Desperate for help in stopping the annoying rattle of a timer switch

June 3, 2019 4:30 PM

I don't know if timer switches (as in those used in electrical equipment) are supposed to make noise, but the one next to my room is, and it's driving me CRAZY. Please tell me there is a way to silence this damn thing.

PLEASE HELP.

My apartment wall shares a wall with all of the electrical lines/meters etc in the building (I'm in the basement). It seems like the wall was very poorly constructed, because I can hear a fairly loud rattling from inside my apartment, 24/7.

The electrical equipment is easily accessible from outside my apartment (it's in a big closet), so I went to look, and it seems it's the timer switch that's to blame. Only, there's two of them, and I'm about 98% certain that the other one is dead quiet. The timer switch that IS making the noise is right up against the wall--my wall--and not even a piece of paper can get behind it.

I have already called maintenance today and left a message, but I'm fairly certain they are going to tell me there's nothing they can do (I also think they'll dismiss me because it's actually quieter than a fridge, but my sensitive ears are picking up on it and since the sound is not consistent like a fan, but is constant, it's extremely annoying).

I have already tried a fan on the highest setting, and that doesn't block it out. I even have those Bose Quiet Comfort headphones, and even that doesn't block it out fully (it's not a low frequency noise like foot stomps, either). I really don't want to have to wear earplugs AND run a fan in my apartment all the time just to not hear this stupidly annoying sound.

So if my apartment maintenance shrugs at me, what could I do? I'm renting in a studio, just signed the lease two months ago, so I can't just go to another room, and I can't remake the wall.

Here is what it sounds like (use headphones in a quiet room and turn it up). It's actually quite a bit louder than this, but recording it with a phone didn't work too well.

Here are pictures of the offending machine. If I touch it, I can feel the vibrations in my hand and the sound changes very slightly if I push on it, which is why I'm almost 100% sure it's this thing.

I'm more than willing to call an electrician on my own dime just for them to investigate it more seriously if it means I can get the sound to stop. Other than this, my only idea is to get enough foam board to cover a 15 x 7.5ft wall, cover it with cork board, mass loaded vinyl, a sound proofing mat, and acoustic sound panels, stick it to my wall and pray, but I would like to avoid this route if possible.

posted by adelaide to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

It doesn't look like that timer is controlling anything. If it was in use, there would be "trippers" placed on the dial, as mentioned in the photo of the instructions. However, it would require an electrician to disconnect the timer from its power supply so that it stops running (and ticking).
posted by monotreme at 5:34 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

Sounds like the motor is going/gone bad. Here is a listing for it, now obsolete, direct replacement is obsolete, replacement is available for $75.00.

Agree that without trippers it cannot function. Since it is 120VAC, I would just remove and tape off the hot wire, but you shouldn't unless you know what you are doing. NO!, don't do it.

Have you tried moving that lever to off, see if the motor goes off.

Another possibility is to unscrew it from the wall and put some foam behind it to dampen the noise.

Listing for trippers.
posted by H21 at 5:58 PM on June 3, 2019

Response by poster: H21 -- off switch does nothing on either time switch, including the one in use.
Also would I be able to unscrew it without getting shocked? I have no idea what I'm doing so I don't want to do anything that would screw up anything.
posted by adelaide at 6:35 PM on June 3, 2019

Best answer: I think that "on off" lever is the switch for the load which is actuated by the trippers, it's not an on-off switch for the timer motor itself. To me, it looks like with the trippers removed and the position the switch is currently in the load is always on. (Perhaps it was for some outside lighting which used to be timed? If someone installed, say, a motion sensitive light fixture outside and was lazy, they could have just removed the trippers, flipped the switch to on and left everything else as it was rather than bothering to properly bypass the timer. ) Unfortunately, if you cut or disconnect the hot feed to the timer to silence the motor, you're also going to disable whatever the load is. (If it still is connected to something) You'd have to cut the wires going directly to the timer motor itself, which is designated as the T with the circle around it in the wiring diagram. Or completely disconnect the whole thing and jumper the hot and neutral of the line in to their counterparts on the load side. All this would be pretty trivial for an electrician to do, and given that the timer isn't doing anything, I can't see how management could object to bypassing it. You could always offer to pay for the work yourself if they are unresponsive.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:37 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

I would not touch it if you have no idea what you're doing. There are live wires underneath that piece which is labeled "replace this insulator after wiring" and yes, you could shock yourself.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:42 PM on June 3, 2019

Response by poster: Not to thread sit, but just want to respond to provide further clarification--
Not sure what is meant by "load", but yes, the timer switch is connected to other things. There are these pipe-like things that feed into it, so presumably I wouldn't be able to just unscrew it off the wall (but what do I know).
posted by adelaide at 6:43 PM on June 3, 2019

The pipe things are called conduits. They contain the wires going to other devices. You are right that they may prevent you from moving the timer, but it may allow enough slack to get some foam or padding behind it. It is also possible to loosen the conduit locknuts to get some swivel motion.
posted by H21 at 7:02 PM on June 3, 2019

"Load" means whatever is attached to the output of the timer switch; what it ultimately controls. (Which might not be anywhere near where the timers are located.) Most commonly, timers are used for outdoor lighting, lighting in common areas of multi unit buildings, etc.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:37 PM on June 3, 2019

From an electrician's POV this is pretty easy. A lot of the trouble of electrical work is just getting access and this one's right out there. So whatever you decide to it shouldn't cost too much in labor.

This should be a pretty much direct replacement for what you have. Once they can locate the correct circuit and shut it off, which can take time if the wiring is bad, then they can probably swap it out in under 30 mins. I'm an electrical engineer, feel free to memail me any questions.
posted by dudemanlives at 7:56 PM on June 3, 2019

Tell your landlord but not as noise complaint. Do it as a “hey heads up this timer is going to fail soon, you probably want to replace or remove it soon. Oh and I noticed it because after I moved in it started getting really noisy!”

Since access is so easy and the timer isn’t doing anything the repair should be cheap; better than if the timer fails to an open circuit and leaves some important thing unpowered at a bad future moment!
posted by nat at 2:20 AM on June 4, 2019

I'd unscrew it from the wall and pry it away a bit and let the conduits support it. You might also be able to just loosen the screws that bind it to the wall so that it's not able to transmit the vibrations through the wall like a speaker. I might also try just banging on it with a hammer couple of times, there are bits in electric motors that can wear out and just a good jiggle can fix some problems.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:14 AM on June 4, 2019

If they tell you nothing can be done, ask them to pull it out from the wall and put foam behind it before replacing it, something like several layers of yoga mat would help a bit. Then they should construct a box lined with eggcrate foam to put over it. I am not a professional sound engineer, just common sense easy stuff. Or replace the faulty device which may be wasting electricity, as well.
posted by theora55 at 11:36 AM on June 4, 2019

Response by poster: So just as I predicted, in a five minute conversation, management managed to give me FOUR excuses:

-It's normal
-I went into your apartment and didn't hear anything
-There's nothing we can do
-Do you know how many people have lived here and never complained about it?

I have no idea why this guy works in management if he doesn't want to do anything. Finally he said, "if I find the noise is loud, I will do something and let you know in a few days." I bet he's not going to do anything. I'll give it a week.

Meanwhile, if I call an electrician, what will I be telling them to do, exactly? I'm probably going to have to foot the bill for this myself after all.
posted by adelaide at 3:04 PM on June 4, 2019

Best answer: Your objective is to get the timer motor turned off without turning off the load.

1. measure the voltage going to the load. Between wires 2 and 4 .
a. If no voltage, remove the hot wire from terminal 1, put a wire nut on it--You're done.
b. If 120 volts AC, there is power going to the load. Remove wires 1 and 2. Wire nut them together. Remove wires 3 and 4. Wire nut them together. This connects the load directly to hot and neutral. The timer is disconnected and the load (if there is actually something out there) is powered up.
Hopefully the electrician can figure out how to turn the power off, if not, he can probably work hot in a (fairly) safe manner. This shouldn't take long, maybe 10 minutes of actual work.

You can now take the timer off the wall and run over it with your car!
posted by H21 at 4:04 PM on June 4, 2019