Strange creaking noise coming from a light fixture?

[LegatoRedrivers]

Maybe someone here can tell me what this is, because I don't know. I'm worried it might be an electrical thing that's going to burn my house down while I sleep.

All day yesterday, there was this strange "creaking" noise coming from one area in my house. It's intermittent, and either I'm crazy or it's getting more frequent. At first I thought it was the springs in my windows because of the cold weather, but when it kept happening I decided to track it down. As far as I can tell, it's coming from a light fixture that's generally on 24/7. I turned the fixture off, but the noise keeps coming. You can't hear it from the attic above. It didn't sound like an electrical noise to me, but I'm far from an electrician, so maybe someone here can tell me.

I caught the sound on video, and uploaded it to youtube: [ame]http://youtu.be/cmBuEym2xdk[/ame]

The noise occurs at about 1:09.

Any ideas?

 

[Lumpy76]

You can just turn off the breaker for that light. It will tell you if it is electric or not.

 

[rotortech]

Noise at 1:09, video fails at 1:18. That is an odd noise. Try Lumpy's suggestion to rule out an electrical source.

 

[tom1025]

You can just turn off the breaker for that light. It will tell you if it is electric or not.

+1.......

If you still hear it your house is haunted.

 

[churchmouse]

Ghost busters......
Does not sound electrical but then I am not right there. Do the breaker test. Go from there. Never overlook something that could cause a fire.

 

[eldirector]

Sounds like something is arcing to me.

Kill the breaker, and see what happens. If no noise, then its time to pull out the fixture and see what is up.

 

[Kraor]

I would check for a large man in the attic, sounds like a board creaking...

Seriously though, kill the breaker, see if it goes away.. easy diagnosis of electrical...

If its still there with no power refer to my first response..

 

[Constructionist]

This convo reminds me of Aunt Bethany in Natl Lampoons Xmas vacation. "it's a funny squeaky sound." - can't imbed a link from my iTurd but I'm sure you've all seen it.

Good luck in isolating the source of the problem. You've received good advise above.

 

[Brandon]

There are alot of wires or looks like to be many wires in that box.
I doubt its the wire to the light itself since the light is off at the switch, but may be another wire in that box. If you are going to do a breaker test, I would suggest turning off the whole house.

I would also look to see how that box is attached to the house, the wiring looks way old which would make me think maybe the nails or wood may be having some stress or something.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Really, if the switch is off, there should be no electricity to the box. There's no fan there? That didn't sound like an electrically generated sound at all. Might be something "adjusting" to the temperature change. How long have you been there?

 

[LegatoRedrivers]

You can just turn off the breaker for that light. It will tell you if it is electric or not.

I tried turning off the breaker for that light, and the sound continued. Of course, this is a very old house and the wiring is...weird. That fixture isn't on the breaker with the rest of the living room, it's on the same breaker as the external garage.

Noise at 1:09, video fails at 1:18. That is an odd noise. Try Lumpy's suggestion to rule out an electrical source.

The video failure is youtube, not the the alien/spook making the sound. The video was fine until I uploaded it to youtube.

Really, if the switch is off, there should be no electricity to the box. There's no fan there? That didn't sound like an electrically generated sound at all. Might be something "adjusting" to the temperature change. How long have you been there?

Been here for 2 years. I thought it was something adjusting to the temp at first too, but it's now been going on for a couple of days...

Edit:

Well, it's not electrical - I just switched off power for the whole house at the main breaker, and still with the noise.

Maybe I should call these guys: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHaVQo5Js7s[/ame]

 

[Brandon]

How is the box attached to the framing of the house? Is it a nail or screw?
If it is a nail, with the power to the whole house off and being very careful not to catch any of the wires, you could try putting a screw in the box to the frame and see if that stops the noise and that may not fix it... It could just be something that is there for the life of the house...

 

[LegatoRedrivers]

Well, Mystery Solved.

With the sound going on for about two days now, I dismantled the entire freaking light fixture instead of just opening it and peeking inside. I found this tucked away in there:

Some friends were over on Saturday, and apparently one of them distracted me in the other room while the other took apart my light fixture and planted this little device that makes creaking sounds at random intervals.

Still don't know why the video screwed up.

I feel a bit silly, now.

 

[Suprtek]

[ame="http://youtu.be/E8_GVfPuw4M"]http://youtu.be/E8_GVfPuw4M[/ame]

 

[SEIndSAM]

Well, Mystery Solved.

With the sound going on for about two days now, I dismantled the entire freaking light fixture instead of just opening it and peeking inside. I found this tucked away in there:

Some friends were over on Saturday, and apparently one of them distracted me in the other room while the other took apart my light fixture and planted this little device that makes creaking sounds at random intervals.

Still don't know why the video screwed up.

I feel a bit silly, now.

This means PAYBACK!!!!!

 

[bass pro]

Where are you located? I would be willing to fix it for you if you dont live to far.

 

[Brandon]

Where are you located? I would be willing to fix it for you if you dont live to far.

There is nothing broke.

 

[dans4420]

wow

your friends are amazing lol where did they get that thing... i work midnights alot and that would get my wife all wound up!!!!!

 

[LegatoRedrivers]

your friends are amazing lol where did they get that thing... i work midnights alot and that would get my wife all wound up!!!!!

ThinkGeek :: The ThinkGeek EvilTron

 

[dans4420]

Thanks

thanks this looks awesome