Central heating pipes tapping

steveandel

Our central heating pipes make a really annoying tapping noise for about 10 seconds every time our combi boiler fires up to heat the central heating water. It sounds like pipe expansion noises to me. Is it likely to be making these noises due to a problem with the pipes or because the pipes are rubbing against something as they expand/contract? Would it be easy to rectify this problem?

Thanks!

ariba10

It is most likely to be friction as the pipe expands.

Finding out where is the bigest problem.

steveandel

Ok thanks. I've actually got a fair idea where the problem might be. I think it is in our spare room where grooves have been cut in the joists to accommodate the pipes. That's where most of the noise seems to be coming from. Annoyingly I could have done that a few months ago when the carpet was up waiting for the new one to be laid, I don't much fancy taking the carpet up, is it difficult to lay back down again?!!:o

lizzo

I just wanted to say that I have exactly the same problem, and I had a combi boiler fitted last September, and eversince I get this loud ticking noise a lot. I thought I could live with it, but now I am not so sure, as it is starting to really annoy me. What I don't understand is, why now? it didnt do it with my old system? Who should I get in to sort it out? The heating engineer who installed the new boiler? or a carpenter? My ticking is coming from under the floor in the spare room too. Is it fixable? ( Its ticking madly away as I type this :mad: !!)

Canucklehead

Hi

Any work I do involving pipes across joist will get this underneath......7th down hairfelt lagging.Your local merchant should have this .It also comes in a tubular version ,just cut the seam open. http://www.plumbingsupplyservices.co.uk/acatalog/plumbing_consumables.html
The only way to cure this noise is to have the floor up.
In some cases the notch might need to be made deeper.

Corgi Guy.

zebidee1

I have had/still have this too, it seems to be a common problem, it's really annoying. Only thing to do is lift your floor OP. Plumbers are good with pipework but rubbish with wood, lol. Most dont think too much about noises in my experience. (Sorry to any who do...not tarring you all with the same brush, honestly. )

I had to cut away a little more of the joists to stop the noise in certain areas but I still have an area which has the noise and it's not near a joist.

The pipe is joined and lies in the void between the kitchen ceiling and the upstairs landing, not near wood/joists/anything else. In fact it's kind of in mid air, running centrally in the void.

Is it possible that the joint itself is flexing slightly somehow and causing the noise? I've already had the ceiling down but didn't see anything at all that could be the cause. I am about to lift the landing floor shortly....I wondered if I used some of the metal strips that the plumber used to support the pipework elsewhere might help....if I fastened the pipe down it would lessen/stop any movement?

Failing that...what else can I try? I'm certain the noise is coming from the right area but is it possible that the sound is travelling from a joist 4 feet away, past the join and where the noise is emanating?

Canucklehead

zebidee1 wrote: »

Plumbers are good with pipework but rubbish with wood, lol. Most dont think too much about noises in my experience. (Sorry to any who do...not tarring you all with the same brush, honestly. )

Good morning: If you hadn't qualified your initial comment, you'd be another one on the ignore list;) My OH, Corgi Guy, tends to use these http://www.screwfix.com/prods/12382/Plumbing/Copper-Tube-Accessories/Snap-Lid-Pipe-Clip-15mm#

Anyone considering the installation of a new CH system/boiler should ask the CORGI to specify lagging of pipework (for insulation and sound) in a written quotation..this is the sort of detail that tends to be omitted from the 'price sensitive' quotes.

HTH

Canucklehead

jimbo_the_jetset

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi

Any work I do involving pipes across joist will get this underneath......7th down hairfelt lagging.Your local merchant should have this .It also comes in a tubular version ,just cut the seam open. http://www.plumbingsupplyservices.co.uk/acatalog/plumbing_consumables.html
The only way to cure this noise is to have the floor up.
In some cases the notch might need to be made deeper.

Corgi Guy.

Any ideas if the foam insulation type stuff will do the same job or is the felt/hessian stuff better?

zebidee1

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good morning: If you hadn't qualified your initial comment, you'd be another one on the ignore list;)

Lol...I'm sorry, I didnt mean to be offensive. I wasn't trying to quantify all plumbers, I was just stating my opinion based on the experiences we have had.

I'm sure there are excellent plumbers out there who take care with all aspects of their work.......but in my defence, I genuinely haven't come across them (so far anyway).

It's a standing joke amongst the neighbours round here (those that got their central heating put in when gas arrived in our area) that we all have jigsaw floors now and we can play tunes on them depending on where we stand, lol. (Because of the movement and squeaks) In fact, one area of our floor wasn't even dwanged after they cut a hatch out of it and they just laid the cut out piece back, balanced on a few mm of wood on 2 edges only, and pulled the carpet over it. Needless to say it lasted less than a day before a foot went through it and we discovered their handiwork.

Ironically, when we got the Worcester Bosch man out to service the boiler, he commented that they had done a really neat job of the pipework.

Anyway........thanks for the link to the clip, but the pipe concerned is not near anything to clip it to, so these would not do. It is literally in air for a good 6 feet. I thought I could fasten something to the joist either side of it and support it kind of like a hammock.

BobProperty

zebidee1 wrote: »

....I'm sure there are excellent plumbers out there who take care with all aspects of their work.......but in my defence, I genuinely haven't come across them (so far anyway).....

You must live in the wrong place then.....:D

zebidee1 wrote: »

Anyway........thanks for the link to the clip, but the pipe concerned is not near anything to clip it to, so these would not do. It is literally in air for a good 6 feet. I thought I could fasten something to the joist either side of it and support it kind of like a hammock.

All you do is cut a piece of timber (a noggin) to go across between the two joists and then fix the pipe to the timber with a clip (felt optional) Given that it isn't supported enough at present this will most likely solve the problem. Now to go and find the pipe fixing centres guidance.....

zebidee1

Well, we are a bit in the middle of nowhere and dont have the choice of tradesmen that you do in a town or city. I think we pay more for travelling time than we do for actual labour costs.

Thanks for the noggin tip.....it's obvious really isn't it? I was making it harder than it needed to be.