We moved into this house about a 1 1/2 ago, and noticed that one or two of the wall outlets make a popping noise periodically (once every couple hours). We replaced all the receptacles with new and continued to hear the sound. I had an electrician come over to check the outlets and he said they appeared to be setup and working correctly. Does anyone have any ideas on what the noise could be coming from?

Okay, 1.5 weeks, months, years?

When you hear the popping noise, do you see any arcing (flicker) behind the outlet?

Do you have aluminum conductors?

I'm concerned that what you are hearing is arcing and this would be an indicator of a potential fire.

When had the receptacle out, did you notice whether there was any melting, charring or burn marks on the conductors?

The problem may be in the wiring and not the receptacle.

You could get a AFCI breaker and install it on the circuit. If it starts to trip, you would then know that there is in fact a serious problem.

Sorry, we've been in the house now for about 1 1/2 months. The house was built in 1980. I haven't seen any flickering behind the outlet, or any burn marks around the conductor. We have copper conductors. I might give the AFCI breaker a try to see if it starts a trip. Thanks.