Noisy radiator after powerflushing?

JustAnotherSaver

I don't know if powerflushing is one of them things where there's a split opinion with some saying it's a good thing & others claiming it to be a big con or what.
We had our system done this week after a previous post showed how dirty the water was. A magnetic filter was also installed immediately below the boiler also.

As i understand it, the power flushing doesn't necessarily have to be done by the boiler but is best to be done that way? The chap who did the job did it all next to the boiler though. Chemical was put in the system & allowed to run through for an hour or so i know that bit also.

Anyway the central heating was put on yesterday & as it got to temp & then turned off, after a little bit we noticed the main radiator in the living room going ting-ting-ting which it never did do previously.

Our log burner is a tad similar but does this as the fire gets going & then after a while settles down & doesn't do it again.

Just wondered what this ting-ting-ting noise (no corny reference to the Ting Ting's or anything else please ) is all about and why will it have suddenly started?

I wondered if maybe an air lock but there isn't. I opened it up at the top a tad and clear water came out immediately, both when the rad was warm & the next morning when everything was stone cold. Tried other rads too and no air out of them.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It could be a small piece of solder or other metal which has now come loose having previously been stuck in the sludge.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If that's the case it will probably find its way to somewhere and stick there, hopefully in your new filter and not your boiler.[/FONT]

Grenage

'Ting Ting' noises are usually expansion sounds; does the radiator now get hotter? Unlagged pipes are often responsible as they go through joists (the sound travels well), but sometimes it's the brackets for the radiator.

I took my radiator off and put some electrical tape on the brackets of one in my old house, and that stopped it.

JustAnotherSaver

I don't think he took any rads off other than the one that had a hole in it and the existing brackets were just re-used as i bought the same rad in again.

I did wonder if it was expansion noise since like i said it was as the rad was cooling down.

The rads do seem to get hotter yes. I used to be able to hold my hand on them but now it burns.
Though i noticed on some i was feeling yesterday they seem to get hot in a strange way. May be normal to you guys but strange to me. I expected it to get hot from the bottom to top in an even line.

Yet it gets hot at the left and right, a bit at the top and then cool in the centre. Give it a few more minutes and then the heat is equal throughout the rad.

Since we were looking at around £500 i was just holding back on payment for a few days in case things weren't right that's all as i'd previously made the mistake of paying a tradesman instantly & then had no comeback/leverage when the £1,500 job didn't turn out right.

AndyMc.....

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

I don't think he took any rads off other than the one that had a hole in it and the existing brackets were just re-used as i bought the same rad in again.

I did wonder if it was expansion noise since like i said it was as the rad was cooling down.

The rads do seem to get hotter yes. I used to be able to hold my hand on them but now it burns.
Though i noticed on some i was feeling yesterday they seem to get hot in a strange way. May be normal to you guys but strange to me. I expected it to get hot from the bottom to top in an even line.

Yet it gets hot at the left and right, a bit at the top and then cool in the centre. Give it a few more minutes and then the heat is equal throughout the rad.

Since we were looking at around £500 i was just holding back on payment for a few days in case things weren't right that's all as i'd previously made the mistake of paying a tradesman instantly & then had no comeback/leverage when the £1,500 job didn't turn out right.

You’ve had your powerflush and all appears to work so time to pay the guy. He’s probably got a family and a Christmas to pay for like you.

JustAnotherSaver

AndyMc..... wrote: »

You’ve had your powerflush and all appears to work so time to pay the guy. He’s probably got a family and a Christmas to pay for like you.

Well considering the invoice gives 10 days to pay i don't think it's unreasonable on day 3 to have not paid yet, especially when you're unsure about something that is now happening which didn't happen before and you'd just like them to comment on it (i've left him a message and i don't expect a reply until next week as i know today is NYE with tomorrow being NY). If they want immediate payment before they leave the house then they would specify this. You can't ask for payment within 10 days and then complain it hasn't been made after 3.

I have had tradesmen in in the past and paid them up pronto. Then when things have gone wrong (mould appearing on walls after they had 'tanked' the walls - a 0.5 metre band of cement) and i start chasing them for answers they all of a sudden no longer wish to talk (now that they have my money).
In that case as soon as i started mentioning solicitors they suddenly became very eager to talk again. What a coincidence.

I remember those guys doing a section of the job and then asking us to take out £800 that very day because they had no money to pay their workers.

Not my fault if you run things so tight! I don't mind if we have a pre-agreement of paying on set days or after a set amount of work has been done but to come randomly because you all of a sudden no longer have money to pay your lads?

Back on the topic of this though, i have absolutely no problem in paying the chap. If there's nothing wrong then i'll pay. I even intend on leaving a positive review for them and have them back for more work, but i'm no plumber and i want to be sure firstly that this noise isn't signs of a problem (since it wasn't there before). I think i'm entitled to that answer within the payment period?!

AndyMc.....

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Well considering the invoice gives 10 days to pay i don't think it's unreasonable on day 3 to have not paid yet, especially when you're unsure about something that is now happening which didn't happen before and you'd just like them to comment on it (i've left him a message and i don't expect a reply until next week as i know today is NYE with tomorrow being NY). If they want immediate payment before they leave the house then they would specify this. You can't ask for payment within 10 days and then complain it hasn't been made after 3.

I have had tradesmen in in the past and paid them up pronto. Then when things have gone wrong (mould appearing on walls after they had 'tanked' the walls - a 0.5 metre band of cement) and i start chasing them for answers they all of a sudden no longer wish to talk (now that they have my money).
In that case as soon as i started mentioning solicitors they suddenly became very eager to talk again. What a coincidence.

I remember those guys doing a section of the job and then asking us to take out £800 that very day because they had no money to pay their workers.

Not my fault if you run things so tight! I don't mind if we have a pre-agreement of paying on set days or after a set amount of work has been done but to come randomly because you all of a sudden no longer have money to pay your lads?

Back on the topic of this though, i have absolutely no problem in paying the chap. If there's nothing wrong then i'll pay. I even intend on leaving a positive review for them and have them back for more work, but i'm no plumber and i want to be sure firstly that this noise isn't signs of a problem (since it wasn't there before). I think i'm entitled to that answer within the payment period?!

No wonder you’ve had your pants pulled down.

JustAnotherSaver

ok........

nofoollikeold

I do a fair amount of power flushing, particularly before new boiler installations.

1. Power flushing doesn't have to be done by the boiler. However, its best done via the pump, which may well be near the boiler.
2. I hope you don't mean he completed the job in an hour. I'd allow a complete day for a power flush of an 8 to 10 radiator system. Might come out an hour or two less if there are no snags, but there usually ARE a few snags.
3. I can't imagine anything done during a power flush would directly cause your "ting ting". The suggestions by Grenage and Tom99 are most likely causes in my opinion.

JustAnotherSaver

nofoollikeold wrote: »

I do a fair amount of power flushing, particularly before new boiler installations.

1. Power flushing doesn't have to be done by the boiler. However, its best done via the pump, which may well be near the boiler.

Yes that's what i read which is why i assume he was working next to the boiler. I thought they may have used the rad downstairs to drain off since it has a tap like connector on it but everything was done upstairs.

2. I hope you don't mean he completed the job in an hour. I'd allow a complete day for a power flush of an 8 to 10 radiator system. Might come out an hour or two less if there are no snags, but there usually ARE a few snags.

No no he was there all day. Started about 9 & finished around 4:30 i think. Included fitting a magnetic filter. When i said an hour that was regards the chemical he put in the system, he said he'd let that circulate for about an hour.

3. I can't imagine anything done during a power flush would directly cause your "ting ting". The suggestions by Grenage and Tom99 are most likely causes in my opinion.

I did wonder but then i thought i best just check.
The other option is to pay up immediately & THEN ask. We all know what would happen then don't we - people would say well you're stupid for paying up before getting your questions answered because now they have no reason to reply to you.

Can't win.

I'm not trying to say i think anything has been done wrong. I'm simply not a plumber so all i want is to know why it's started happening, that's all. As it didn't happen before i think it's a perfectly legitimate question.



When it started making a noise earlier i pushed on the rad a bit which stopped the noise - which made me wonder if it's just expansion like has been mentioned, or even something to do with the brackets after the rads were getting a whacking to loosen up any crud.

southcoastrgi

Try turning your boiler stat down, you have already said they are hotter, if the boiler was set on max temp to do the flush it might not have been turned back to where you had it set