Noisy Boiler – Aeroplane Sound

[rob8506]

Hi

My boiler sounds like a 737 landing, ok maybe a 727 , would appreciate some help/comments.

Moved into my current house a 1960’s 3 bed detached house, about 18 months ago. It has an open vent, fully pumped heating system with a Glowworm Economy Plus 60F.

The pipe work seems a little strange with 22mm from boiler to upstairs and 10mm off to rads with TRV’s; it then drops in 15mm to feed the hall and lounge. I have altered the controls as it only had a single 2 way valve installed? an old electro-mechanical timer and no room thermostat.

I have updated the controller now a Siemens RWB2E (alright I know, but it works for me ), and installed a second 2 way valve, along with a room stat and a new cylinder stat. This now all operates fine, on/off at right time and hot water only as required.

However it has been making some noise dependant on where the boiler thermostat is set, I called British Gas under the service contract and the engineer suggested that the noise might be due to scaling, he inserted some cleaner into one of the rads and said to leave it to work through. The noise continued with a grinding sound which seemed to be linked to the fan, BG replaced the Fan which did seem to calm the noise a little.

However just before Christmas the noise became quite loud, BG turned out and the engineer suggested that improving the flow might help, he removed the Grundfos Alpha pump and find a standard pump set to maximum. He did conclude that any further noise must now be the heat exchanger, which was a discontinued part for this model.

The boiler thermostat is now set to minimum, above which there is significant noise. Strangely enough BG were very keen to quote for a new install, with prices from £ 4000 just to replace the boiler and £8000 for the whole system .

I have checked a few spare suppliers and the heat exchanger does seem to be available, can I insist that BG change it under the service contract? Is there any way to prove the noise is related to circulation and or sludge in the heat exchanger?

Apologies for the overlong preamble, grateful for any comments.

Regards

Rob

 

[nickso]

BG generally wont replace an h/e for noise as its probably due to poor water quality.

 

[rob8506]

Hi Nickso

Thanks for the clarification on the h/e, kind of understand their point of view.

I have had search through related threads and Fernox DS 40 seems to the way to go.

Rob

 

[nickso]

you could try a bottle of silencer but ive had mixed results. cheaper than a h/e or a new boiler though so maybe worth a gamble.

 

[rob8506]

Nickso

Have put Fernox F2 in as an interim and have DX40 on order to put in at the weekend.

Rob

 

[rob8506]

Update

Fernox F2 has made quite a difference , tempted to put another bottle in. However will wait for the weekend and add the DX 40, to achieve a more long term solution.

The noise would appear to be due to restricted flow in the heat exchanger as suspected and confirmed by previous threads .

Its just a shame that British Gas couldn't solve this more quickly, despite 3 visits and a very strong sales job for a new boiler .

 

[nickso]

Update

Fernox F2 has made quite a difference , tempted to put another bottle in. However will wait for the weekend and add the DX 40, to achieve a more long term solution.

The noise would appear to be due to restricted flow in the heat exchanger as suspected and confirmed by previous threads .

Its just a shame that British Gas couldn't solve this more quickly, despite 3 visits and a very strong sales job for a new boiler .

yes im surprised he didnt put some silencer in as its cheap and works at least half of the time for me. the slight problem is some of them wont as it may end up being a recall if it doesnt work.

as you have mentioned you havent really solved the problem, more temporarily quietened some symptoms.

good luck with the ds40 and lets hope that gets closer to a more permanent result.

let us know how you get on.

 

[Agile]

I thought that the BG contracts excluded any scaling or sludging problems.

DS40 is only good for metal oxides.

If the problem is calcium compounds then DS3 is required but it only works at higher temperatures.

With either of those chemicals its better to keep they out of the rads if its only the boiler giving the problem by operating on HW only and turning off the control valve on each rad first.

Tony

 

[Breesey]

Hi

My boiler sounds like a 737 landing, ok maybe a 727 , would appreciate some help/comments.

A 727 will always be louder than even the noisiest of 737's as it has one more engine than a 737 = 50% more noise. Or did I miss the point!?

 

[nickso]

I thought that the BG contracts excluded any scaling or sludging problems.


Tony

it does but its acceptable to put in a bottle of silencer.

 

[bengasman]

Hi

My boiler sounds like a 737 landing, ok maybe a 727 , would appreciate some help/comments.

A 727 will always be louder than even the noisiest of 737's as it has one more engine than a 737 = 50% more noise. Or did I miss the point!?

you missed something, distance is an important factor

 

[twgas]

Hi

My boiler sounds like a 737 landing, ok maybe a 727 , would appreciate some help/comments.

A 727 will always be louder than even the noisiest of 737's as it has one more engine than a 737 = 50% more noise. Or did I miss the point!?

you missed something, distance is an important factor

is that distance to it or from it

 

[bengasman]

How can you expect me to answer that if you don’t specify whether it is metric or imperial???
I don’t have a crystal ball you know.

 

[twgas]

I'm sure the other day you looked into your crystal ball when some idiot said something like "my boiler dont work, any ideas"

 

[bengasman]

As you mentioned yourself, that was another day. Had one on trial, but it worked out to be useless so I brought it back.
Copper pulled me over and he did not even stop writing when I mentioned my crystal ball showed that he would let me off with a warning.