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Boiler Noise 3
List of Noises 9:
Roaring noise 1
Roaring noise 2
Rumbling noise
Scraping noise
Banging noise
Swooshing noise
Question
I don’t know if its my aging ears or not but my 16 year old Weil-McLain gas boiler seems to be making more of a roaring combustion sound at ignition for about 15 – 20 seconds. It then settles down to a quite operation. Maybe this is something I’m just noting and is normal operation or could it be the gas valve staring to operate incorrectly. Any opinions?
Answer
Just give it a good cleaning and you should be ok. Dust and lint build up on and in the burner tubes and you get some dust and ash build up on the boiler pins as well which can lead to louder starts and a decrease in boiler efficiency. It is a pretty easy job if the boiler was installed in a serviceable area. ;-) So call your local heating contractor and arraign for a boiler cleaning. In addition to cleaning, have it checked for proper ignition and have a combustion analysis done.
It needs a good clean - for a start. But there's more to it than just removing the cover. You'll need to remove the inspection plate and the burners. In addition, use a proper flue brush as well as a vacuum. The idea is to clean the heat exchanger properly. And check the terminal is clean too, and the firebox linings are in good condition. Then do all the seals before replacement. It's not that difficult, but just take time to make a good job. I'd replace all the seals as a matter of course. A decent PM will have them. Give the burners a good wash in the sink - like you'd do with a heavily used frying pan, and inspect them carefully afterwards. Even use a magnifying glass to check they are clear. Also, make sure the pilot jet is clean and clear. However, don't use anything brutal to do these.
Baxi Bermuda 552 back boiler burner makes a roaring noise.
This fault can occur on almost any older gas boiler but is most obvious on back boilers and other open fluid boilers (chimney type boilers).
The customer had a Baxi Bermuda 552 back boiler, which developed a loud roaring noise, which happened whenever the main burner lit up. This roaring noise was very obviously different from the normal burner noise.
The fault with this boiler was caused by the Honeywell V4600C gas valve, which had performed faultlessly for the previous 25 years or more. The gas valve had started open and close very slowly, sometimes failing to close completely. This caused a popping noise as the flame momentarily lit back inside the burner. When the gas valve failed to close perfectly it allowed a tiny flame to be retained at the main burner injector. The next time the gas valve opened, this flame caused the gas to light back inside the burner, causing the roaring noise.
Question
Annoying rumbling noise
Hi, about six months ago a plumber installed a new Albion Ultraseel 180 liter cylinder. The information on the commissioning information says I have a primary open vented boiler.
The mains pressure is 3 bar, and a strainer has been fitted. The installer set the water temperature at 60 degrees. I dropped it to 45, as the water was far too hot. My problem is every few days when we first ask for hot water we get a loud rumbling noise from the airing cupboard for just a couple of seconds and then nothing gain for several days! Can anyone help, I suspect it may be the sound of boiling water! My plumber is away for a couple of weeks.
Feedback
Hi, I thought I should post the outcome of my problem as I think its now resolved.
The Expansion vessel, I am told, was faulty and has been replaced under guarantee. It also seems we had nearly four bar of pressure at the mains when a PRV was in place supposedly maintaining it to three bar, this has also be replaced. The result, since the work was done last Thursday no more noise!
Question
I have a glowworm swift flow 80 (Honeywell) Combi.
The problem I'm having is that the c/h wont work, I've bled the rads and cold water comes out. When I switch c/h on, the fan works and you can hear the boiler fire up. After about 30 seconds, the pressure gauge shoots up then you hear a metallic scraping noise followed closely by a clunk then the fan starts to slow down and sometimes the pilot goes out. however if I turn on the hot tap just before the scraping noise the water comes out as though its under huge amounts of pressure and fills the bathroom with steam then returns to normal flow. I've tried to drain the tank but the problems still there. Does the boiler have such a thing as a bleed valve like a radiator has?
Answer
From your symptoms, you describe, I would check to see if the pump is running correctly. If you can see the front of the pump, remove the silver round screw in the middle and observe the shaft just inside, and see if it starts up and runs fast. The gauge rises because of increased pressure of water changing to steam. When you turn the tap the cold water incoming clears the hot water to the taps. Other than that it's difficult not being in front and checking what's going on. You will probably have to call a CORGI guy in.
Question
After we had our hot water storage tank replaced, we get 1-2 bangs every time we turn off a water faucet, a toilet is finished refilling, or during parts of a washing machine cycle. It's especially bad with the 2nd floor toilet and the washer in the basement. I know that the bangs are coming from the tank area because the bangs disappeared when I shutoff the cold water feed to the tank.
My plumber also confirmed it and believes it to be the check valve, so he added two Watts 150A water hammer arrestors: one on the cold water pipe leading into the tank and one on the hot water pipe coming away from the tank. That hasn't helped. The plumber suggested changing the toilet fill valve to something slower, but what about the sink valves. Finally, he thinks we may have to install a larger arrestor at the main feed to the house, but I'm skeptical that it would work.
Feedback
Well, it looks like the repairs worked. First, the plumber replaced the check valve with the soft-sealed spring-loaded one. When we tested a faucet, the banging noise was gone, but instead there was a squishing (swooshing?) noise. Progress. He then replaced one of the arrestors (on the cold water feed pipe) with the expansion tank, which I remember seeing on an episode of Ask This Old House (that made me feel better). Tested again and I heard something I had not heard in over a month... silence!
The plumber told me that we still have a slight water hammer in the pipes, but it can be resolved by installing a DIY arrestor at the washing machine, like I saw on another episode of Ask This Old House. I'll get on it, but it's not too pressing since it doesn't make any noise and there's only a slight vibration in the washing machine's hoses. I'm just happy and relieved.
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List of noises 10:
Rattling noise
Train like noise
High pitch vibrating noise
Vibrating noise
Water hammer
Sizzling noise
Hammer noise
Question
Recently my heating pipes under the floor upstairs in my house have been making very loud noises, rattling around and generally sounding like a train is coming down them! This happens first thing in the morning mainly but occasionally in the evenings. Both times are when the boiler comes on to heat the tank. I haven't got the heating on at the moment as it is summer! so I am confused why the heating pipes would be making that noise?
I thought it may be air in the system so I have tried to bleed the radiators but there was no air and all seems fine.
Answer
One common cause of this is that the boiler has got scaled up, or clogged with sludge circulating in the water. This makes the process by which heat is transferred from the burning gas to the water inefficient, the boiler heats up too much, bits inside it expand
rapidly, which makes a noise that transmits along the pipe work. You can get stuff to clean the boiler out - Fernox make various products for this purpose.
Question
I've got an Vaillant ECOTEC plus 624. It's nearly two years old. In fact, today is the last day it's under warranty.
When the heating starts in the morning, the radiators in my bedroom make this high pitched vibrating sound. It's not a thumping, more like the sound you might expect if you were to place an electric toothbrush on a table.
All my rads have TRV's (plumbers merchant told me they were all bi-directional).
The problem goes away after about 1 hour once the heating is up to temperature.
What I know:
1. I've bled all the rads - no air at all.
2. It's a 3 zone system. If I turn all 3 zones on at the same time (house ch, bathroom ch and hot water), then sound goes away. Normally, when the heating starts in the morning, only the heating zones are open. Water heating is later in the day.
The sound is loudest on the copper pipes under the boiler.
I've had the front off the boiler, and used a mechanics stethoscope on the various parts inside:
The heating element makes no vibration noise,
The fan makes no vibration noise.
The pump makes no vibration noise (just sounds like rushing water - as you'd expect).
When I listen to the copper pipe exiting the pump under the boiler - bingo - the vibrating noise.
This noise is then heard in my bedroom.
I've tried altering the TRV settings, the only one that makes any difference is on one of the bathroom rads. Oddly enough, if I turn it down, the noise goes in the bedroom, but you cannot hear it in the bathroom anyway.
This morning, the sound started again, with he bath TRV turned down.
I'm wondering if it's a part on the boiler that needs replacing (pump?).
This sound started about a month ago, and is getting louder.
For now, I've just set all 3 zones to open in the morning, but if its a sign that a part on the boiler is failing, then I'll have to make the claim today before the warranty runs out.
Feedback
Vaillant came out and replaced the pump. The sound is now gone.
Question
I have a new CH system, Combi boiler (Ferroli Optimax 31C). It was installed by a local installer (fully corgi registered).
When the heating comes on it all works fine. However when the heating goes off, there is a 2 second series of vibration noises. Probably about 5 to 10 thumps in total, a deep bass noise. It almost sounds as if its the noise of the pump spinning down. A little bit like water hammer. I can't actually hear it at the boiler location (loft) but can in the bathroom below and sometimes it reverbs through other rads in the house too.
Recently, I have noticed if I am in the bathroom below the boiler (in the loft directly above), that the boiler seems to be getting noisier during normal operation. It's like a hissing / humming kind of flow noise. I don't know if this is due to it working harder as its colder at the moment. Having checked the boiler a couple of times, it is running at its maximum flow temperature of 95 deg at the moment.
Should I call out the Ferroli engineer, or the installer, or neither?
Feedback
Have had the installer round, he opened the case and had a nose around. He said it was the diverter valve opening and closing and making a vibrating sound when it does so.
I have phoned Ferroli to arrange for an engineer to come out (under warranty). Would you all class this as a manufacturing fault? It doesn't seem to effect the operation of the boiler itself but is it right for these components to generate vibrating / grinding noises when they operate?
Question
For the first few minutes, when my back boiler fires up I can hear an occasional 'sizzling' noise (like the noise a drop of water on a hot coal would make). This only happens for five or so minutes. The boiler is behind our fireplace and flues vertically upwards via the chimney. Any ideas?
Feedback
It turns out there is a hole in the heat exchanger and water is dripping onto the hot parts causing the 'sizzling' sound. When the system heats up the metal expands, closing the hole. That is why I only hear the noise for the first 5 minutes or so.
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List of noises 11:
Whining noise
High pitched whining noise
Whirring noise
Woof noise
Explosion sound
Banging/clanging noise
Question
I have a nearly new Vaillant EcoMax PRO 18E condensing boiler. Almost as soon as the weather got cold it has started to whine at first start up in the morning - it echoes round the house but is most noisy standing by the flue and sounds like someone running their finger round the rim of a wine glass. It's very annoying and wakes us up every morning!
Any ideas what this could be? Haven't tried to see if it does it with only hot water on (our heating comes on before the hot water). A Vaillant engineer had a look and turned down the boiler output to the point it couldn't heat up the hot water properly or get the house warm very quickly. It's now back to its original setting and the problem has returned.
Feedback
Yes, I ended up flushing the system myself as the installer was a moppet and all his boss new how to do was argue. I mean flushing an obviously dirty system through a brand new boiler is pretty damn stupid...
If there's crud in your system it's probably the cause.
I also fitted a Magnaclean after flushing to help protect some more.
My new Bosch Worcester Combi boiler has a high pitched whine when running.
Does it mean anything or can I ignore it?
Answer
Fan bearings can be noisy on boilers, especially if starting to run dry, so yours may need greased before they burn and crumble. Also, if the boiler has the pump built - in, it too can be the culprit of high pitched whining sounds.
Check that the system is properly filled to the recommended pressure and that no bleeding is needed. Water looses volume after having the oxygen boiled out from it, and the drop in volume may mean the pump is running in some air, so causing the sounds you hear.
Question
Today I drained the system to remove three rads from downstairs as I am installing electric under floor heating.
I refilled system and since then the boiler seems to have a mind of its own, every time it tries to fire it goes for about 5 seconds then I get a whirring noise and it closes down again.
The only thing I can think of is air in the system. Yet I have bled rads etc.
The boiler is a Glow worm Fuel save Mk 2.
Feedback
I managed to get it lit again. Have bled the pump and the good news is I no longer have the horrible whirring noise, but it still lights for about 10 seconds then goes out.
I will try and get the vent undone in the airing cupboard which of course is conveniently located to make it as difficult to access as possible.
Question
I have an Ideal Standard E Type CF Conventional Flue gas boiler. Model no "GC41 399 57".
Lately the gas is turning on, and it does not ignite until a few seconds later. By this time there is so much gas in the system it causes a loud woof or explosion. This does not sound right!
Pilot is there and seems the same size and location as it always was, which is slightly to the side. I appreciate if it was closer it might solve the explosion, but it's not moved in years.
The main jets don't appear to be blocked. The closest jet seems to strike back to the pilot.
What could I do to fix it? Do pilots need to be really close? If the pressure was too high would it cause the main jets to rush gas upwards and miss the pilot?
Answer
We had a similar problem - in essence the pilot flame was too weak (a year's worth of accumulated junk in the pilot after some building work, with associated dust etc).
Basically cleaned out the pilot with a bristle from a wire brush and then turned up the pilot gas pressure a little - slightly more noise from the pilot, but now fires up every time. Previously it got so bad that the windows in a different room rattled!
Regrettably now thinking about pensioning the old thing off - it doesn't really have enough output to run our house at anything like a sensible (wifely-related) temperature... and I guess it probably costs more to run than a new one. A pity though, since there's nothing in it to go wrong!
Question
I have a Corvec Maxiflame II boiler for heating and water control by thermostat in the hallway. The boiler could be as much as 30 years old.
Recently, it has began making these noises after being switched off either manually at control panel or by the thermostat. Occurs only after heating the radiators, but not when heating the water.
The banging/clanging doesn't happen immediately, but after about 10 seconds of shut down and sometimes is accompanied by water being 'sucked' or pushed around in the boiler or so it sounds. The noise worries me and I fear something bad is about to occur as it is very loud sometimes.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Feedback
Following your advice and having had one engineer refuse to take much of a look and simply quote £2500 for a new boiler etc, I contacted a previous engineer, who upon hearing the boiler running agreed it was scaled up and kittling.
He remove the heat exchanger and took it away for descaling, although was concerned the metal may not survive the treatment. It did and returned, but when fitted, a problem began with a leak in the gas valve. The engineer was excellent and spent much time and thought trying to rectify the leak, but could not do so.
It looked like a new boiler, but I decided to try and source a replacement gas valve and via the net, found one down the road in a plumbers wholesale shop.
Rang the engineer, who was surprised, but he fitted and having flushed the system, all is well and quiet. It did cost, but in all was less than a fifth of the cost of a new boiler installation.
The engineer thinks there is no reason why it cannot run ok for a number of years still, as long as the gunk doesn't return too soon, but then a flush is all that will be necessary.
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List of noises 12:
Gurgling noise
Swooshing noise
Whooping noise
Chuffing sound
Metal rubbing noise
Question
I was just woken up (yes, at 5.45am) by a symphony of noise coming from my hot press, which lasted about 15 minutes. It sounded like very rhythmic gurgling and swooshing from the three pipes, which go from our attic into the boiler in the hot press. Does anybody know why/what/is this going to cost me?
I know SFA about plumbing/stopcocks/rads but can tell you that
(a) we have natural gas
(b) a gas boiler
(c) the thermostat to the boiler in the hot press was replaced about 2/3 years ago
(d) The pipes didn't freeze in recent weeks
The noise has now stopped completely - our heat & hot water is programmed to come on at 6am.
Feedback
All seems to be fine now. We believe it was an airlock & may have been caused by the local council conserving water during the night.
Answer
Sounds like air all right, the only reason the water outage would have caused air, is that your heating system has a leak.
Best way to check, is to tie up ballcock on small tank in attic so it can't refill. Keep an eye on water level, if it drops much over a short period, you have a leak.
Also
Air circulating though the pipes with the water is the most common cause of noisy boiler pipes. If the boiler pipes have a gurgling sound to it. The sound maybe moving along the pipes with the flow or it may sound like it is stationary location. Removing the air should quiet them down and will improve heating performance. Removing the air manually can be a long process if you have properly install air eliminators and bleeders will prevent the problem and bleed the air out automatically. Noise in a boiler system can also come from thermal expansion of the piping system. As the pipes heat up it will expands and then contract as it cools. This can cause a creaking sound along the wall as the pipe expands against the piping supports and radiators. In the middle of the night this can be very annoying. The pump is another common source of noise. Noise can be caused by, bearing wear in the motor or pump housing or from a worn drive coupling between the pump shaft and the motor. Low water flow can also be cause of noise to come from the boiler itself. If the water flow is to low, it will boil off as it passes through the heating coil.
Question
Whooping noise from boiler!
My Baxi 100 HE has suddenly started making a noise like a police car siren shortly after firing up. Very, very loud. It literally goes whoo, whoo, whoo! No way of really describing it - but never heard anything like it before - any ideas please?
Feedback
Arghh! Condensate tube blocked solid, fan running in water - needs replacing, heat exchanger leaking and needs replacing, burner assembly corroded and needs replacing.
No CH or hot water until next week.
Question
Our 5 year old WB 35DCi makes a "chuffing" sound when heating domestic hot water, the pressure gauge oscillates up and down and small amounts of water are ejected from the automatic air vent on the top of the boiler.
The DHW output is hotter than normal but not scalding, though turning down the thermostat seems to make it pulse less. My general impression is that the DHW is boiling could this be so? It's distressing to watch!
Central heating seems to working normally.
System pressure when the boiler is off is about 0.8 bar, rising to about 1.5 bar when the boiler is heating. Pressure range when "chuffing" is about half a bar. Any suggestions?
Answer
The central heating system on this boiler should be filled to 1 bar, when cold.
Possibly there is a major air lock, which could cause this problem. I would recommend getting someone to keep their eye on the pressure gauge and top up as required and for someone else to bleed the entire system, hopefully as you do so you will release quite a bit of air from the system and allow for it to circulate properly.
The system should then run at between 1.5 to 2.5 bar when hot.
The other question is when there is central heating demand can the pump be heard to be running, as a seized pump could also bring the same issue not allowing water to circulate and then a kettle effect inside the boiler, although without an air lock you would expect the thermostat to cut out before the popping/bleed opening..
Also
First thing I would do (well actually I wouldn't, as I won't go out to Worcester boilers) is whip off the plate HE and check for blockages, system side first.
Feedback
Plate HE has now been replaced.
System pressure remains static when the cold tap is turned on/off
Pressure remains steady while heating DHW, so far with the "chuffing" symptom being absent.
Sounds like the answer was the one you first thought of.
Question
I have an Ideal Classic boiler (not Combi and not the deluxe with the glass front) in my house, which has worked fine for the 4 years I've been in the house. Up until about 4 weeks ago that is when it stopped working. About 2 weeks before it stopped it was making some strange noises (sounded like metal rubbing against itself) but I didn't think it too out of the ordinary as our pipes make some noise on occasion anyway, then it stopped working.. I got a Plumber out who replaced the Fan at a cost of £280 and it worked great for about 2 - 3 days then it stopped again.
This is where it gets strange!
The boiler is now doing the same as when the fan went i.e., there is power to the boiler but it is not trying to fire, the pump is running constantly and working fine. If I wobble the boiler very slightly it clicks and fires and works as it should for about 5-10 minutes then goes back to its original state of no fire in the boiler at all but the pump and everything else still pumping. If I go back and wobble it slightly again it will fire and go through this cycle again. (it also fires ok if I turn all the power to the boiler off and go through the 'light the boiler cycle' then goes out after 5-10 minutes as mentioned before)
After I have got it going like this a few times, and it has gone out, it will sometimes re-light itself and work as it should for a while, warm the house and hot water up for a few hours (in the evening for example). Then the house will be cold again in the morning as it has stopped firing itself but the pump is still running.
I got the plumber out who changed the fan and he said I need to replace the boiler and it will cost £1800. This seems like an ok price to change the boiler but as my house is up for sale I don't really want to spend this kind of money if I can help it, especially as I just spent £280 on it.
I had a brief conversation with someone corgi registered and he said it could be the Stat! does he mean a thermostat in the boiler?
Feedback
I've just had another plumber out who was recommended by a family member and he has just fixed it for £30. There was a loose connection on the pressure switch (coincidence or on purpose?) Anyway he said there is no way the boiler needs replacing as it is a good one.
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