In-Wall Fin Tube Convectors Noisy

nz

I have a 1930 home with a two pipe steam system. The first floor has mostly in-wall radiators. Based on my reading and observations, they seem to be a fin-tube style convector. There is a grill on the bottom and in the middle of the wall. The middle of the wall grill has a damper. I have attached a photo of one of the radiators, there are nine of them. They are varying sizes, from 24" to 48".



When the steam reaches these radiators, there is a clinking noise as they warm up. It is not water hammer, I know what that sounds like :)



Also, the noise is evident (but the clinks are farther apart in time) as the radiators cool off.



Is there something that can be done to stop the noise?

Jamie Hall

Expansion

noise.  You may be able to do something about it if you take the covers off and take a look at how the tubing is supported.  It may be possible to put some slippery tape under the tubing on the supports, and that might help.  No guarantees...

nz

Noise

Jamie - thank you.



I should have described the sound better. It sounds like every single fin in each radiator makes a noise - so its not just one "clink" - but about 40-50 "clinks" per radiator. So I'm led to believe that its the fins making the noise, not the actual pipe shifting (although that might happen as well, I can't hear it over the all the "clinks")



I'm not sure if we can post WAV files here, but I'll try to record the sound when I get home and post it later.

Jamie Hall

Fins

One of the dependencies -- a small cottage -- on this monstrosity I care for has electric baseboard heat (which we rarely use, thank goodness) which has fins, just like your fin tube units.  They clink, so I know just what you mean.  Drives one nuts.  But it is the expansion of the unit (or in your case, the tube) which does it -- it sticks and slips on its supports, and every time it slips the fins "ring" with the vibration.



I admit I haven't been able to fix it -- although I got it much better with the slippery tape.



I sympathise, and good luck!

gerry gill

It may be that the finned element

is rubbing the side of the sheet metal box of the invisible radiator unit..try removing the lower grille and looking up with a mirror to see what your doing and see if you can shift the element some.

Dave in QCA

Fin Tube Noise

I recall spending time in a friends house many years ago.  The house was built new in the early 1960s.  It had hot water baseboard heat, the first that I had ever seen.  It was great, no drafts, no fan, and the location of the baseboard blanketed the cold exterior walls and windows with a very soft heat.  But, when the pump came on and started to circulate the hot water... it was a chorus of clinking!  I know that they later were able to make the 3/4" copper fintube element much quieter.  Having operated a school building in the early 80s, I can also say that many of the convectors that we had in the building clinked alot, and others were nearly silent.



I would follow Jamie's advice and see if you can improve things.  You will probably not achieve total silence. But, it will be worth the effort.

Jean-David Beyer

expansion noise

This may not be practical for you.



I have a heating zone with fin-tube baseboard in it. Fortunately for me, I have a mod-con boiler with outdoor reset. I have the reset curve set very close to the actual heat loss of the zone it is in. So instead of turning 180F water on and off to maintain the desired temperature, the boiler modulates the temperature slowly to do this. Most of the time, the hot water is much cooler than 135F. At the moment it is 39F outside and the water is 116F. Even if that was being turned on and off, the expansion noise would be reduced compared with 180F water, but since it is modulated depending on outdoor temperature, the noise is very low.



If it is simple for you to use outdoor reset, I suggest you consider it. If it requires replacing a perfectly servicable boiler, it would not seem to make sense.

Rod

Fin Tube Noise

Hi - You might try slipping a small piece of plastic cut out of a plastic milk bottle between the pipe and the mounting bracket. Also use plastic where the piping comes through the flooring. I was able to quiet expansion noise this way.  Gerry Gill, when he built his mini tube steam system, used stainless steel wire to hang the fin tube element rather than support brackets. This makes a great deal of sense to me and I am keeping this method in reserve if I get further noise problems

- Rod