Strange sounds in the hot press...

Clum

Not sure how to describe this....there's about 3 small white plastic boxes in my hot press attached to pipes which in turn are attached to the water tank. Lately they've been making sounds like those of an old dot matrix printer or something.

I think they're pumps but that's just a guess. I know nothing about the set up.

Anybody got any ideas what these boxes are for and why they'd make this noise?

Cheers.

10-10-20

They are likely to be the valves for turning your heating zones on and off.
If you were to turn off upstairs and downstairs via the temperature controls, does the sound stop or reduce?

chuckles30

Does the noise only happen when the heating is on? I think 10-10-20 is right about what they are - I have them too, but they only make noise when the heating in a particular zone is going on or off. However I get noise in my hotpress when the heating is on, as some of the hot water pipes are right up against the wood of the floors and it creaks when the pipes expand.....maybe that's what you're hearing.

Clum

It's only happened before around the time when the gas kicked in for the central heating and hot water in the morning, but it happened last night at a time the gas was not burning....in fact it would have been off quite a few hours.

It's not wood creaking, I've popped the head in to the hotpress to have a gander one time and I'm pretty sure the noise was coming from one of the plastic boxes.

I'll have to experiment with the heating zones tonight...

10-10-20

They could still be powered when the boiler is off - but this would be a mis-wiring. Both the boiler and the valves usually get controlled by the central timer, if that's not the case in your house, it could lead to a lower life expectancy of the units.

JamesM

10-10-20 wrote:

They could still be powered when the boiler is off - but this would be a mis-wiring. Both the boiler and the valves usually get controlled by the central timer, if that's not the case in your house, it could lead to a lower life expectancy of the units.

Right through the 70s, 80s, & 90s, the motorised valves were usually not controlled by the timer. If the temperature rose or dropped in an area the valves would open or close. The valves and the thermostats were powered independently.
Jim.

10-10-20

OK, fair point, mine are all on the main timer and then on zone switches...

So, what you are saying is that all zones are powered at all times?

JamesM

10-10-20 wrote:

OK, fair point, mine are all on the main timer and then on zone switches...

So, what you are saying is that all zones are powered at all times?

Yea, There were usually motorised valves controled by thermostats for upstairs, downstairs, and sometimes hot water, although usually the hot water was straight from the boiler with no valves. The stats and motorised valves had power all the time.
I am sure that there were more sophisticated systems, but that was the norm. Although many did not have any valves at all, except for the rad valves.
Jim.

311

You don't find many motorized valves at all on old heating systems.

Just a thermostat controlling the pump and gravity fed hot water also.

JamesM

_Brian_ wrote:

You don't find many motorized valves at all on old heating systems.

Just a thermostat controlling the pump and gravity fed hot water also.

That will only work when the boiler is in the house or garage. You have no gravity when the boiler is in an outhouse and the pipes go underground - the pump had to run while the heating was on and there had to be motorised valves or, as I said, no thermostatic control at all - apart from the boiler stat.
Most systems in the 60s and early 70s had motorised valves. When heating was automatically installed in housing estates from the mid 70s on, cheaper systems without motorised valves were common.
Jim.

311

JamesM wrote:

That will only work when the boiler is in the house or garage. You have no gravity when the boiler is in an outhouse and the pipes go underground - the pump had to run while the heating was on and there had to be motorised valves or, as I said, no thermostatic control at all - apart from the boiler stat.
Most systems in the 60s and early 70s had motorised valves. When heating was automatically installed in housing estates from the mid 70s on, cheaper systems without motorised valves were common.
Jim.

Do you ever get fed up eating beans ?

eeicrdn

Clum, just wondering if you can remember back to 07, when you made the post, did you find out what was causing the noise in your hotpress? I have what sounds like the very same thing.

Cheers