you don't recharge your air chambers by simply draining the system. It's more complicated then that.
Let me explain. Back in the 60's we were required to to put air chambers on all bath lavatories and kitchen sinks. Over time water and condensate built up in them and they must be recharged. First turn off the house at the main house shut off valve. Then open hot and cold faucets at the farthest bathroom to prevent air lock.(This is important.) You will find under each fixture little brass or chrome valves. These are called angle stops. With a small pail held under the angle stop to catch the run off look under the handle of the stop and you will see a nut with the stem running through it. This is called the bonnet packing nut. Put your wrench on it and back it off counterclockwise. Now open the stop and remove the stem and washer assembly, The stop will began to drain. When it has quit draining reassemble the stop and move on to the next one. Do this on each one of your angle stops. There will be six of them in a two bath home. When you are done, close off the faucets you have opened, turn on the water to the house, and give yourself a pat on the back.

You have just recharged your air chambers and saved yourself a hefty service call bill. Hope this helps you out and thank you ratting my answer. TOM

maxreturn

Thanks Speedball. I have already followed your instructions in paragraph one. There was only one bathroom where I needed to replace the ballcock and flapper but I still have the problem. Next I will check out the float ball while turning the shower valve on and off.

Could you do me a favor? I'm a little fuzzy as to what the angle stops are. Are you referring to the hot and cold shut off valves beneath the sink? If not, would you consider posting a picture of this part? Thanks for offering to help!

Best Regards
Chuck

speedball1

Angle stops, (see image) are those little shut off valves in your cabinet. Cheers, Tom

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sandra8

Have you found the source of the noise? I starting having the exact same problem on Saturday, Oct. 10. I found your question by doing a search on the noise. Your list of 1-4 matches my problem. Over the course of the week the sound changed to a lower level hum, sometimes sounding like a bass guitar. I've checked all the walls using a glass cup and couldn't hear the sound in the walls. I use a fan a night, but it does not drown out the sound. I could still hear the hum after shutting off the main electric and breakers, so I decided to call my energy company. The reapair person could kind of hear it, but not constantly like I can. She replaced the the outside electric meter, but it didn't change anything. The next day I called the water company. They stopped by and checked out the water meter, radiators, and walls for sound and found nothing. The reapair person told me she has horrible hearing and could not hear it.
And my husband cannot hear it. I only hear it in the house. Fortunately it is less annoying then it was last week. Please let me know if you find the source, thanks

Sandra

Milo Dolezal

You are not saying whether it is continuous hum, 24/7 or only certain hours of the day.

In addition to Tom's advice, here are some sources of humming noise:

1. Hot water circulation pump
2. R.O system
3. Ceiling fan
4. Computer turned On
5. A/C running
6. Refrigerator
7. Booster pump
8. Sewer ejector
9. Pool pump
10.Pressurized water leak
11.High voltage wires above your house
12.Street light
13.Neighbor running generator
14.Swamp cooler

Stratmando

I would then try Turning Off water and ALL Power(Main Breaker). If that does it. Turn breakers on One by One to determine the cause?

maxreturn

Speedball, Milo and others. Thanks for your responses. I have followup questions for Speedball and Milo:

Speedball, I just got back from vacation so I haven't gone beyond replacing the ballcock in one bathroom. But I did turn off the main water last night and the sound persists. Does this rule out plumbing as a potential culprit?

Milo, the sound is 24/7 but is most noticeable during the early morning hours when other background noise is most quiet. I have ruled out everything on your list except 1,2,7 & 8. Can you elaborate on where to find these and who may be qualified to check them?

BTW...I have turned off the main breaker too and the sound still persists. So anything related to electrical power can be ruled out.

speedball1

When you turned the water off did you open a faucet to relieve the pressure? If not go back and do it again. Let me know, Tom