# \ that Beep! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697 "2016-01-20T19:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/1 "2016-01-20T19:26:15Z")
There is a BEEP in my house. I have sought the BEEP, but the BEEP cannot be found. It occurs every 15 minutes and is making me a crazy person. Er, a more crazy person. BEEEEEEP. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/2 "2016-01-20T19:27:42Z")
Sounds like a smoke detector with a low battery. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/3 "2016-01-20T19:29:05Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Sounds like a smoke detector with a low battery. No, not a chirp. And not loud. Every smoke detector I’ve ever had or heard had a much different sound. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/4 "2016-01-20T19:35:06Z")
A few weeks ago I put a frozen dinner in the microwave and sat down to watch TV until it was done. I soon heard a “beep- beep- beep” that occurred about once a minute. I was puzzled until I remembered the microwave was new and would beep once a minute when the food was done so you didn’t forget to take it out, which was a feature my old microwave didn’t have. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/5 "2016-01-20T19:36:37Z")
I have that in my house too! It isn’t the smoke alarms, because they are wired into the main power, not battery powered. And the beep isn’t regular. The time seems to vary between beeps. But no matter where I stand in the house, I never seem to be able to isolate the location. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/6 "2016-01-20T19:41:36Z")
All I can suggest is wait until night, cover all the gadget lights and power indicators with some cheap electrical tape, and turn off all the lights. Then just pick a spot with a good view of a room and wait. Low power alarms are usually accompanied by an LED flash when they beep. Good hunting! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/7 "2016-01-20T19:45:34Z")
Maybe a watch or clock somewhere with an alert set? I had an annoying beep that I couldn’t trace for several weeks–it only sounded once a day, and it didn’t last long enough at a time for me to home in on it. It took a couple of days just to eliminate possible sources in my garage. Eventually, I managed to track it to a box in the attic; my temporary roommate had left some stuff behind…including a stopwatch. If it’s quiet, and you can’t isolate the direction, it probably means there’s something solid between you and the source, and the sound is reaching you indirectly. If you have an attic or cellar, I’d check there. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/8 "2016-01-20T19:51:38Z")
Do you have a water softener? Our beep was the water softener. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/9 "2016-01-20T19:53:01Z")
CO2 detector? Old alarm system? ALIENS?!? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/10 "2016-01-20T19:54:56Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > CO2 detector? Old alarm system? ALIENS?!? You’re going to be sorry when you come home to the BEEP. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/11 "2016-01-20T19:57:32Z")
My refrigerator beeps when the door is open too long. Sometimes it’s just not pushed tight and looks closed. It took me some time to figure that one out. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/12 "2016-01-20T20:02:27Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > You’re going to be sorry when you come home to the BEEP. I am already sorry. _cough_ ETA: the first two suggestions were serious, though. Have you checked the basement? And to **Loach** ’s point, there’s a fridge down there, too. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/13 "2016-01-20T20:24:44Z")
[Annoy-A-Tron?](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ihvg/) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/14 "2016-01-20T20:36:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I have that in my house too! It isn’t the smoke alarms, because they are wired into the main power, not battery powered. And the beep isn’t regular. The time seems to vary between beeps. But no matter where I stand in the house, I never seem to be able to isolate the location. Replace them immediately! Replace with AC with battery backup. In the event of an electrical fire, or a power outage what you have may be useless. Mine are all interconnected, if one goes off, they all go off while on AC power but if there’s no power they operate like old-fashioned independent battery powered ones. At least the one that is sensing smoke/heat will activate, which could save your life, especially in an overnight fire when you’re asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/15 "2016-01-20T20:42:47Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > [Annoy-A-Tron?](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ihvg/) Truly fiendish. A few years back, the daughter of one of our lab techs was going to be working the summer as my co-op again. The previous year, they’d hidden the annoyatron in each others’ offices (in the dropdown ceilings, taped to the underside of the desk, in the door nameplate, etc.). When she came home from school that summer, it turns out that dad had _taken off the baseboards and hidden the annoyatron there_. (She had to, at long last, admit defeat.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/16 "2016-01-20T20:44:28Z")
I found it. The Verizon FIOS battery is low. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/17 "2016-01-20T23:11:07Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > [Annoy-A-Tron?](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ihvg/) Gotta have it! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/18 "2016-01-21T00:56:32Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I found it. The Verizon FIOS battery is low. I was going to suggest that, same thing happened to me. Just as I was trying to go to sleep… BEEP… BEEP… Glad you found it! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleep-that-beep/743697/19 "2016-01-21T01:22:42Z")
I remember in a previous thread, the culprit turned out to be one of those singing greeting cards, sitting on a shelf in a stack of other cards. Like you’re going to change the battery when it dies…