bander1
New Member
Help....This is a strange one that has baffled myself and a few HVAC guys.
I have an old American Standard hot water boiler in my house that is used only for feeding baseboard radiators to heat the house. I run the boiler at 150 degrees at the high limit and pressure is set at 12 psi. My problem comes when the water temp gets in the 125-135 degree and above range. At that time my pump starts making a horrible high pitch chatter/squeal that radiates through the pipes in the house....my family has been woken up many times over the years because of it. This does not happen every single heating cycle but seems to happen more often the further we get into the heating season. It also can vary in length....sometimes it chirps quick every 2 seconds, or it can squeal for an entire cycle, until the heat drops below the 130 degree point. I have done the following with no long term results:
Replaced the pump/motor unit with a brand new unit. I replaced a Bell/Gosset with an Armstrong. Still had the issue after a short repreave.
Added isolation valves in all zones with drains so I could flush seperately. This seems to stop the noise for a few days and then it comes back even meaner and louder! Believe me, I have flushed the system more than enough. I was up to a few times a week last year toward the end of the season. I have also opend up the plugs on the boiler a few times and flushed it out also.
The expansion tank is perfect.....I have bled the baseboards of air many times and have never noticed any huge amounts of air in them...just a spit here and there.
The weird thing about this mess is that when you are standing next to the unit you can hear the pump squealing a bit and does not seem that loud. Walk up some stairs to the living area, and it sounds horrible.
Not one person who has looked at this can understand it. I hope that someone out there can!!!!!
Thanks for reading,
Bander1
I have an old American Standard hot water boiler in my house that is used only for feeding baseboard radiators to heat the house. I run the boiler at 150 degrees at the high limit and pressure is set at 12 psi. My problem comes when the water temp gets in the 125-135 degree and above range. At that time my pump starts making a horrible high pitch chatter/squeal that radiates through the pipes in the house....my family has been woken up many times over the years because of it. This does not happen every single heating cycle but seems to happen more often the further we get into the heating season. It also can vary in length....sometimes it chirps quick every 2 seconds, or it can squeal for an entire cycle, until the heat drops below the 130 degree point. I have done the following with no long term results:
Replaced the pump/motor unit with a brand new unit. I replaced a Bell/Gosset with an Armstrong. Still had the issue after a short repreave.
Added isolation valves in all zones with drains so I could flush seperately. This seems to stop the noise for a few days and then it comes back even meaner and louder! Believe me, I have flushed the system more than enough. I was up to a few times a week last year toward the end of the season. I have also opend up the plugs on the boiler a few times and flushed it out also.
The expansion tank is perfect.....I have bled the baseboards of air many times and have never noticed any huge amounts of air in them...just a spit here and there.
The weird thing about this mess is that when you are standing next to the unit you can hear the pump squealing a bit and does not seem that loud. Walk up some stairs to the living area, and it sounds horrible.
Not one person who has looked at this can understand it. I hope that someone out there can!!!!!
Thanks for reading,
Bander1