Boiler making a clicking noise

[misguided fool]

Hi
I have a Glow Worm Ultracom 30cxi combi boiler. I had it installed in march 2008 and last serviced april 2009.

over the last couple of weeks i have noticed it makinfg a clicking/ticking noise. It does not make the noise all the time and is sometimes louder than others.

It only seems to happen when the central heating is on and active and seems to get louder the longer it had been on.

Both the hot water and heating are working fine at the momment.
Any ideas what may be going wrong.

 

[Boilerman2]

Not serviced in April 2010 then?

 

[Wangerman]

ITS A BOMB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, get it serviced and ask your heating engineer then

 

[Boilerman2]

Gas appliances should be serviced annually as wangerman says this is the ideal chance to ask the engineer about any concerns you have with the boiler and it it is a lot easier to advise when you are standing in front of it listening to the "ticking noise"!

 

[misguided fool]

no sorry, no service in 2010. it's the only one i've ever missed since i moved into the house many years ago. Unfortunately things got on top of us a bit last year, as we were having a conservatory put in at the time the service was due then just before it was finally finished i become unwell for quite a while and a lot of things got overlooked.

I have already made an appointment for the plumber/heating engineer to visit next week and have a listen plus give it a service.

What i was hoping for from you guys was a few ideas what the problem was so i could prepare myself for either a small, medium or large bill (already had a vet bill and car bill hit me since christmas and really did not want to face a big one).

I was also intending to post his finding so that anyone with similar probs would know what to expect.

 

[Agile]

The simple answer is that there can be many causes including a foreign object inside.

A mechanical stethescope will probably be needed and even then it can be difficult to decide exactly where its coming from. Depending on whats causing it then it may not be necessary to do anything about it unless its disturbing you.

I was inclined to suggest that it was singing the Xhosa Click Click song made famous by the late Miriam Makeba! She was married to the famous African sax player Hugh Masekela who was seen in many of the concerts with Paul Simon all over the world. I have the DVD of one of the best concerts that they ever did which was in Harare as Hugh and Miriam were then banned from their native South Africa.

Tony

 

[misguided fool]

well the plumber arrived last wednesday. After a listen agreed he could here a low rumble when the heating initialised Then a clicking / ticking noise (like a clockwork timer). Adjusting the pump speed changed the rate of the noise. He checked a couple of bits were clean before returning to the pump.
He removed it from the system and discoved that the impeller was able to move up down left right in and out etc on it's shaft inside the pump.

came back Saturday with a new pump and the boiler is now quite as a mouse.

P.S. Also serviced the boiler and cleaned the filters etc, so service for 2011 complete.

 

[Agile]

And the cost?

How clean was the water?

Its dirt in the water that has worn the pump bearings!

Tony

 

[misguided fool]

No everything inside was nice and clean, no dirt or crap anywhere.

Plumber even called manufacturer as could not understand why pump would give up so spectacularly in such a short place of time (system was fully flushed and fitted with filters on cold supply and heating return when installed less than 3 years ago).

The Manafactuer said not known issue, however parts supplier said had sold a few replacement pumps for that boiler.

Plumber also commented that manafacturere has changed pump supplier and is now using grundfos pump.

Overall cost of repair inc service and parts £165.

 

[Agile]

Regardless of what they tell you the actual cause is finely devided black stuff in the water. It gives it a feint blackish tinge if you hold up a glass of the water to the light.

The Wilo pump has plastic bearings which are worn by that dirt. The later ( and earlier ) Grundfoss pump has hard ceramic bearings which are little affected but its more expensive.

Thats a VERY cheap price as the pump is almost £100 at the trade price and it takes most of an hour to check out the boiler and replace it. I would check the canoe filter and the pressure sensor communication port at th same time.

I am surprised if the system really was power flushed. Do you really have any evidence that it was? It takes about 3-5 HOURS to do properly and involves running from room to room!

When I see a magnetic filter fitted then its usually a sign that the installer does that INSTEAD of power flushing the system.

Tony

 

[joe-90]

It takes about 3-5 HOURS to do properly and involves running from room to room!


Tony

Don't panic Tony. It doesn't help matters.

 

[Mark Br]

When I see a magnetic filter fitted then its usually a sign that the installer does that INSTEAD of power flushing the system.

We seem to move in different circles - when I see a filter on new installs the system is normally spotlessly clean (obviously flushed) and the standard of work generally good.

Those without filters are the ones where the installer has cut corners.

 

[Kev F]

with above im afraid tony , you really should keep your little remarks to yourself, I flush and put filters on everything so there

 

[misguided fool]

hi sorry if i confused you.

it was flushed when the boiler was installed in march 2008. yes it did take ages with the plumber moving from room to room and he was here hours that day.

The filter he fitted was a chrome in line on the cold water supply and a second coppper filter with a mesh inside to catch any dirt or metal fragments on the central heating return to the boiler. he recommended this over the magnetic ones as he said the magnetic ones catch the metal bits (rust etc) that occurs in the system but do not always pick up the dirt and limescale as it is not magentic, so does not always get collected. Iin his opinion the copper in line filter did a better job. So had this fitted in march 2008 with the boiler after the system was flushed.

He also said the pump was just under the £100 and was here about 2hrs on the Wednesday and 1-1 1/2 hours on the Saturday.