Boiler banging like crazy - and I mean BANGING!

[Tiggsy]

OK, I cant explain how loud my pipes/boiler bang at night......Imagine one of those giant tool chests mechanics have been shoved up the pipework from boiler to airing cupboard, by an elephant - it,s staggering.....like an earthquake.

Daughter had a sleepover mate here recently and at 3am she thought the world was ending and now has PTSD.

So what causes it? Normally the boiler (old style one form early 80's - though I recently fitted a new PCB thing to it) is ok, though it does have a habbit of tripping out every few days and needing the "push in" button pushing in.

Last night I had hayfever so found myself in the kitchen at 3am getting meds.......now at this time the heating/hot water is all set to off, yet the boiler was firing away like mad and starting to make sounds (like a giant kettle)....I adjusted the pump flow (no effect) I adjusted the heat setting (no effect unless i turned it to off which saw the unit cut out, but as soon as I turned it past 1 it would fire back up)

So I left it and, sure enough, a few minutes later the elephant and tools made their way through the system.....then all was quiet.

?????????????????

M

[TooLateForAName]

Does this happen when the boiler is meant to on or only when it is meant to be off?

Is the pump running at the same time as the boiler is running?

[freecar]

It sounds like "kettling" but that should only happen when the boiler is on not off??? If it is kettling you can fix it by rinsing and flushing the system a few times.

[Globs]

PTSD? Is it available on Amazon?

[Ricky_M]

By the "push in thing" do you mean the overheat stat?

If so, the two problems are likely to be linked.

Banging usually occurs when the boiler is overheating. It could be a number if things, faulty control thermostat/thermistor, pump not working properly, sludged up system or a blocked pipe.

[militantmandy]

Can give you the number of a good priest. Definitely poltergeist activity.

[rash_decision]

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKAF7mcpN...

This?? Lol.

[mybrainhurts]

Banging at night, eh..? :snigger:

[Globs]

Tiggsy said:

OK, I cant explain how loud my pipes/boiler bang at night

Tiggsy said:

Daughter had a sleepover mate here recently and at 3am

Tiggsy said:

So what causes it?

Well if I were you, I'd just be happy your daughter is obviously very clever to think up excuses like that.

Edited by Globs on Sunday 8th May 19:23

[Arthur Jackson]

Circulation. Probably pump. Impeller dislodged from shaft. Impeller choked up with sludge.

[john_p]

I had this, I think it was the heat exchanger had started to block up with limescale and it would pop and bang like mad before eventually tripping the overheat stat.

This lead to many "hot water for 2 minutes then cold" incidents which made showers entertaining

The heat exchanger was swapped but no idea if it would have been fixed with some descaler/flush etc

[RichB]

Sounds like kettling but why is it running when it's meant to be all off?

[Ricky_M]

RichB said:

Sounds like kettling but why is it running when it's meant to be all off?

Zone valve stuck in open position?

Could be causing the hot water cylinder to overheat also.

[Simpo Two]

My system has recently starting making a bang on start-up; sounds like somebody hitting a pipe in the roof with a mallet. But then it works as normal.

[Globs]

Simpo Two said:

My system has recently starting making a bang on start-up; sounds like somebody hitting a pipe in the roof with a mallet. But then it works as normal.

Check for Albanians living in your loft..

[Simpo Two]

Globs said:

Check for Albanians living in your loft..

It's not them. I told them to stop bashing the pipes ages ago and besides, 37 of them bring in a useful rent

[henrycrun]

If you have a header tank, check the water level and the ball valve is working ok