Noise from back boiler area

[billybongo]

Hi all , a relative phoned tonight with a heating question as i was in the game a few year back but i am a bit rusty so i thought i would pose the question to the forum.
Basically he has a back boiler in place (with no fire front just a plate cover??) and he is getting noise from this area when the boiler has been fireing up a while , he said the noise sounded like pipes knocking but nothing has been altered in pipe terms so i didnt think it would be expansion and he says the pump sounds ok .
What i am thinking is that the backboiler is furred up and causing some kind of kettleing , what products are there that you could put in to clean the backboiler?
I do wonder if its coming to the time to change the boiler . cheers mark

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

cold feed blocked? running a bit dry? sludged up?

Might be worth starting with these

 

[stani]

Is it a back boiler ( with no fire front) or a circulator?

 

[billybongo]

cheers gasman he did say that the rads were bled which i assume indicates cold feed ok , but as you say system might need clean out.
Would it be worth a fernox type cleaner putting round system ? .

 

[billybongo]

Stani , it does have a pump as said in first post , but no fire front it has been capped off .

 

[stani]

Sorry billy missed the pump, just unsure of having a back boiler without the fire front, thought they were an integral part, have heard of fire being retained and boiler decommissioned but not the other way round, perhaps others can have an input on this.

 

[billybongo]

I thought it was strange , apparently a gas guy told him it was not correct only because the air brick were wrong size but they were there when fire front was on ? this guy turned gas off so he rang another who told him it was ok to reinstate , i find that all confusing myself bottom line is if you blank pipe that fed fire front and block the flue were fire went into i guess should be ok , cheers mark

 

[GrahamM]

Sorry billy missed the pump, just unsure of having a back boiler without the fire front, thought they were an integral part, have heard of fire being retained and boiler decommissioned but not the other way round, perhaps others can have an input on this.

Im with you on this. Bit confused.
If it is a Gas back boiler with fire, the fire MUST be fitted.

 

[billybongo]

Yes it sounds logical , but playing devils advocate ... why if every thing works ok .

 

[stani]

Yes I think the fact an air brick has been used to block where the fire went, I would ID this, IMO I would ring and tell them not to use until a definitive answer can be given, but I still think it should be condemned.

 

[billybongo]

Cheers stani , well firstly its been like this for a few years apparently , the backboiler has been covered with a plate with holes also he seems a bit adement that he wants to keep it like this till it falls over i guess .

 

[GrahamM]

Out of interest can you get the make of boiler?
As stani mentioned, if this is a standard gas back boiler missing the fire, I would be ID'ing it.

 

[billybongo]

I will ask the make but i would put a weeks wages its a baxi bermuda ..

 

[stani]

Unfortunately just because it has been like this for years doesn't mean it's right, I would steer clear, tell him he needs a GSR to fix,

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

a bbu cant be run without a fire and the op has said a plates fitted over it sounds ID to me ,nevermind the banging noise i would be getting a good GSR in there ASAP

 

[billybongo]

Sorry to be a numpty but what does ID mean and why would this situation warrant this ? because he seems for want of a better expression a bit pig headed about keeping it like this , if you could give me the reason its not up to standard i could persuade him to sot it .

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Sorry to be a numpty but what does ID mean and why would this situation warrant this ? because he seems for want of a better expression a bit pig headed about keeping it like this , if you could give me the reason its not up to standard i could persuade him to sot it .

ID is immediately dangerous and its because if a plates over the boiler with no fire fitted that flue has no chance of working as it should very surprised your relative is still alive

 

[billybongo]

Sorry to be a numpty but what is IDing the boiler and what reason to do this , if i know i could persuade him to get it sorted as for want of a better expression he is a bit pig headed about keeping it as is .

 

[billybongo]

Gasman , he says that the plate is slotted for air flow , if this allowed the same airflow as bbu did would this not be ok .

 

[stani]

Unfortunately a coroner would not see it like that, he would want somebody's head, I.e. last engineer.

 

[heliotrope]

This post has to be a wind up!!!!!!!!!

So much crap and rubbish.

Mods, Admin should lock this now in my opinion.

 

[billybongo]

This post has to be a wind up!!!!!!!!!

So much crap and rubbish.

Mods, Admin should lock this now in my opinion.

Hi heliotrope , what makes you think this is a wind up , its a genuine question about noise coming from a heating system , the other part about the bbu is true .
cheers mark

 

[AWheating]

the fire whichs come with the boiler and should be fitted forms part of the appliance and flue, the boiler and fire are classed as one appliance. Any applaince should only be used as the manufacturer design.

would you think any boiler with its case/combustion chamber missing is safe to use?? would you drive you car without breaks?

 

[billybongo]

When I phone him I will emphasise the danger and illegal usage of his boiler
Cheers all