LOUD Burnham Alpine Flue Noise

modelcitizendc

https://youtu.be/1UjYEoGcgcU

I bought the house back in the summer and had never run the system until I moved in last month because the radiators were pulled out of the house.

Anyhow, this thing works a treat but is generating a massive column of steam and a loud sound coming out of the flue. It is far worse when the boiler first starts up and then dulls a little over time, but is still loud even then.

I would describe the sound as a low whistle but listen for yourself.

All the googling I've done seems to imply that people's usual problem is caused by the boiler itself or the pipes vibrating. As best as I can tell this is NOT what's going on here. I put a screw on top of the boiler and it just sits there doing nothing. The noise seems to be related to the escaping of the hot gases out of the flue, not the boiler itself, as it's MUCH louder outside the house than in.

However, the whistling sound is very clearly audible across the house and two floors up (not to mention a block away, so it must be driving my neighbors crazy too).

Any ideas for quieting this thing down? My wife is ready to kill me.

GroundUp

I'd start by pulling that stupid tee off of there, but otherwise that's kind of the nature of the beast. I'm guessing this is a high temp system judging by the amount of steam?

SuperTech

Wow another flue pipe installed underneath a window....I guess your installer didn't read the installation manual and no one inspected the installation. Has the boiler been combustion tested? Pictures of the installation and how the flue pipe was run would be helpful.

Ironman

The "steam" coming out is normal. It's indicative that the flue gasses are condensing and the boiler is operating efficiently. The vent termination should probably have a 45* Ell instead of the Tee so the exhaust will be directed away from the house. The 45 should point upward.

I can't tell from your video what the exact sound is. If it sounds like a "fog horn", then the problem is harmonic resonance which is caused by use of CSST gas piping and/or improper burner adjustment.

Please post some pics of the boiler and its near piping.

Jamie Hall

Cute. The F above middle C, poorly played. That would drive me nuts. Agree with @Ironman . For the sake of chuckles, can you slip a 1 foot section of pipe into that T and see if the pitch of the sound changes? Not that that will cure it, but I've gotten curious about why some of these installations do that and others don't.

Zman

Is the pipe to the left the intake?
If so, cross contamination has probably trashed the venturi and itis running way out of spec. If not, the combustion being way off will cause a noise like that. Have a technician do a combustion analysis and determine what is going on.
Follow the above recommendations as well.

modelcitizendc

The plumbers who re-installed the radiators agreed that the flue installation (done by previous homeowner) was not done correctly, they are coming out to address. We will see if that affects the noise at all. Thanks so much for the replies.

Big Ed_4

I always like to use tees in spots when the wind could cause positive pressure on the venting ?

mattmia2

It appears to be 4' below the window which is usually what is required, correct?

modelcitizendc

I'm in DC, I think I heard someone say code is 3' below. In any case the intake and the exhaust are too close so they are going to move the exhaust further away and use a 45° to point it up and away like Ironman mentioned.