Whistling unvented heater

[RobbiS]

Hi there,

Recently had engineer out to our 11 year old Oso direct immersion water heater as it was slow dripping through tundish. He drained and refilled/reinstated internal air gap and no dripping now, however, when turned on it immediately starts making a slight whistling/squeal type noise.

I don't recall that it was doing this prior to his visit, though I can't be 100% sure (only really noticed as he said to keep an eye out for any further drips in case the valve needed replacing!).

It's not particularly load or bothersome, but is it something that needs looking at? Don't really know what's normal and what isn't in terms of immersion noise!

Thanks in advance

 

[muggles]

What do you mean by "when turned on"? Are you talking about the immersion heater? If so then they aren't completely silent, although loud noise could indicate a build-up of scale and imminent failure

 

[dilalio]

Liken the sound to your kettle during the early and mid stages of a boil.

 

[RobbiS]

What do you mean by "when turned on"? Are you talking about the immersion heater? If so then they aren't completely silent, although loud noise could indicate a build-up of scale and imminent failure

Yes, sorry. It's when the immersion comes on. Maybe it is just on its way out.

 

[RobbiS]

Liken the sound to your kettle during the early and mid stages of a boil.

Suppose it does sound like a kettle first being turned on, which makes sense the more I think about it as suppose the heater is just a giant kettle that (hopefully) doesn't boil. Maybe I just never noticed it before as I wasn't really paying attention to the heater until now.

 

[JohnD]

they get noisier in hard water areas as limescale builds up. The noise does not mean it is about to go wrong. They often last many years.

the heating element is a replaceable part, not expensive, but will need a plumber to fit, qualified to work on unvented cylinders.