Gable wall is a sound generator for boiler!

[6091ben]

Help please! And an apology for the length of post.

We moved into a 1970’s semi a year ago. No problems and settled down nicely.

One night our neighbour started banging on the wall for no reason; the next day he told us that when the heating is on it’s vibrates in his front room. The noise is unbearable.

Apparently this has been the case since a new boiler was fitted 4 years ago. (Previous owner had died so we had no knowledge of this before moving in)

It turns out that environmental health have been involved with this as a noise disruption and they confirm that it is noisy but won’t get involved any further.

We have a potterton gold combi he boiler, and to be honest if we are in the bathroom above the bolier we can hear a loud humming noise, as if the wall the boiler is fastened to has become an amplifier.

We have had 3 engineers round to check. All of them said the boiler is fine and actually quieter than most. They are stumped what to do.

The noise is present with both the heating or the hot water, so it’s not a radiator or a pipe. We have tried turning the pressure down and bleeding the system etc.

I would happily buy a new boiler but recon I would spend a load of money and be left with the same problem.

One more thing. The boiler is on an external wall the other side of the house far away from next door !!

Although he is a nightmare he isn’t making it up.

Any help please would be great

 

[polesapart]

Unusual.

Is the boiler on a solid wall or timber frame?

Normally a solid wall will damp out/absorb sound. If things are as you describe then the building structure is somehow acting acting to amplify the sound.

Solution might be to have the boiler taken off the wall and then refitted with sound- deadening material behind. As yours is a condensing boiler the material chosen would not normally need need to be fire-rated.

Changing pipeclips to the type with rubber inserts may help, as may wrapping hessian around any pipework fitted through notches in joists.
(Ok, the last is more usually to do with ticks and squeaks from pipe expansion, but still worth checking that pipework close to boiler is not rammed hard against timber.)

 

[6091ben]

Thank you for the reply

The wall is a solid external, block and brick type. I have thought of a rubber mount or something but the plumbers we have asked haven’t done that before, a quick search on the internet doesn’t really bring anything up.

We have moved pipes etc. The fact that either the heating or hot water independently make the noise, we think rules out the pipes.

In the room above the boiler it does sound like a hairdryer or a car outside running.

Do you know of any sound proofing products?

 

[John D v2.0]

Could be some resonating air. I used to live in a place witha set of lights outside on a main road where traffic used to stop and idle all day every day.
About once a week there would be a lory waitng at a certain position and the engine was idling at a certain speed and it would cause a bizarre effect.
If your head was out the window, normal traffic waiting. If your head was facing the window/outside wall, normal enough noise. If your head was perpendicular to the outside wall, it was almost painful, like an extra loud bass speaker.
Must have just been resonating the air with the room, and maybe with the row of houses opposite.

I wonder if the boiler pump is vibrating gently at the same wavelength as the size of the loft room plus his living room.

 

[6091ben]

Thanks John. Yes that’s what I’m thinking it must be. How to dampen it though is another matter.

 

[AlanE]

We have moved pipes etc. The fact that either the heating or hot water independently make the noise, we think rules out the pipes.

Not necessarily, if the vibration is being generated within either the pipes or the boiler then it could travel along the pipes in either mode.

Have you tried going into the loft with the boiler running and trying to locate where the noise is loudest? A set of those engine noise finding type stethoscope touched on various places might help locate what is acting like a sound-board.

If boiler noise is being conducted along water pipes then it might be feasable to insert a short plastic length of pipe into each one.

Spent many years repairing boilers but never heard of something like this.

 

[6091ben]

Not necessarily, if the vibration is being generated within either the pipes or the boiler then it could travel along the pipes in either mode.

Have you tried going into the loft with the boiler running and trying to locate where the noise is loudest? A set of those engine noise finding type stethoscope touched on various places might help locate what is acting like a sound-board.

If boiler noise is being conducted along water pipes then it might be feasable to insert a short plastic length of pipe into each one.

Spent many years repairing boilers but never heard of something like this.

Thanks for the reply. That is a plan. I have found some of those at machine mart. Weekend in the loft then.

If we do find it’s the boiler itself, have you ever seen rubber mounting plates to hang the boiler away from the wall?

 

[gasbanni]

It's a combi so the fan and pump are running whether its heating or hotwater, you say it's loud in your bathroom above the boiler......

There's only three things moving the Fan the pump and the water...... from your humming noise description I'd use the stethascope on the flue of the boiler I'd check the noise on the flue elbow and other parts of the flue, I'd get someone to swap the fan. If the fan is out if balance the impellors can cause reverberations ......sometimesthey can sound like lancasters flying overhead. I've not had the much on boilers but loads of times on other fans when they are out of balance.

 

[6091ben]

It's a combi so the fan and pump are running whether its heating or hotwater, you say it's loud in your bathroom above the boiler......

There's only three things moving the Fan the pump and the water...... from your humming noise description I'd use the stethascope on the flue of the boiler I'd check the noise on the flue elbow and other parts of the flue, I'd get someone to swap the fan. If the fan is out if balance the impellors can cause reverberations ......sometimesthey can sound like lancasters flying overhead. I've not had the much on boilers but loads of times on other fans when they are out of balance.

Thank you for the thoughts. I am going to listen this weekend and see if I can find anything. Just want to know if I can work on areas like the pump and fan myself.

 

[gasbanni]

You should be able to find the source of the noise yourself. A bit of patience turning it on and off. Work on the boiler you need to leave to a registered gas fitter. The company you use should not have a problem with you being involved in trying to source the problem as its unusual.

 

[snb]

have had this problem a few times before with block walls especially those used cinder style ones used during the 70s. solution was to fix a sheet of plaster board to the wall using dot and dab and then refit the boiler.

 

[6091ben]

have had this problem a few times before with block walls especially those used cinder style ones used during the 70s. solution was to fix a sheet of plaster board to the wall using dot and dab and then refit the boiler.

Thanks, that sounds like a dream solution. Did it make a notable difference? I’m thinking of doubling up with sound matts and everything

 

[6091ben]

have had this problem a few times before with block walls especially those used cinder style ones used during the 70s. solution was to fix a sheet of plaster board to the wall using dot and dab and then refit the boiler.

Thanks, that sounds like a dream solution. Did it make a notable difference? I’m thinking of doubling up with sound matts and everything

 

[garyo]

If It was me I'd use a fly lead to power up the pump by itself and then likewise the fan to work out exactly what's causing the noise then take it from there. Refitting the boiler seems drastic if you just need a better balanced fan.

 

[FiremanT]

Does this sound familiar GAS112 ?