Noise Issues and questionable install

Rodney Summers

Yesterday I fired up my boiler and ended up being a little dissappointed. It's the first time I have used this heating system since I just bought this place (a condo). It's a TD Laars minitherm boiler piped in series to two baseboard convectors. Problem is, there seems to be a lot of noise from both the boiler and the pipes. It almost sounds like a waterfall or like water is just trickling through the pipes.

There are no vents other than the ones on the two baseboards. There is a gate valve/drain connected in the middle of the series but I think I need to add another one because when I drain the system a section of the piping is still filled with water.

Another thing that baffles me is the placement on the expansion tank - it's right at the return line just before the circulating pump. Everything that I've read suggests putting the expansion tank at the front end. The other condo units (there are 8) have the exact same setup with no noise. Do you think I should have somebody install an expansion tank at the front? Will that solve my noise problems?

Empire_2

Possible air in system

What is pressure on the guage? As far as the exp. tank,..At least you are pumping away which is good. The only problem is that I would rather see the pump and tank on the supply side so the system see's all the positive pressure from the pump. This will aid in air elimination. Is there an air scoop with the tank? Where is the water PRV installed? Also, the system should have purge capabilities. If you could provide a picture, That would be great.

Rodney Summers

It looks like there is no air scoop on it. The PRV is located right behind the temp/pressure gauge. The outgoing water pipe is obstructed by the black gas pipe. The pressure was running at about 20psi. Sometimes, right after the burners came on, the boiler would make some noise and clanging, and the pressure would bounce between 18 - 23 psi.

Well...looks like I'm having problems attaching pics.