Mystery dripping sound
 

When I am in the guest bathroom I hear a constant, rapid sound that sounds like it could be dripping inside a wall or other enclosed area. I cannot isolate exactly where the sound is coming from other than I can only hear it while in this room. To see if it is indeed a plumbing issue I have turned off the main supply to the house, opened up all faucets and shower valves throughout the house and drained the toilet tank (including towl drying it). Even with all of these measures I still hear the sound at the same rate (more than one per second).

The only remaining source of water in the bathroom is the remnant of what is in the toilet bowl. However, after an hour and a half, this water level has not dropped at all. I would think that if this is causing the sound, the water level would go down at least a little based on the tempo of the "dripping".

Has anyone else experienced this or have a theory about its source? Given the measures that I have taken to determine the cause, I am beginning to wonder if it may be something other than a plumbing issue. I even thought it may be the ticking of a hidden clock but the tempo is faster than once per second.

Check to see if there is a downspout nearby. Often I can hear the drip of the gutter draining into the downspout with just a good morning dew

Problem solved!
 

Turns out it wasn't water related afterall. I have a mechanical timer for a lamp plugged into the outlet on the other side of the wall in my living room. When I unplugged it, the sound stopped. I have no clue as to why the tempo was as fast as it was.

I'm glad you found it, but I have to say I got a smile when you said what it was. Those things will drive you nuts. :mademyday:

sometimes this is a short drive!

I had a similar sound in the master bath of our home in Ohio. I was sure it was water dripping. I called the builder (new home) and he came out to help me isolate the sound. Turned out, when the furnace came on, the metal heating ducts were expanding. The HVAC guys hung the ducts too tight on the beams in the basement and the dripping/ticking was the metal binding on the beams. Go figure.:rant-rave:

NJBlue, Sound trouble shooting techniques you employed. Glad it wasn't something serious.