Sorry, not sure where to post this but I figured since people do a lot of home construction in this thread someone may know the answer.

1. I just replaced all of my 15A outlets.

2. I have a florescent desk lamp that flickers for about 3 seconds before finally turning on.

3. When I plug in this lamp to the new outlets and turn it on, I hear loud "knocks" in the walls while the lamp is flickering. The "knocks" go away after the lamp stops flickering.

4. The "knocks" were never there before I replaced the outlets.

5. When I plug in other electronics into the new outlets, there is no "knocks."

What's going on? Did I wire something wrong? Is there "arcing" somewhere?

Thanks for your help.

Are you absolutely sure that the sound is coming from the walls and not just an echo of the lamp making it's start up noise?

Try smothering the lamp in a few blankets and plug it into the outlet in question. I've never heard of electrical wires "knocking" inside walls.

Also how old is this construction and what kind of wiring does it have inside the walls?

Are you absolutely sure that the sound is coming from the walls and not just an echo of the lamp making it's start up noise?

Try smothering the lamp in a few blankets and plug it into the outlet in question. I've never heard of electrical wires "knocking" inside walls.

Also how old is this construction and what kind of wiring does it have inside the walls?

1. My apartment is 25 years old and has 12 AWG Wiring.

2. After further troubleshooting it, I believe that the "knocking" is more of a super short "buzzing" (one cycle of the buzzer, thus sounding like a "knock" vice "buzzing") coming from the smoke detector.

3. I will investigate more once my wife comes home from work so that she can turn on the lamp while I am directly underneath the smoke detector.

4. I am pretty sure that it is not an echo of the lamp flickering. The noise I am hearing is pretty darn loud.

Thanks for the reply!

1. After troubleshooting it with my wife it is indeed the smoke alarm.

2. It makes the noise approximately once every five times.

Anyone know what the cause is and how I can fix it?

Thanks!