Anyone with experience with radiators - i need your help

LuckyTaxi

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
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so i moved into my cousin's house. he says the heat is fine and the water is fine. however, i go into the basement and i hear water running somewhere. like you know how your toilet runs if you have a bad floater or something?
well, i hear it running in the pipes. i dont recal hearing this when i was living with my parents.

anyways, also, i sometimes hear water moving around in the radiator. i bled the thing to death and the noise isn't going away. at night i hear banging and clanging and my fiance gets scared! anyways, the house can get pretty hot when the heat is on, so we dont have a problem with the furnance or anything.

Added pics ... LINKY
Ok ... so what is that huge gold thing with the little lever? Seems to be connected from the main water line to the boiler. Also, the blue gizmo is spinning slowly, but enough to drive the water bill high
 

tweakmm

Lifer
May 28, 2001
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Hot water heater?
Washing machine?

Water just doesn't disapear, chances are if there arn't any running toilets and no major floods in the house that there is a resonable explanation for the sound.
 

LuckyTaxi

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Dec 24, 2000
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Originally posted by: tweakmm
Hot water heater?
Washing machine?

Water just doesn't disapear, chances are if there arn't any running toilets and no major floods in the house that there is a resonable explanation for the sound.


washer hasn't been used and we dont use it.
water heater does make noise but it's not that loud! if i put my ears next to the radiator i can hear lke something is in there. like air or something. or better yet the flow of water
 

tweakmm

Lifer
May 28, 2001
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Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: tweakmm
Hot water heater?
Washing machine?

Water just doesn't disapear, chances are if there arn't any running toilets and no major floods in the house that there is a resonable explanation for the sound.


washer hasn't been used and we dont use it.
water heater does make noise but it's not that loud! if i put my ears next to the radiator i can hear lke something is in there. like air or something. or better yet the flow of water
It's quite possible that you are in fact hearing the sound of water going through pipes, just because it's the water heater doesn't mean that the water heater is going to be the source of the sound, it has to get water to heat from somewhere.
 

LAUST

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2000
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Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: LAUST
water heater?

u think that's bad? water is nice and hot
No I was meaning do you mean Water Heater instead of Radiator, either way something does sound weird, I have lived in many houses made from as early as 1891 to 2000 and I have never heard that problem, even the one with well water (pump).

 

LuckyTaxi

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
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yea the water bill is lke $50/month and my friends are telling me they pay like $20 - $30 and they run washers and dishwashers.

im thinking of calig the water dept to see if there's a leak somewhere. i mean, where can the water be running to? NOTHING is leaking. i see no puddles or drips from anything!!! basically the water is being recycled in the pipes, correct?
 

DrPizza

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Mar 5, 2001
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dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)
 

LuckyTaxi

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
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Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter
 

Amorphus

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
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Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter

leak.
 

TechnoKid

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: Amorphus
Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter

leak.

If the water meter moves when you are sure that all the water appliances are off im the house, then you have a leak somewhere. Do you have any pipes that run underground or in walls; pipes that are not visible to you? Maybe it's leaking there. I've had air in the pipes before, and it doesn't cause the continuous sound of water running through the pipes.

 

AMCRambler

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2001
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My grandmother's house has the old cast iron 3 foot high radiators instead of baseboard radiators and they often make a loud gurlging noise when the heat kicks on as well as a clanging and hissing. They have always made those noises for as long as I can remember and nothing ever exploded and there are no leaks in them. I think they just sound like that normally. The clanging sounds like maybe the metal is heating up and expanding or something and it kind of creaks. I'm guesssing if there was a leak some where you'd know it, water dripping from the ceiling or pooling on the floors perhaps? IMO I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 

LuckyTaxi

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
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Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Originally posted by: Amorphus
Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter

leak.

If the water meter moves when you are sure that all the water appliances are off im the house, then you have a leak somewhere. Do you have any pipes that run underground or in walls; pipes that are not visible to you? Maybe it's leaking there. I've had air in the pipes before, and it doesn't cause the continuous sound of water running through the pipes.


ahhh ... so if its moving then something is running? the only thing i can think of is the fridge which has an ice maker. but that cant be it could it?
 

Walleye

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Dec 1, 2002
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it's entirely possible you have a recirculating pump. all that is is it pumps water thru a main in your house that all hot water pipes feed off of, so you get hot water quicker. in fact, i'm somewhat convinced of this. i have one in my house. my cat also knows about it. she lays on the spot where the hot water pipe is. nice and warm for her. :)
 

Walleye

Banned
Dec 1, 2002
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Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Originally posted by: Amorphus
Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter

leak.

If the water meter moves when you are sure that all the water appliances are off im the house, then you have a leak somewhere. Do you have any pipes that run underground or in walls; pipes that are not visible to you? Maybe it's leaking there. I've had air in the pipes before, and it doesn't cause the continuous sound of water running through the pipes.


ahhh ... so if its moving then something is running? the only thing i can think of is the fridge which has an ice maker. but that cant be it could it?
no, the water meter wont move if he has a recirc pump, cause it dont take on any new water.

so is the water meter moving?
 

LuckyTaxi

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
6,044
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Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Originally posted by: Amorphus
Originally posted by: lilcam
Originally posted by: DrPizza
dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand...

Have you considered looking at the water meter when no water is turned on?

I think the sound is probably from air in the lines... bleeding them should help. (isn't there a bleeder at the boiler?)

i have to bleed the biolers?! there are two valves. one is the emergency valve release and the other looks like an ordinary valve that you find in your lawn to hook your hose up to.

im going to take pics and post in a minute. i checked the water meter while no water is running. it has this blue gizmo that turns slowly like the one found in your electric meter

leak.

If the water meter moves when you are sure that all the water appliances are off im the house, then you have a leak somewhere. Do you have any pipes that run underground or in walls; pipes that are not visible to you? Maybe it's leaking there. I've had air in the pipes before, and it doesn't cause the continuous sound of water running through the pipes.


ahhh ... so if its moving then something is running? the only thing i can think of is the fridge which has an ice maker. but that cant be it could it?
no, the water meter wont move if he has a recirc pump, cause it dont take on any new water.

so is the water meter moving?

water meter is moving ... nothing in the house is being used.

check out the pics from the link. what is that gold thing?

 

DOSfan

Senior member
Sep 19, 2003
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Okay, the link is not working for me...

But if I understand correctly, the device you are asking about is the refill valve. You open the valve to fill the heater boiler. You turn it off when it is nearly full. (About 75-80% from what I have been told. There should be a glass tube for checking level.)

If it is banging when the heat kicks on, that suggests that the boiler is overfilled. When ours started doing that, I opened the drain valve untill the water stopped flowing out, then filled it again. That fixed it for us. I am not certain this is the proper way to handle it though.

When the heat kicks on, you will always hear hissing. If your radiators have new "bleeder" valves on them, they let gas escape, but close up when water reaches them. So when the heat is off, the water recedes a little, and the valves let air enter (to fill the vacuum). When the heat is on, and the water expands, the air is let out. The hissing sound.

There are other reasons there may be hissing.... But without more info, I can not help you out.

As for the water running, your fill valve may be open. Or, the seal is failing.

I hope this helps you a little.