Circuit Breaker Box Vibrates

[Randy]

I am hearing a vibration (humming) noise from my circuit breaker box. Any ideas of the problem?

[Charles Schuler]

Normal. Don't worry about it unless there are other symptoms/problems. Electric flow has an associated magnetic field and ac has an alternating flow which often makes a humming sound.

[RBM]

Had you just discovered this hum? Is it possible it has been humming all along? Sometimes when heavy load is being pulled through a circuit breaker it will hum for a moment. Is it possible that there is a transformer near or in the panel, for a doorbell . That would be a very likely source for a continuous hum

[Tom The Great]

Do you have a bell transformer attached to the panel?

later,

tom @

[EXT]

I had a occasional loud 60 hz hum that almost drove me nuts trying to pin it down. For over 6 months, I tried to locate the source, but the sound did not seem to come from any single location. The final straw was when the power was off on the street and the house was very quiet and I still heard it. It was not possible to be an electric 60 cycle hum when the power was off. A further search found the gas meter on the same concrete wall on the outside was making a noise only when gas was being used by the water heater. It was close to a 60 hz noise and was transmitted through the house via the gas pipes. A call to the gas utility had it replaced the next day.

[Terry]

One thing that can cause this is when the hot and the neutral don't go thru the same opening in a metal box.

This would be very unlikely in a house, but not impossible.