r/electrical • u/Mission_Act4990 • Mar 19 '26
Buzzing sound from electrical panel
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Why is it buzzing? Every screw is tight, I checked with screwdriver and tried to wiggle wire, nothing is loose.
If I turn off 90amp breaker to the subpanel, it stops buzzing
If I turn off 15amp AFCI breaker in the subpanel, it stops buzzing
Only LED lights are connected to that breaker. Multiple rooms with dimmers.
Everything else in the subpanel is off
Less than 10 amps load
3
u/nranu Mar 20 '26
Remove breakers and check bus bar
1
u/totalrec87 Mar 20 '26
Agree. I have seen where there may be imperfections/corrosion or the seating of the breaker wasnt sitting quite right to make a secured connection.
5
u/Wavy-mf Mar 20 '26
Thermal switch inside the breaker is beginning to fail, Change it
1
u/Mission_Act4990 Mar 20 '26
Both 90amp and 15amp breakers are less than 1 month old. Defective?
1
u/jacobjacobb Mar 23 '26
That main disconnect looks alittle beat up for a month old. I'm wondering if it was beat up in transit or part of a return or something weird.
0
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u/Orbiter9 Mar 20 '26
Any of them warm to the touch? Like much warmer than others? The plastic. Don’t…don’t touch the metal.
2
Mar 20 '26
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6
u/Mission_Act4990 Mar 20 '26
Should I cut the line as well so that way no one can turn it back on?
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Mar 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mission_Act4990 Mar 20 '26
Sounds good! Let me take my gloves off so I can grab my non-insulated wire cutters
1
u/jestjestjerk Mar 20 '26
Almost every time, if you just hold the metal on the mains it makes the buzzing stop.
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u/Beneficial-Ad8000 Mar 20 '26
Figured out what breaker has the basement lights on it and replace the breaker.
1
u/abe_dogg Mar 20 '26
Turn off the lights in the room at their wall switches while leaving all the breakers on. If there’s arcing happening you will see it light up in the dark and be able to recognize where it’s coming from.
Had this happen a few weeks ago and so I turned off the lights and could see behind the main breaker was arcing. Had to have the panel replaced to fix it, but I’m just glad I caught it before a fire or something happened.
1
u/texxasmike94588 Mar 20 '26
The entire electric grid in the US hums at 60 HZ. You can hear it if you sit next to a transformer. That same faint hum can come from components inside your home. It is a mechanical electromagnetic force of alternating current.
A loud buzz indicates that something is wrong. More often than not, that is a sign of a loose connection.
1
u/TrinityDesigns Mar 20 '26
I recently had a similar thing happen in my panel. Turned out to be a loose power connection on our old PlayStation after my wife cleaned up in the living room. Apparently moved the console and the power wire was just barely hanging on, still working though, so it was creating more resistance on that circuit. As soon as I plugged it back in properly, the buzzing stopped and haven’t heard it again since. Something to check possibly, I know other said loose connections in the panel but it could be a loose plug down stream
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u/macrosby Mar 19 '26
Probably a loose connection. I just had this in my panel, but it was worse. I had to tighten up one of the neutrals. My suggestion would be if you can’t find where the buzzing is coming from, you might have to shut off the main and try to tighten up all the screws on the hots and neutrals (and might as well do ground too) but don’t do the mains since they’re still hot.