Almost everything in today’s world is run by electricity. We have appliances which can take power from a city outlet and convert it into usable energy for our needs. However, there exists a problem with using these outlets to power your devices: buzzing. No one enjoys hearing a persistent buzzing noise coming from their TV, phone charger or another electronic device. Power outlets are a great invention, but they are sadly one of the main causes of home fires. When a buzzing sound starts coming from your outlet or any other electrical device plugged into it, there is a good chance that it is starting to overheat and could lead to a fire if left unplugged for too long.
According to electrician Central Coast owner Calvin Hudson, a buzzing sound coming from your power cord or power outlets can be an indication that the device plugged into the wall is drawing too much power for the system configuration in which it is operating. This will cause the circuit breaker in your home wiring box to trip and interrupt electricity flow to that room. The loud noise created by the tripping of the circuit breaker causes many people to think their outlet or cord has suddenly stopped working properly when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
If you hear a buzzing sound from your power outlet, this list could explain the possible reasons why. Call a reputable electrician to inspect your power system and prevent a house fire.
Faulty power outletsÂ
Power outlets work by providing a current that is transferred from the outlet to whatever appliance is plugged in. This current is strong enough to provide appliances with power and it is also steady so that appliances do not experience any disruptions when they are turned on.
A buzzing sound may be a sign that this circuit between the wall and an appliance has been disrupted somehow, making it seem as though there’s a short or something loose inside of the outlet itself. The noise could even come from the outside, meaning that there’s something wrong with your air conditioner or other pieces of equipment that’s emitting a loud buzz every time it turns on.
Loose wiresÂ
When a wire becomes loose, it can rub against another surface until eventually, you hear a familiar clicking noise coming from the same general area.
The clicking noise is caused by the wire intermittently touching and then falling away from what it was touching, essentially finding a way to create voltage by moving. If this sound becomes consistent, it could be an indicator that the ground connection is being made over and over again, which can cause outlets to malfunction.
Overloaded circuitsÂ
Power outlets are usually placed within rooms but also throughout entire houses as well. Our appliances come in different shapes and sizes and we like to plug as many as we can into one power outlet at a time. This isn’t always such a good idea because there is only so much current that can be transferred through one system; if you overload this circuit with appliances using too much electricity, the whole system will experience a power outage.
A buzz could indicate that the circuit is overloaded with too many appliances plugged in or it can also be a sign that your system simply needs to be reset. It’s important to differentiate between these two possibilities, particularly if the buzzing noise starts intermittently but then becomes more steady as time goes by. If you have multiple outlets experiencing problems along with this one, chances are that there’s something wrong with your circuits and it will need to be fixed by a professional electrician.
Defective circuit breakers
If some of your appliances work fine but others do not, or if an appliance keeps turning on and off by itself even when not in use, there might be a problem with the breaker box on your wall. When electricity flows through a device that can potentially cause harm (such as a heater), this piece of equipment ‘trips’ the current so that it does not flow through any unsafe parts of the circuit – this makes sure that no one gets hurt. If your breaker panel keeps tripping, you will need to call an electrician so they can rewire the breaker box to make sure that everything is working properly. If it turns out that this problem keeps happening, you may need to replace your circuit breaker with a newer, more advanced one that can adjust itself according to how much electricity flows through the system at any given time.
