Pipes bangning -

[srgallan]

To all,

I am pretty much plumbing illeterate but wanted to put a question out there, for whatever reason I was thinking about it this morning.

I have a house about 15 years old, hot water baseboard via Oil furnace. For whatever reason last year over winter especially noticable at night when the heat kicks in the pipes in the spare rooms (Single U across both) bangs like someone is hitting it with a hammer.

At first I thought it might be air in the pipes but was not getting anywhere with the couple of plumbers I verified with for their thoughts on the subject. Then I had remembered that I just installed new click floor in thos rooms and it was somewhat tight around the copper pipes which may not allow for expansion. I was able to fix the issues by creating a 1/2inch gap all around the pipes, although there is an improvement the noise still persists and it was not present when we first moved in the house.

Suggestions? I am located in Canada on the east coast, I am not sure how our climate would be rated but to keep my house @ 20degrees celcius I will go through 900L of oil in 1.5 months during it's cold peek. Actually looking for more cost effective and environmentally friendly heating source as well.

[plumberjr]

you have lots of air in the system---call a plumber and tell him to install a spirovent

good luck

[NHMaster3015]

How hot is the boiler running at max? What is the high limit set at?

[srgallan]

I am not sure how to tell what my boiler is set at, there is a guage there with 140 degrees F indicated. So I assume that's the limit?

[Masterplumb]

If you have a diaphram type expansion tank check to see if both sides of the tank are hot when the unit is up to temp. If it is hot on both sides your x tank is bad

[NHMaster3015]

I asked because one common cause of hydronic banging is the temperature set too high at the boiler. this results in steam being made and the pipes a hopping.

[boillerman]

Banging could be the expansion tank bad, or zone valves if you have them. Is the banging more like a repetitve ticking noise though? If it's
pipe expansion it'll likely be a quick succession of ticks when the pipe heats up, slower when it cools off. If it's not that, you should get a
hydronic heating service person to check out the system. You can
usually pippoint the location of the noise if it's expansion (pipe rubbing
on something) yourself if you're willing to spend the time doing it.

[srgallan]

Actually your description sounds correct, I hear the ticks start and then there are a few bangs that are fairly loud and then it stops. Just seems to be when the heat kicks in for the upstairs zone but only affect the U shape pipe (more severely) in the spare rooms than the other areas of the house. It's loud enough that it wakes us up in the winter while sleeping.

Perhaps if I get a different plumber or my home heating service people to come in take a look, can't really duplicate the problem when they come over unfortunately.

I appreciate all the feedback, thanks everyone.

[boillerman]

Your boiler service person should know how to duplicate it if it's expansion.
And if the bladders bad he can check that too.