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waterheaterrescue.com > Forums > The Tank > Oil Water Heater is Knocking / Pinging - Already flushed it |
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waterheaterrescue.com > Forums > The Tank > Oil Water Heater is Knocking / Pinging - Already flushed it |
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| Oil Water Heater is Knocking / Pinging - Already flushed it | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Mar 3rd, 2010 05:11 am |
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1st Post |
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Mark S Member
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I have a Bock 32E oil water heater, which has an install date of 1999 on it. It has a Beckett burner. Due to my own lack of knowledge on water heaters and my furnace guy never having mentioned anything about needing the heater serviced, I have neglected to have any maintenance done on it for probably about 5 years. Several weeks ago I heard some knocking / pinging after I got out of the shower. It only occurs when water is being heated. It's not as evident in my basement, probably because of the oil burner's noise. The noise definitely seems to be radiating from the vent pipe. It is a pretty frequent noise, happening at least a dozen times a minute at random intervals. I have no problem getting my hands dirty, and am a relatively handy person, so the research began. I read everything I could on this site and learned quite a lot of information. Needless to say I didn't know a thing about my water heater. Armed with my newfound knowledge, I got to work. I have flushed the tank, drained it twice, flushed it a few more times, and the water is running 100% clear. I replaced the drain valve and T/P valve. While the drain valve was out, I looked into the water heater and I saw no signs of sediment on the bottom. I stuck my finger in and the walls of the tank felt pretty smooth. Maybe a tad bit of grit, but not much at all. I ordered a magnesium Anode Rod from this site, and just replaced it yesterday. The old one was pretty rough looking, with probably about 15-20% of its material remaining. After all of this it still continues to knock, and I really don't think it's sediment. I do not live in an area that has hard water either. Water comes from the street, not a well. I plan on getting the unit serviced this spring, but for the time being I'd love to try and figure out if there is anything else I can do. I know I do need to clean my flue pipe, which seems to have a bit of soot in it that I can see through the air control flap, or whatever it's called. I doubt this will help the knocking, but I need to do it anyways. The Bock water heater has an inspection door at the bottom of it. Can I open that and check inside and clean out the combustion area? Based off the noise it just seems to be that perhaps something could be knocking around either in that area, or maybe inside of the flue pipe that runs up the middle of the heater? Sorry for the book, but once I get typing I tend to ramble on, and figured I'd try to provide as much information as possible. Thanks in advance to everyone on this site, your posts have taught me a lot about this stuff. -Mark
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| Posted: Wed Mar 3rd, 2010 06:53 am |
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2nd Post |
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eleent Member 
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Hello: I'd like a little more description of the noise. I sounds so far like the sound made by sediment overheating as the burner fires, but that's a guess. It may be possible a mound of sediment has built up and needs to be flushed away. Books are good! Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Wed Mar 3rd, 2010 05:36 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Mark S Member
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Hi Larry. The noise is a higher pitch knock than if you would knock on a door. Almost like knocking on something metal, or flicking it so to speak. It's not insanely loud, but loud enough to hear it on the first floor of my house. I was hoping it was as simple as sediment, but when I looked into the tank through the drain hole the bottom of the tank looked as clean as a whistle. Obviously I could not look at all areas of the bottom of the tank as you can only see a little bit of it looking through the hole, but the bottom was definitely very clean.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 4th, 2010 06:53 am |
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4th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: Are there any swing check valves in the system? They sometimes get put in the cold supply or in a recirc line. Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Thu Mar 4th, 2010 04:05 pm |
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5th Post |
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Mark S Member
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I wasn't sure what that was so I googled. I definitely do not have one of those valves. There is no recirc line on this either.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 4th, 2010 04:17 pm |
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6th Post |
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elenano GCF-GL
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Just for future reference: we have a glossary of water heater parts called Lingo where you could have learned about check valves. Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Fri Mar 5th, 2010 08:52 am |
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7th Post |
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undee70ss Member 
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Are you on well water or city water? Could be a pressure problem. Get a lazy pointer gauge, that way you can leave it on for a while and can find out what was the max pressure reached.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 5th, 2010 02:20 pm |
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8th Post |
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Mark S Member
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I am on city water. I will see about getting one of those gauges. If it were a pressure problem would it happen at times when the water was not being heated? Hear the noise it's as if someone tossed a marble down into the vent that runs down the middle of the heater, and it's bouncing around and smacking the vent pipe while water is being heated.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 5th, 2010 04:54 pm |
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9th Post |
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elenano GCF-GL
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Now that's very interesting. Some heat trap nipples actually HAVE marbles inside them and they are notorious for making noise sometimes that can be broadcast through the piping. I think I'd disconnect the plumbing and check for that. Randy Schuyler Last edited on Fri Mar 5th, 2010 04:55 pm by elenano |
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| Posted: Fri Mar 5th, 2010 04:59 pm |
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10th Post |
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Mark S Member
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Would the heat trap nipple be right where the cold / hot water piping enters the heater at the top of it? Everything is soldered so to check it I'll have to cut the pipes to unscrew the hardline from the heater. Would this cause the noise to only happen when the water heater is actually in use though? It is dead silent when it's not heating water.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 6th, 2010 02:11 am |
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11th Post |
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elenano GCF-GL
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Heat traps could be in both the hot and cold nipples and if one has it, the other probably does, too. They would not make noise when the water heater was not firing, and they'd be much more likely to rattle when someone is using hot water. I suppose now the question is, what annoys you more? The noise or the bother of checking for it? Randy Schuyler Last edited on Sat Mar 6th, 2010 02:12 am by elenano |
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| Posted: Sat Mar 6th, 2010 04:19 am |
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12th Post |
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Mark S Member
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I have to re-do some poorly soldered piping that is already in my basement, as well as replace some corroded gate valves, so it's the perfect time to check it. I put a stethoscope against the flue piping coming right out of the heater today right when the heater kicked on (left hot water faucet running upstairs to kick it on) and I know it's tough to track sounds and their locations sometimes, but it really sounds as if the noise is coming from the bottom of the water heater, like something is bouncing around down there in the combustion area.
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| Posted: Sun Mar 7th, 2010 04:40 am |
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13th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: Heat trap nipples usually have a ring indented all around their center and they are lightly galvanized steel. Sound travels much faster in water or through metal that it does through air. This makes plumbing noises tough to locate by just listening. Our ears just aren't far enough apart  I'll suggest that when you redo the lines, just put lined nipples in place and use long flex connectors to make your own silent heat traps. Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Sun Mar 7th, 2010 04:55 am |
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14th Post |
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Mark S Member
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Thanks for all of the information, I definitely planned on using those flex connectors. You are certainly right, tracking down these types of noises is real challenging. I know it's real tough to tell but based off of all the listening I have done, it sure sounds like the noises are coming from the bottom of the heater and radiating up through the flue. Is there any possible chance that it could be something in the flue ducting that runs down the middle of the water heater to where the oil fired motor is? It just sounds like something is bouncing around in there. The Bock water heater has an inspection door at the bottom, although I have not attempted to look inside of it, as I want to make sure it's something that's designed for me to actually open and take a look inside before I attempted it. Just trying to rule out all options here :-)
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| Posted: Mon Mar 8th, 2010 10:48 pm |
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15th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: I suppose it makes sense to think about any moving parts as a possible source of noise. The blower motor may have bearing problems... but I'm guessing here. Oil heating is uncommon in the West. You may want to pose the question on The Wall at http://www.heatinghelp.com. Please do let us know if you learn anything good there  Yours, Larry ps. Have you spoken with Bock?
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| Posted: Mon Mar 8th, 2010 11:19 pm |
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16th Post |
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Mark S Member
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Thanks Larry, I'll check that site out. I didn't call Bock based off of many posts I read regarding that company and their unwillingness to help once a heater is out of warranty. They also seem to tell people that they don't cover any noise related issues like that. I will give them a try myself though, maybe I'll get lucky!
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| Posted: Tue Mar 9th, 2010 06:09 am |
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17th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: Dig a bit and make your way through to the engineering department. Those folks like this sort of thing  Yours, Larry
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