Heating, noises from pipes increasing

twopenny

Appologies for the long post, tried to give the whole background.

The property is a linked bungalow, the boiler in the garage with the pipes going into the loft.

It's 20yrs old but only been used for 5yrs.

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There is no soundproofing, the garage is next to the lounge and there are noises like cracking/popping/knocking/tapping from the pipes in the ceiling. As though the pipe is hicuping or can't expand against a clip. This can go on all evening - or not.

It seems to happen before the boiler fires but can't be sure as it isn't a regular.

There is also an occasional weird sound

I've had the radiators flushed and all was fine then. But had new TRVs fitted on old radiators. The leaking immersion heater was replaced at the same time and the water system was drained and refilled I believe.

The problem seems to have started with ticking noise in the wall by a radiator I think is the lead one, then in the ceiling ditto radiator, now it's nearer the boiler above the living room  and can be frequent and loud cracking noise. .

Having said that it's on now and very little noise to quiet and that's so in the mornings. I can find no frequency to it. Seems to improve if I open the TVRs more but not reliably so. It doesn't seem to relate to air temperature but it's unseasonably cold at the mo but even a milder day it was banging away.

Then I had a new actuator fitted because the old one was rubbish and that seems to work well.

Sometimes ticking from the radiators half way round in the morning.

I have the guy who comes to service the boiler but I don't have a lot of faith. He just turns up on time and is reliable and round here it's hard to get anyone. But he didn't seem to do much to the boiler when 'servicing' and has a lot of personal problems. Just opened the door and poked around a bit as I was watching. He's bringing a 'mate' with him this time and thinks it might be the pump......without hearing the noise and I forsee another bill without a diagnosis.

I can't get into the loft to track the piping or expansion tank ie ballcock due to a trapped leg nerve, can't get up ladders at the mo.

Is there anything I can ask or suggest?

I'm sort of getting paranoid about it exploding or starting a fire. That happened recently here but in a solid house where mine would go up like tinder! Yep, sitting listening to the noise while trying to relax is worrying.

jusferbrowsing

This guy has a lot of general building and DIY tips. In this video he covers a whole range of pipework noises. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfJIUpUhB_Q

MikeJXE

It's all down to general expansion and contraction of the heating pipes. 

Squeaking against the joists or through holes 

A solution is to wrap them with insulation 

macman

Expansion due to pipework heating up may be annoying, but it's not going to start a fire or explode.. 
If the pipes are clipped to joists etc underfloor then sometimes this can amplify the noise.
i cannot see what the CH pump has to do with this issue, so perhaps time to get in a decent GSR RGI?

plumb1_2

Sounds like the pipes expanding and contracting, with the work you have had done they could have moved a pipe and not refitted  it back in the bracket/clip. So could be rubbing on a joist?

You need to make sure all the pipes are lagged in the garage and loft.
You also get some knocking sounds if the boiler stat is set to high, I presume you have a heat only boiler.
Guessing it’s the pump wouldn’t give me confidence In him either.

ThisIsWeird

It is astonishing just how continuous such noises can be - how the hell can the pipes be expanding and contracting that much all evening! But most likely that is all that's going on. It only takes a teeny tiny fractional imperceptible movement to make such a noise, so the whole evening's repertoire is probably only caused by a single mm of pipe movement. 

If you go in to the garage and listen to the boiler itself, then you will hopefully be reassured. If there is any overheating or 'banging' taking place, then you will almost certainly hear it direct from the boiler. If the boiler is behaving normally, then relax. If it's banging or shaking, then, well, you know... Creaking and ticking from the pipework is 'normal' unless the pipes have been clipped or insulated correctly. 

twopenny

Thank you all. You've put my mind at rest.

You've said what I thought. I mentioned to him about lagging the pipes but he said they didn't need to be lagged which I thought was odd.

Ditto the noise is coming from the pipes through the garage roof, same area, and between there and the expansion tank.

The boiler fires fine.

Seems to me a bracket is too tight or not tight enough - could be the ball !!!!!! not doing it's work right. I've only got this from reading the net...........

Just wish I could get into the loft to listen and explore. Lets hope the guy he brings is slimmer and more atheletic. I'll push for that first.

If I was able to get into the loft to listen I could perhaps narrow it down.

It's tricky to get a change of anyone who will visit here. Plumbers, gas, electrics, plasterers are booked months in advance and a small area if you upset someone news travels.

ThisIsWeird

Are your pipes copper or plastic? Either should be lagged if travelling through the loft space, copper more so.

What's the prognosis on your trapped nerve - when will you be able to check this out yourself? At least you'll know it'll be done properly!

Until then, unless you have full trust in the plumber, then I'd personally live with the creaks until I could sort this myself.

macman

The air temp in a presumably unheated garage is going to be consistently low, so there's going to be a greater temp differential between that and the same pipes running through a space in a heated part of the house. 
Greater degree of expansion, greater potential for expansion noise.
This so-called RGI's pronouncements are sounding more and more bizarre. No need to lag the pipework in an unheated garage?  Really?

twopenny

Well he came, really is a nice well intentioned guy. But I put my foot down and said no noise from the boiler so he nipped in the loft and checked both water and expansion tank ballcocks.
His mate was trying to sell me a combi, repeatedly. Driving a black Mercedes and insisted on getting someone from the company he uses to see about him doing the bathroom. Needless to say he won't get that job even though I'm desperate.

The suggestion from the mate was were there air vents above the boiler - the pipes in the loft.
What the heck are airvents through a simple boiler and pipe work please?
It's been running fine till recently.

I couldn't wait to get rid of this mate, my guy didn't look to relaxed either and they were 2hrs late.

Slinky

We used to get a lot of banging with our pipework. I'm astonished how the previous owners put up with it for 40 years. We discovered that the pipes under the floorboards were 'clipped' down with nails bent over the tops of the bare pipes where they passed over the joists. We've just spent a fortune having the whole lot replaced with new as I'm not listening to that racket for the rest of my life!