Expansion couplings

PCerra

Hi folks

I have a 10 year old house with hot water baseboard heat.  The heating system is extremely noisy with pinging, I guess from expansion.  Personally I think the plumbing contracted screwed up the job and made all the pipe holes too tight going through the walls and floors.  I read on this forum that there "were" some 3/4" copper expansion couplings.  I cannot find them on line.  Does anyone know if these are still available?  If so where can I buy them?  If not are there any suggestions on how I can quiet this system down?  It's worst if the temperature differental in and out is large.  Thanks in advance.

Pat

RJ_4

baseboard

Sounds like you may have air in your system   I would suggest having a hydronic heating contractor take a look at it.

RobG

Noisey Baseboard

Is this a new problem or has this been ongoing since original installation? If it's been going on for 10 years, it sounds like expansion problems. If that's the case you may want to look into an outdoor air reset controller and constant circulation. It may not cure the problem entirely but it will create a slow, constant expansion and contraction that will definitely help. Could you post some pictures of your boiler and near boiler piping as well as some pics of your baseboard ends. The more info the better.

Rob   

PCerra

Additional details

Thanks for the replies.  Yes this has been going on since day one.  I

thought it would have subsided by now.  It is very annoying.  The heat

works great, just real noisy pinging and creaking.   I thought the

expansion tank was supposed to prevent this.  When you touch the pipe

when the heat is on, you can feel the pipe on the radiator expand, like

it is pressurizing.  I will post some pictures of the boiler setup.







Thanks again

Charlie from wmass

The expansion tank has nothing to do with

the expansion of the piping, just the water volume in the system as a whole. running an out door set back control and constant circulation can help with expansion noises as the pipe changes less due to a more even temp that ramps up and down due to the change in the heat loss of your home. SImply the water in the pipe gets warmer as the outdoors gets colder. This also reduces fuel usage as you only heat the water to the temp you need at that time, not to max temp for a short time then off.

PCerra

More info and questions

I am attaching some pictures of my setup.    Do my gauge settings look normal?  Also would it make sense to put a pressure gauge in the pump coupler to monitor the pump pressure?  Could it be too high and causing more expansion?  It looks like there is a plug there that is 1/4 inch in the photo.



How would I go about connecting the system as suggested to keep the water circulating?



I appreciate the assistance.

Pat

Charlie from wmass

The pressure is not causing the expansion noise!!

The heating of the copper is causing it.

PCerra

Options for controlling expansion

Thanks for your replies.



It sounds like I need to control the expansion to reduce the noise.



 Are there still expansion couplings available?



 Where can I learn more about outdoor setback controls?  Is this a complete controller unit that gets wired into my existing controls?



Thanks

Pat

Charlie from wmass

They are called

an expansion compensator not coupling

duffy_4

Expansion noises

That's not a 1/4 plug ,it s a shutoff isolation flange

meplumber

Seek out some professional help.

We all try to offer good advice here. And sometimes that advice is for you to seek out professional help. Now is one of those times. You are obviously way over your head here. If you start to fool around with your system with the limited knowledge that you are exhibiting here, you could do some serious damage to the system, your house, or worse, your family.



Time to step back and seek out a competent heating professional. Tell him about the noise and let him find and correct it.



Good Luck.

PCerra

Thanks for all the input

Thanks folks I appreciate your comments and input.