Sloshing noise in pipes near boiler

[Tigermad]

I had my water cylinder to my unvented system moved from my loft to my landing cupboard a month ago. The original installed had done everything against regs so decided to get someone in and move it all.

Since then I have a couple of problems. The bedroom radiator crackles and pops now and again. Even if the heating to that radiator is turned off (was in a couple of hours prior) When the hot water is just about to turn off there is a gushing noise for a few seconds in the pipes right by my boiler. Can this be rectified by changing the auto bypass setting? One of the rads had a bit of air in yesterday so we bled that. The gushing sound is still happening though. Does anyone have any ideas please? Thanks.

 

[townfanjon]

Can you post some pics of the installation?

 

[Tigermad]

Can you post some pics of the installation?

Here you go. I know the boiler is very low and I’ve been told that’s not very good but not much can be done now. The water tank is directly above the boiler.

 

[steadyon]

You might try bleeding any air from the hot water primary:
1. System off for 10 to 15 minutes, so that the pump stops.
2. If tight, slacken the cap on the automatic air valve on the cylinder primary. This is the small brass "bottle" shaped vessel. It terminates the extended vertical pipe above the motorised valve for the cylinder. Your photograph 3.
3. This should allow air trapped in the coil within the cylinder to escape.
4. These valve work rather like an old fashioned carburettor. There is a float inside. While there is air in the vessel it can escape. When water enters the vessel, the float rises up and closes a needle valve. They are prone to either blocking or leaking.
May not do the trick, but doesn't take long and worth a try.

 

[townfanjon]

Yes it is a “bit” low lol , just hope you dont need Ideal out .
A quick look at the pipework and assuming the cold supplying the cylinder is coming down and not up , it looks ok .
As Steadyon suggests try the air vent , hard to tell by the pic is it new ?
It does sound like air but after a month you would expect it to have ended up in a rad by now .

 

[Tigermad]

Yes it is a “bit” low lol , just hope you dont need Ideal out .
A quick look at the pipework and assuming the cold supplying the cylinder is coming down and not up , it looks ok .
As Steadyon suggests try the air vent , hard to tell by the pic is it new ?
It does sound like air but after a month you would expect it to have ended up in a rad by now .

Yes everything is new in the cupboard apart from the cylinder itself. Had a new expansion vessel because the old one was on its side in the loft which is a no no. If Ideal come out they will blame the location then? Guess the original installer was just being lazy since he could have moved the flue up to accommodate it. I also think the boiler was overkill for a 3 bed house.
How do I make sure the cold supply is coming down not up? The pipes going into the loft are to supply the aqua Lisa digital shower controller .

 

[Tigermad]

You might try bleeding any air from the hot water primary:
1. System off for 10 to 15 minutes, so that the pump stops.
2. If tight, slacken the cap on the automatic air valve on the cylinder primary. This is the small brass "bottle" shaped vessel. It terminates the extended vertical pipe above the motorised valve for the cylinder. Your photograph 3.
3. This should allow air trapped in the coil within the cylinder to escape.
4. These valve work rather like an old fashioned carburettor. There is a float inside. While there is air in the vessel it can escape. When water enters the vessel, the float rises up and closes a needle valve. They are prone to either blocking or leaking.
May not do the trick, but doesn't take long and worth a try.

Thanks for the really. I read about the valve and thought I shouldn’t touch it because it needs to keep a pocket of air on top? It’s only a month old.
if I do this how long do I slacken it off before tightening it up again? Thanks

 

[steadyon]

In theory you shouldn't need t tighten it up at all, as the needle valve inside keeps it closed once any air has gone.
In practice they tend to leak, so open it up, let any air escape, and when water comes out, screw the cap down again.

 

[townfanjon]

You may need your plumber back for this but it maybe worth binning the air-vent and fitting a drain off cock in its place with a hose going in to a bucket. It would definitely clear the air .
Please make sure you have the cylinder serviced , this includes the blue expansion vessel , if that runs out of pressure it will fill up with water and probably end up coming off the wall , the stainless jubilee clips are not strong enough to hold that size of vessel full of water , assuming of course its retaining bracket is secure .

 

[Tigermad]

In theory you shouldn't need t tighten it up at all, as the needle valve inside keeps it closed once any air has gone.
In practice they tend to leak, so open it up, let any air escape, and when water comes out, screw the cap down again.

Thanks. What about the cold water pipe. Sorry if I’m being dumb but how do I check it’s right?

 

[Tigermad]

You may need your plumber back for this but it maybe worth binning the air-vent and fitting a drain off cock in its place with a hose going in to a bucket. It would definitely clear the air .
Please make sure you have the cylinder serviced , this includes the blue expansion vessel , if that runs out of pressure it will fill up with water and probably end up coming off the wall , the stainless jubilee clips are not strong enough to hold that size of vessel full of water , assuming of course its retaining bracket is secure .

Thanks. It will be serviced every year. People refused to service it this time when it was in the loft. They said it was unsafe. The only person that serviced it for the last 3 years was the crap installer. Every time the tundish would leak after because the seal wasn’t sitting right on the expansion vessel.

 

[Tigermad]

In theory you shouldn't need t tighten it up at all, as the needle valve inside keeps it closed once any air has gone.
In practice they tend to leak, so open it up, let any air escape, and when water comes out, screw the cap down again.

The cap was already quite loose so I screwed it a bit more. Nothing came out, not even any water. Left it quite loose as it was before.