Noisy TRVs

[Handyman]

I've fitted Drayton TRV4 valves to all my radiators. System works perfectly, but I notice that as the valves close to restrict the water flow to the rads, near the point of closure, you can hear the water squeezing through the valve until it closes completely. When 3 or 4 valves are closing more or less simultaneously, the system is makes more noise than I would have expected from £13 TRVs.

Can I do anything about this? (It's a minor annoyance rather than a problem.)

 

[Softus]

Hm. I wonder why it's important that you paid £13 for a TRV4. Hm.

Do you know how clean your system is, internally? Did you flush it? Did you add a corrosion inhibitor when you refilled?

Anyway, if you have a pump, see if it has speed settings, and consider turning the speed down.

 

[doitall]

Fit an auto by-pass to relieve the pressure

 

[Handyman]

I could have used cheapo TRVs from local shop, around a fiver each, but I chose Drayton TRV4s because (supposedly) better quality and they were a better design. The price is relevant as I would have thought that more expensive/better quality valves might have design feature to reduce noise.

System was flushed, then filled and run with Fernox cleaner for 1 week, then flushed again and filled with Fernox inhibitor (not 100% inhibitor, obviously )

I've turned the pump speed down to 1, and that has reduced noise. System still seems to work OK at lower setting.

What's a bypass valve? Only ones I can find are for cars.

 

[Softus]

I could have used cheapo TRVs from local shop, around a fiver each, but I chose Drayton TRV4s because (supposedly) better quality and they were a better design. The price is relevant as I would have thought that more expensive/better quality valves might have design feature to reduce noise.

OK I understand your thinking there, but I don't think that's a feature of TRVs, even expensive ones. BTW, I'm surprised that you've managed to find TRV4s at the knockdown price of £13.

I've turned the pump speed down to 1, and that has reduced noise. System still seems to work OK at lower setting.

What's a bypass valve? Only ones I can find are for cars.

A bypass circuit allows some water to circulate back to the heat source without passing through the radiators.

A bypass valve allows the rate of flow through the bypass circuit to be limited by constriction.

An automatic bypass valve is a bypass valve that determines, by comparing prevailing pressure against a preset amount, whether or not it should open.

I don't think an ABV is the correct solution to your problem, because they're commonly used to relieve pressure in a fully zoned system, where the water would otherwise not circulate through a heat exchanger during the pump overrun interval. In your case I wouldn't expect there to be a significant change in pressure when the TRVs close - you're just experiencing the effect of a lot of 'squish' when the orifice is small and the water velocity high.

 

[Handyman]

For the record: TRV4, £12.92 plus VAT, Plumbase Torquay. (I persuaded them to give me a 38% discount - and I got a Range Tribune cylinder pack at nearly 38% less than anyone else had quoted)

I already have a bypass circuit. It has a radiator on it which I've installed in an airing cupboard. Thus, it's hot regardless of CH or HW timing. I tried closing the valves on this to restrict flow (and to try and increase temp diff between flow and return) but it just made more squish noise and made no difference to the temp diff, so I've just left them both half open (they are not TRVs, but lockshields).

Reducing the pump speed to 1 certainly has made a difference, and everything else continues to work OK, so I guess I'll just leave at that.

you're just experiencing the effect of a lot of 'squish' when the orifice is small .........

Indeed. I keep telling my wife ths.....

 

[Softus]

For the record: TRV4, £12.92 plus VAT, Plumbase Torquay. (I persuaded them to give me a 38% discount

The web site (http://www.plumbase.co.uk/product.asp?prodCat=1&SubCat=10) price is £13.82 + VAT => £16.24.

A 38% discount should result in a price of £11.69, so maybe you've been had.

I already have a bypass circuit.

I'm sure you do - I didn't suggest that you didn't.

Reducing the pump speed to 1 certainly has made a difference, and everything else continues to work OK, so I guess I'll just leave at that.

I think that makes sense.

you're just experiencing the effect of a lot of 'squish' when the orifice is small .........

Indeed. I keep telling my wife ths.....

 

[Handyman]

The web site (http://www.plumbase.co.uk/product.asp?prodCat=1&SubCat=10) price is £13.82 + VAT => £16.24.

A 38% discount should result in a price of £11.69, so maybe you've been had.

It was more complicated than this. The discount was arrived at because I was really after the cylinder at an acceptable price, so he adjusted the price of the other items to arrive at an acceptable total. In fact, the invoice states (for the valves) £20.92 each, less 38.25%, plus VAT, so I might well have paid more than I needed for the valves (although £15 is still a good price for a TRV4, and £1.24 less than your figure) but I got the whole package for a good deal less (£300+ less) than anyone else could offer.

(Let's not debate this anymore 'cos it's not really relevant to the subject, and I'm happy that I got a good deal. And good service, I might add)

 

[Softus]

<debates the price for a bit>

.
.
.

Let's not debate this anymore

If you don't want to debate it then feel free to abandon the debate - it's a free country (despite what Big_Spark would have you think).

So, just to get things clear - the £13 valve that you referred to is actually a £20.92 + VAT valve, even though the web site shows that it's a £13.82 + VAT valve?

 

[Handyman]

So, just to get things clear - the £13 valve that you referred to is actually a £20.92 + VAT valve, even though the web site shows that it's a £13.82 + VAT valve?

Incorrect. It's a valve for which I paid £12.92 (or nearly 13 quid) + VAT (on 25/05/06), totalling £15.18, which is a lower price than I could get from any other supplier elsewhere (at the time) who could also sell me a Range Tribune cylinder at a good price, and deliver it to my door at no extra cost

And (just to keep this post on subject) my squishing noise has more or less gone.

 

[Softus]

The only person who's incorrect here is you - all I've done is quote a price available on a web site, and other prices that you've mentioned.

Either way, you're missing the point - you referred to it in the context of something that you expected to be more sophisticated, based on the price of it, but its normal price is much more than you paid, so "a £13 valve" was an utterly misleading way to refer to it, which is why I originally asked the question.