Steam pipes ticking noise

Kirill · March 2012

Dear all, 

 

We have a lot of ticking noise coming from the wall in our master bedroom. I am attaching a sample of it (sound.mp3). Usually knocking highly intensifies when weather is warm and wet, or changing from cold to wet, or when it is raining outside. The audio recording attached was taken a few days ago when it was about 70F outside.

 

The management company maintains that this ticking noise is the normal operating noise that is coming from the expansion valve located above our apartment. 

 

I would greatly appreciate your opinion if it is the case or not. The building is 16-floor building and we are on the 7 floor.

 

Thank you in advance,

Kirill

STEVEusaPA · March 2012

sounds like....

1. Either classic expansion noise.

2. Because you mention when it's wet, maybe something dripping down a stack.

Unfortunately, it could be coming from any place where it contacts the pipes, and resonating thru the pipes...

Kirill · March 2012

more on this topic

Thank you, Steve. After reading Dan Holohan’s book I am inclining that it is either expansion noise or wet steam. A year ago management blamed the expansion valve located between 7 and 8 floors and they even installed two braces to hold it in place (attached files Pipe_1.jpg, Pipe_2.jpg and Pipe_3.jpg) – it did not help too much. The noise is still coming from the hot pipe coming into the radiator in our apartment (piping0.JPG).

We have similar knocking noise coming from the column from the 2nd bedroom but less acute in tone, and much less frequent.

I am just thinking should I try to fix it or it is better to install something like Quiet Sheetrock in a hope to mitigate the problem

Kirill

RJ_4 · March 2012

ticking

Find out if the riser piping is insulated, uninsulated piping coud be part of your problem even if it is several floors below or above you, It will require opening up walls.

Kirill · March 2012

rise

The first three photos shows the riser and the expansion valve that holds two pipes together so they could expand and contract. It doesn’t look very insulated. This is a new building and the sponsor is still around – should the steam pipes be insulated in the first place according to NYC building code or it is optional?

RJ_4 · March 2012

ticking

Dont know the NYC codes but insulating steam lines has always been crucial. Look in Dan's book (lost art of steam heating page 222 ).

nicholas bonham-carter · March 2012

Strange noisy box

Can you read the information on the mysterious tube in your pictures? The sound bite could be a check-valve constantly slamming shut, but I don't know how those high-rise steam systems work. With an outdoor temperature of 70 degrees, there should not be any need for space heating. If steam is rising, then it must be for hot water production.

Can you compare the volume of the noise you hear to anything else, such as water rushing through pipes, wind noise against a window, distant lawnmower, airplane overhead,, organ-grinder with his monkey down on the street? When I listened to the sound-bite, of course it is hard to tell how loud the source is, and yet we all know how irritating any sort of repetitive sound can be in the dead of night.

See if the sound comes from the mystery tube in your picture, or simply from the pipe itself. If so, you could wrap it with many layers of fiberglass insulation--NBC

Kirill · March 2012

tube

Here is an enlargement of that mysterious tube. This is so-called expansion valve or joint. The riser, a pipe that conducts upwards running steam from the boiler, is split in two at 8th floor so the riser can expand and contract. These two loose ends meet each other in that expansion valve. A sample of sound I provided is pretty much what I hear every night when it is ticking and the only way to sleep in that room is to keep the windows open. In NYC there is a lot of white noise outside that helps to conceal the noise from pipes.

There is also main steam valve down in the boiler room that is kept open at least 5% all heating season regardless of temperature outside. It is getting more open automatically if it is getting cold outside but it never shuts down below 5%. One reason why we have more noise when weather changes from cold to warm may be due to the fact that less people using heating and the pipes are colder and, consequently, produce more water condensate.

Another possible reason why we are getting more knocking noise when it is warm and raining outside is that steam produce by the boilers contains more water for some reason. We have two boilers in the building that complement each other (see attached pictures). Is it any way to measure wetness of the steam produced by them?

Steam pipes ticking noise

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