Freaked out - our breaker box is making a popping noise every 20 - 60 minutes.

[dsmith]

It sounds kind of like a breaker is tripping, but none have. It took me a while to figure out where the noise was coming from, and now I'm worried that it may be a fire hazard. Why do these things happen on holidays late at night? Does anyone know if this is something I should worry about, like try to find someone tonight even though I'm kind of broke? I texted my brother, who is an electrician, but I haven't heard from him.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Can you figure out which breaker is making the noise?  So turn one off and see if the noise stops?  

[Arcadia]

The circuit breaker that I usually overload is the kitchen one (countertop microwave, coffee maker and an electric kettle concurrently in use will trip it). If mine is making that kind of noise, I would turn off the circuit breaker for my kitchen one first and see if that helps.

I would unplug the TV too since a faulty TV has always tripped the circuit breaker when I was a kid. I would unplug any appliance not currently in use too just in case if the popping sound continues.

[dsmith]

I'm wondering if the circuit was trying to trip and couldn't for whatever reason. I had a heater running but turned it off for the night, and I haven't heard the noise since then. I'm going to wait another 30 minutes or so and see if it happens. I couldn't find any electricians available, so hopefully it is ok to wait for morning.

[Jean in Newcastle]

29 minutes ago, dsmith said:

I'm wondering if the circuit was trying to trip and couldn't for whatever reason. I had a heater running but turned it off for the night, and I haven't heard the noise since then. I'm going to wait another 30 minutes or so and see if it happens. I couldn't find any electricians available, so hopefully it is ok to wait for morning.

If you turned off the heater and no longer hear the noise, I think that you should be fine. 

[TechWife]

You can call the non emergency number for your fire department and ask if they think it’s safe to wait until you get an electrician to look at it.

[PrincessMommy]

heaters are huge electrical hogs.  Most likely it was that.  If you need to use it again before an electrician comes try to put it on a different circuit.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

You might also think about putting in some gfci outlets.  They are like mini circuit breakers right in the outlet and will trip there without affecting the power for the house. 

[KungFuPanda]

12 hours ago, dsmith said:

I'm wondering if the circuit was trying to trip and couldn't for whatever reason. I had a heater running but turned it off for the night, and I haven't heard the noise since then. I'm going to wait another 30 minutes or so and see if it happens. I couldn't find any electricians available, so hopefully it is ok to wait for morning.

Maybe put your top suspicious items on a power strip and see if it trips? I learned last week that running the vacuum on the same strip as an electric heater trips it. Had that whole side of the house gone dark at once I wouldn’t have pinpointed that combination as easily. 

[Bambam]

20 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Maybe put your top suspicious items on a power strip and see if it trips? I learned last week that running the vacuum on the same strip as an electric heater trips it. Had that whole side of the house gone dark at once I wouldn’t have pinpointed that combination as easily. 

You are not supposed to put an electric heater on a power strip. 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-you-should-not-plug-space-heaters-into-power-strips-according-to-fire-departments/

Please do not use a power strip with any electric space heater. 

[dsmith]

My brother came over today and found some issues with corrosion most likely caused by a water issue we had. He spent a good amount of time checking things over and making repairs, etc, plus we got to visit for a while, which was nice. I feel much safer now!