Radiator Noise

Arthur

I would suspect that the water is circulating to fast though the rad, When the TRV gets down to almost shutting off you are getting a type of 'wiredrawing' effect. The pipe size for gravity is too large for a pumped circuit so I would reduce the pipe size as much as possible and shut down the bottom valve as much as possible or even better reduce it size as much as you can and even then try it just cracked open. In operation with the TRV head off you should be setting it for a 20 deg drop from flow to return connection.
Gravity to pumped converstions are never plain sailing as the pipe size is not sized for it
Good luck.

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Babbling Brook

I need some input here, guys.

We recently did a gravity conversion on a house in Berkeley; new Vitodens boiler with TRV's on all of the cast iron radiators.

This radiator (imagine it with it's new TRV on the left side) in the master bedroom makes sounds like there's air trapped inside. So far, we've tried raising the pressure, but we can't seem to get rid of the sound.

The owners are being very nice and I'm sure if it were in another room it wouldn't cuase such a disturbance, but I think it wakes them up. And once they wake up, they start thinking about the stupid guy that messed with their system (me) and then they can't get back to sleep since they're so mad.

Any suggestions?

Best wishes,

Alan Forbes

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Steamhead

Wellll......

I don't see the vent on the rad- could be a bad camera angle. Is it installed in the proper place?

Is the circulator sized correctly?

Is it possible something in the new TRV is loose?

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Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Yeah,

it's hard to see, but there's an air vent on the upper right hand side. The circulator is a 007 which should be fine and yes, the air could be stuck on the TRV. Any idea on how to un-stick it?

Best wishes,

Alan

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Steamhead

Is the vent

installed in the 1/8" tapping provided for it, or in a bushing in the larger tapping that can be used for a pipe connection? If the latter, it will leave some air in the top of the rad which could cause the noise.

Does the radiator heat OK? If so, the TRV is not air-bound.

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[Deleted User]

Try soap!!

Alan, I keep going back to this method and have used it personally numerous times. Drain a gallon of system water out of the system, and pour a cup or two of liquid dish detergent into the bucket of system water. Mix well and pump back into system.

Sounds hokey for sure, but it works like a champ. I think it changes the water from short strand molecular structure to long strand molecular structure and drags the air out and gets it back down to the air eliminator.

Looks (and sounds) like you've done everything else right.

Let us know how you make out.


ME

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Placement? Orientation?

Not sure if this could cause the noise you describe but it can certainly make the valve "hunt" for setting.

Any unusual drafts coming through those doorways?

For Danfoss actuators at least vertical orientation is ONLY allowed if a remote room temp sensor is used.

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

The radiator

heats OK and it's an 1/8" tapping. The TRV is mounted horizontally.

The owner did tell me there are ghosts in his house.

Mark: I just read your thread. I'll try it and report back. Sounds like a great tip. Thanks also to you Steamhead and Mike. You are all great.

Best wishes,

Alan

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