new to here and new to owb. i bought a used duel fuel central 6048 owb boiler first fired it up Sunday the other night while it was in its burn cycle there was a slight thumping noise coming from it. didn't think much of it tonight walked outside and it sounded like a 100 little people inside hitting it with hammers on another burn later i could hear it from in the house about 50 feet away water level good temp in range any ideas normal or not
thanks
peanut08,welcome to the forum. Sounds like air? I have a Heatmor OWB so can not really help you. Hang on,others are coming!!!
Welcome to the Forestry Forum. :)
Makes me think of the "thump keg" on a still. I would think it would either be air or water in the lines creating that type of noise. "100 little people with hammers"? That's funny. :D
lol yea it sounds funny im just hopping its nothing serious it almost sounds like the water is boiling real hard but i dont know how when at the time its doing it the water temp was showing 174 going to call local dealer tomorrow and see what he has to say
As PC wrote, you'll probably get a bunch of replies on here tomorrow. It's kind of late in the the evening now.
Air in the lines, and they need to be purged. IMO
Water not moving through the system so there may be localized areas near the fire that are boiling water, and creating steam which will also "thump"
The small pumps can't force enough water through to push out air in lines. There needs to be a way to hook to a higher pressure house line and blow (purge) that air.
Have a manual?
yes i have a manual read it more than once what i dont understand is why its been good but now is getting worse after 4 days
Don't know, but maybe the fire is hotter. ??
Does the manual discuss purging air out of the lines?
Quote from: peanut08 on January 17, 2013, 09:59:01 PM
it sounded like a 100 little people inside hitting it with hammers
It's getting worse because the 100 little people with hammers are getting really hot and want out. They are trying to get your attention by banging on the side. ;D
Could be air in lines or could be a pump flow issue. What pump or what size pump do you have on OWF? How far does OWF sit from house? I have heard of this happening with an incorrectly sized pump.
Is the noise constant or only when the fire is going strong? I have a cl 6048 and in the past when the fire was going strong and the temp only read 170-180 I could hear the thumping, I always assumed it was the water in contact with the jacket that was boiling because the pump couldn't circulate the water as fast as it was getting heated. Seems like air in the lines wouldn't be an issue with an open system? Are you pumping uphill? Maybe its just to much for the pumps to overcome and the water sits a little longer and boils?
I don't know that much about hot water OWB's but on steam systems for heat if that steam hits condensate in the lines it can make a mighty thump .
Now could it be as was mentioned that the water flow might be low enough that the fire is heating the feed water to steam instead of just hot water ?
I know you bought it used but if there is a dealer nearby I would stop and ask about it, you get better answers in person than over the phone in my opinion.
As to getting air out, I have had that problem before and have a simple solution for my system. I have a fill valve piped into the furnace lines and isolating valves on each of the lines coming in. Shut off the pump, close one incoming valve and open the fill valve for about 30 seconds. Reverse valves and do it again, no more air in the lines. If I were you I would add a fill valve if you don't already have one, purge both lines and make sure the water level in the furnace is adequate.
called the local dealer today told him my problem he didn't have a clue lol so i called central boiler told them my problem and they said it was localized hot spots boiling even though the temp wasn't to high said it wouldn't hurt anything but to fix it try lowering my pump on the boiler or maybe even change the pump i have a taco 009 they suggested a 007 as i again asked them if it wont hurt anything then it wouldn't hurt to wait to try some different things until the upcoming cold spell passes and they said it could wait so i called the dealer back and told him what they said he wanted to know if i wanted a job as a tech ??? to answer a few of your questions about 75 feet from owb to heat exchanger level ground water level good and yes it is when its in the burn cycle also i moved the wood back farther in the stove and it isn't as bad
another issue i noticed last night my blower on my furnace was starting to make a little squealing noise so i called my furnace guy and told him i wanted to get a new motor for when mine goes bad i would have one he dropped it off to night wanted to hear what mine sounded like went inside pulled the cover off the furnace and at the same time the blower tried to start with just a hum lol boy am i glad i called him and that he dropped it off just got done replacing it hhhmmm wonder what next. thanks for the replies and suggestions
Did a new pump fix this issue?
A 007 at that length of run will probably push less water than the 009? The 7 is a fairly low head pump. ?
You probably ran into the local dealer playing 'I don't know because you never bought it here'. :D I don't know why, no one expects them to work for nothing. I know a couple neighbors ran into that attitude when the installers vanished from the business of selling and installing heat pumps. They thought they was getting a deal. In the end, Nope. :D
My take is that it is more likely a faulty pump than a line issue. There are no lines inside of the furnace, to my knowledge. Just a large water jacket reservoir. But I can see a faulty pump leaving a hotspot, which could create this problem.
Personally, I would not wait until spring to change the pumps and purge the system, as previously suggested. I have no specific knowledge, but I wouldn't want a constant banging on my steel furnace. You need to fire those guys with the hammers.
rman - when you had air in your lines did you have a water hammer problem, or just a flow issue.