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clanking radiators

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  • 26-10-2006 1:49pm
    #1
    Jim10000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 217 ✭✭


    Hi, does anyone know what causes this and how to sort it out?

    I live in a big, old apartment block and at 4:20 every morning during the winter the radiators make a 'clanking', 'tapping', 'nocking' noise, loud enough to wake me every time. They don't need to be drained. Does anyone know what it could be and if anything can be done?

    (The agency are dragging their heels in sorting it out, so i'd just like any info I can get to pass on to them)

    thanks a lot!


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    #2
    Mr Magnolia
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,435 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr Magnolia


    I'd seek a plumbers advice if I were you. It doesn't sound like anything serious --- pipes under the floors or in the attic probablly just need to be fixed, I'd say they're loose and shaking/vibrating. You could go to a plumbers supply shop and buy a few clips, then just hammer them down. This might mean lifting floor-boards etc....


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    #3
    JamesM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,775 ✭✭✭JamesM


    Sparks400 wrote:
    I'd seek a plumbers advice if I were you. It doesn't sound like anything serious --- pipes under the floors or in the attic probablly just need to be fixed, I'd say they're loose and shaking/vibrating. You could go to a plumbers supply shop and buy a few clips, then just hammer them down. This might mean lifting floor-boards etc....
    I presume that the heating comes on at that time and the pipes are just heating up and expanding.
    Jim.


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    #4
    Mr Magnolia
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,435 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr Magnolia


    JamesM wrote:
    I presume that the heating comes on at that time and the pipes are just heating up and expanding.
    Jim.

    Could happen while they're cooling down too (me thinks?)


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    #5
    Jim10000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 217 ✭✭Jim10000


    thanks for those replies guys.

    it does sound more like expanding/contracting then rattling... its very regular and not echo-ey, more internal if that makes sense.

    I assumed that it was when the heating came on too, because it's very regular... if it is, does that mean there's nothing that can be done? Couldn't the pipes be insulated or something to dampen out the noise?

    thanks again.


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    #6
    delly
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 7,686 Mod ✭✭✭✭delly


    I had one rad that would always have a ticking or knocking noise when coming on, I took away the plaster from the pipe coming to the rad and found it touching a wooden batton. I cut off a bit of pipe insulation and wedged it between the two and the noise has been gone since.


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    #7
    JamesM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,775 ✭✭✭JamesM


    The system heats more rapidly than it cools, so it is usually noisier heating up than cooling down.
    The sound is usually generated where the pipes sitting on a joist or batten expand, Or sometimes, a long radiator sitting on its brackets. Finding each source could be a daunting job in a building that size.
    Jim.


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