I haven't been able to find anything similar in the FAQ's etc but it's difficult to know quite what to search for so if anyone can help me understand if I have a problem or not I'd be most grateful. (Please excuse any technical gaffs in my description...)
Our C/H system uses a Potterton Puma 80e (installed 2000 I think) and has worked without any real incident until recently. We have a maintenance contract with British Gas and recently due the a number of minor issues they replaced several components in the boiler including the heat exchanger.
This had a dramatic effect in that the water (C/H and domestic) was significantly hotter. I'm assuming that this is the cause of one problem we now have in that the pipes in the space between the downstairs ceiling and upstairs floor click quite loudly and in a very predictable pattern as the boiler cycles through flame on/flame off. I say "click" but it's more of a "crack" and can be heard throughout the house.
Let me be clear - this isn't the noises I can certainly recall hearing as the whole system went from cold to hot when the boiler first switched on in the morning or as things cooled down when the boiler had switched off for the night, this happens all the time the C/H is programmed on.
It's *possible* this clicking did happen before the recent work was completed but its so intrusive I can't imagine we would not have been aware of it from time to time.
The reason it has become so noticeable now is the boiler fires up every 2 minutes or sometimes even less. So a few seconds after the flame comes on the pipes click quite rapidly (I assume as they expand) the flame stays on for maybe 30-40 seconds and maybe another 10-15 seconds after it goes off the pipes click more slowly (contracting I guess) and don't really stop until the boiler fires up again - it's driving us to distraction now.
Our house is a reasonably well insulated, 3 bedroom terraced, with 5 larger and 3 smaller radiators all of which bar one have thermostatic valves. The majority of the pipework was from the previous solid-fuel fired C/H system that was installed when the house was built so BG aren't interested.
The temperature of the house in general, the settings of the radiator valves and even the temperature of the radiators seem to have very little impact on how often the boiler fires up. My thinking was that if the boiler didn't fire up as often we might not notice the clicking so much.
One of the BG engineers suggested I take the head off one of the valves to see if that helped - it reduced the cycle-time to maybe 2.5 minutes - which doesn't make sense to me, I "ask" for more heat and the boiler fires up less??? I just can't believe it's normal to have a boiler fire up so frequently even when the whole house is warm and the valves have actually turned the radiators down or off.
Does anyone know if this is frequent firing up is normal behaviour?
I'm guessing that ultimately I may need to have the pipework modified or replaced but I'd like to try anything less drastic first if possible. Is there anything anyone can suggest that might alleviate the issue or that I can check for further evidence of a problem?
Many thanks.
Our C/H system uses a Potterton Puma 80e (installed 2000 I think) and has worked without any real incident until recently. We have a maintenance contract with British Gas and recently due the a number of minor issues they replaced several components in the boiler including the heat exchanger.
This had a dramatic effect in that the water (C/H and domestic) was significantly hotter. I'm assuming that this is the cause of one problem we now have in that the pipes in the space between the downstairs ceiling and upstairs floor click quite loudly and in a very predictable pattern as the boiler cycles through flame on/flame off. I say "click" but it's more of a "crack" and can be heard throughout the house.
Let me be clear - this isn't the noises I can certainly recall hearing as the whole system went from cold to hot when the boiler first switched on in the morning or as things cooled down when the boiler had switched off for the night, this happens all the time the C/H is programmed on.
It's *possible* this clicking did happen before the recent work was completed but its so intrusive I can't imagine we would not have been aware of it from time to time.
The reason it has become so noticeable now is the boiler fires up every 2 minutes or sometimes even less. So a few seconds after the flame comes on the pipes click quite rapidly (I assume as they expand) the flame stays on for maybe 30-40 seconds and maybe another 10-15 seconds after it goes off the pipes click more slowly (contracting I guess) and don't really stop until the boiler fires up again - it's driving us to distraction now.
Our house is a reasonably well insulated, 3 bedroom terraced, with 5 larger and 3 smaller radiators all of which bar one have thermostatic valves. The majority of the pipework was from the previous solid-fuel fired C/H system that was installed when the house was built so BG aren't interested.
The temperature of the house in general, the settings of the radiator valves and even the temperature of the radiators seem to have very little impact on how often the boiler fires up. My thinking was that if the boiler didn't fire up as often we might not notice the clicking so much.
One of the BG engineers suggested I take the head off one of the valves to see if that helped - it reduced the cycle-time to maybe 2.5 minutes - which doesn't make sense to me, I "ask" for more heat and the boiler fires up less??? I just can't believe it's normal to have a boiler fire up so frequently even when the whole house is warm and the valves have actually turned the radiators down or off.
Does anyone know if this is frequent firing up is normal behaviour?
I'm guessing that ultimately I may need to have the pipework modified or replaced but I'd like to try anything less drastic first if possible. Is there anything anyone can suggest that might alleviate the issue or that I can check for further evidence of a problem?
Many thanks.
