Boiler banging

[Clare]

Can anyone please help me?

I have had no CH now for over a month as I have been advised not to use it. I have a Glow Worm Energysaver Condenser Boiler (?Can't give anymore information as that is all that is written on it!) and it's 5 years old (new build house). Last March we had the same problem.

The problem is basically a horrendous banging noise that could wake the dead! The plumber who fixed the problem last year just 'cleaned up' the inside of the boiler but this was obviously not a long-term solution.

On Saturday the by-pass(?) was opened and now it makes a strange 'whirring' noise as though it is going backwards, or that is how it sounds - difficult to describe. Sounds like liquid making this noise rather than just the fan.

Last week another plumber came out and fed some de-scaler (although he called them 'chemicals' as he must have thought that de-scaler was too technical for me!).

Two weeks ago a different plumber moved the air vent from one side of the pump to another (this pump was replaced last March when we were trying to find someone who knew the answer to the problem then!).

Three weeks ago the rads were all vented and bled.

I now have cold spots on ALL my rads and the one at the end of the circuit in the dining room doesn't get above tepid.

BTW the plumbers that installed this system were fired after they finished the first 7 houses (mine being one of them) and a new firm was used for the other 43 houses!

Can anyone help me solve this conundrum please and get some heating back - it's blinkin' freezing in here!

[Colin Wilson]

I`m just wondering whether an NHBC warranty covers this sort of f*ckup by the builder...

[Clare]

Thanks for your reply! Thankfully (for me anyway!) the house is rented so it is the landlord supplying (and paying!) all these plumbers.

Forgot to mention (don't know if it matters) the house is a 3 bed eot with

10 rads and the boiler is in the kitchen!

I do have one other point of concern, I have just fired it up again - still banging - and happened to notice that the flames are burning really quite orange - is this normal?

Thanks again

[Colin Wilson]

I am not a plumbing engineer, but NO, this is NOT NORMAL and may be dangerous.

ISTR something about a blocked flue and carbon monoxide poisoning in cases like this.

I would switch off immediately - better cold than cold and dead.

[Alistair Riddell]

This is not normal - at best it is inefficient and will result in a sooted up boiler, at worst it could be leaking highly dangerous carbon monoxide. I would suggest you switch off the boiler and get a qualified person to service it.

You could always buy a couple of electric heaters to keep you warm in the short term - they're not very expensive.

[Clare]

Thanks to you both for your replies.

After a bit of research on the internet it seems that we may have found the reason why 3 of us have felt poorly (coughs etc) since christmas and why I have had a headache that won't shift for the last week. Luckily, the window next to the boiler is permanently open for the cat to get in and out!

Have emailed the landlord to let them know about the orange flames so should get a reply tomorrow. Find it very worrying that I have had 4 plumbers out in the last month and none have noticed this.

Would this go someway to explain this banging noise and whirring sound?

Thanks again

PS - Appliance duly switched off on control panel and at mains!

[James Salisbury]

Try calling transco. BEWARE, this will cause the law to desend on your landlord and the person who installed it, and have your boiler disconnected ect.. ect..

[Colin Wilson]

Oh shit, this sounds like a VERY lucky escape :-/

How close is the flue to the window ? Its hard to tell from this whether it saved your life, or almost cost you it :-}

The banging is something I think most make to some extent (our Worcester Bosch is

[Andy Dingley]

Handy things cats - every boiler should have one.

A friend of mine's cat liked to sleep on their elderly boiler. I was poisoning myself with CO there one night - but fortunately I recognised the symptoms for what they were. I confirmed this by picking the cat up off the boiler and dropping it, at which point it landed squarely on its head!

I have to ask - what sort of muppet plumbers did you have round that didn't recognise an orange flame for what it is ?

[John Rumm]

That was my thought... the boiler will be a room sealed unit. So even if doing nothing but belch CO from ounce of its being, none of it should be getting into the room directly. However you may be letting it back through the window.

[Clare]

To answer your question about the window, the boiler is in the corner of the room so the flue is above and behind it and the window is 'in front' of the boiler but round the corner from the flue.

The boiler is normally pretty quiet, the banging only really started in earnest before christmas. It's constant as well; seems to be when the hw/ch has reached temperature it bangs for the rest of the time that you leave it on. The fan could always be heard but doesn't sound like it used to. Difficult noise to describe, but almost sound like it is going backwards and struggling to do so!

[John]

[Clare]

What my pride prevented me from saying earlier is that my house is owned by a HA. It's their plumbing contractors (different plumber everytime, same comany though) that have come round. To my knowledge, none of them looked in the boiler when it was fired up. They checked the tank in the airing cupboard, the rads etc but I have never seen one look in there.

Have already sent them an email and shall be calling them this morning.

Thanks for all your replies. I should hear from them today so may have an answer for tonight.

Had heard of CO2 poisoning from faulty appliances but in my naivety thought it was a) to do with older boilers b) something that happened to other people.

Seems a bit daft now in the cold light of day!

Thanks for all your help, will post a follow up tonight.

[Ed Sirett]

From the other posts:

When was the last Landlords' ticket done? Less than 12 months post the details - I suspect that there is some major c*ck up with the heating (it takes a lot for a big builder to sack the plumbers). You (you and the Landlord) really need to get competent help.

More than 12 months: Your Landlord or his agents are really failing you badly. They need to be taught a lesson bring in Transco 0800 111 999. If that does not make waves then try the HSE directly.

[Ed Sirett]

It is almost certainly a room sealed boiler - that's why I wanted you to post the Landlords' safety ticket details.

[Colin Wilson]

That shouldn`t be a problem then - I think most boilers with a fanned flue only need something like a 300mm horizontal seperation, but all I know about gas installations I learned from this newsgroup :-}

[Andy R]

TBH this sounds more like water boiling in the heat exchanger. You say that it starts when everything's got up to temp, could it be that the pump is cutting out but the boiler is still firing, or could it be that the pump speed is too slow and as the water heats up the water's moving too slowly through the heat exchanger and boiling at a couple of hot spots.

My own system did exactly this when the pump failed, the banging was tremendous.

Rgds

Andy R