Gurgling and whooshing, can't find my pump

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Manchester
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Hi all,

This is my first post, but I've used this site many times and it's help me tip toe my way through owning my first house.

I moved into a house end of Feb, it's a 1960's local authority property.

I've been having trouble since moving in that the radiators making a gurlging sound. I hear the noise of the pump go, then a whoosh and a gurgling sound moved through the radiators. It seems to be more apparent in the radiators closest to the boiler, same level and above.

Anyway, they've all been bled, repeatably. Now my theory is that air is getting into the pump, however I can't find the pump anywhere in the house. I've taken the cover off the boiler but can't see one. Any help?

The boiler is an ideal RS 260, serviced not long before I moved in (apparently) looking to sort the problem as it's very frustrating in the early mornings, and with the weather being as it is it needs some time to warm up.

Roll on cavity wall insulation.

I should say that the system is open vented (header in loft, and hot water tank with immersion 1st floor between bedrooms)
 
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When you say you are repeatedly bleeding your radiators, are you actually getting air from them, because a system that has no air in it, but with a pump and a pump speed set too high will still make a wooshing sound due to the velocity.

Generally the pump will be between the boiler flow and the cylinder flow to make it a fully pumped system.

You won't have a pump in your boiler by the way ;)

Keep looking, if you find it turn it down to the slowest setting, if your CH works fine with this keep it at that, if not, turn it up a speed setting etc... If it's not a big house I can't see it having problems working on speed 1.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for reply.

I'll keep searching. Is it possible it could be under the floor boards?

The radiators, when bled, do not always contain air, however, the two that are the worst culprits will occasionally splutter a small amount rather than water running clear.

I'll keep looking for the pump, although I'm running out of places to look!
 
Could easily be under the floor..... Or in a cupboard.... How many pipes come from the boiler? (Apart from the small gas pipe.)
 
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Did you have any lukc locating the pump? We have the same problem in a very old house with a gloworm boiler.
 
Hello all,

Sorry for lateness of reply.

YES! I located the pump, it was under the floorboards in the room above the boiler. It was set to 3, so I turned it down to 1.

Started to hear lots of clicking in the pipes and was concerned that the pressure wouldn't be enough so turned it back to 2, had no gurgling as of yet (did it an hour ago, and normally happens every 5-10 mins) also the system in general is much quieter.

Will keep checking the heat, and may run the system from cold on setting one tomorrow. See what happens. See which setting is best.

Thank you! I can now put the system to come on really early so I'm not woken up by the gurgling.
 
Clicking noise is probably thermal expansion, (the pipes moving slightly as they heat up), nothing particularly to worry about. Could be because the pipes are getting hot at a faster rate as the heated water is passing through them at a slower pace.

You may find the gurgling settles down, once the system has adjusted to a slower pump speed. Personally, if its happy on 2, i'd leave it there. 1 may be a bit sluggish, especially when you are heating the house from cold.
 

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