Thread: new boiler circulator chirps/meows

Dear Hydronic Heat Gurus:

Today I replaced the circulator on my boiler. It's a Bell & Gossett Series 100. The old coupler self destructed early this morning and the whole unit was 30 years old, so I just bit the bullet and replaced the whole thing.
And it's not leaking! Yippeee!
What I just noticed that it IS doing, is this: when it shuts off or starts up, either on its own or because I flipped the shut-off switch, it emits a brief noise not unlike a catbird doing its imitation of a cat.
I know there's still a little air in the system, but there's always some air in these ancient pipes and radiators, and it never made this noise before.
Otherwise, it is nice and quiet and smooth.
Any ideas?

Oh, and I did oil the thing according to the instructions that came with it. Before I first fired it up.

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Seems the chirping went away on its own. All is well.

John, I'll be giving your name out to all my clients when I flag something on their boilers and they need servicing. Do you specialize in steam systems?

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

John, I'll be giving your name out to all my clients when I flag something on their boilers and they need servicing. Do you specialize in steam systems?

The PIA part was draining, re-filling and bleeding the system (not steam). Changing out the circulator was pretty simple. Four bolts, a couple of gaskets and the wiring harness.

The motor mounts start to sag ususlly from being old but most times from over oiling. Only a few drops a year is needed. When that happens the motor and pump couplings get out of allignment which causes the coulping to wear more, can cause the chirping noise and will usually fail again in a short period of time. The motor mounts can be replaced easily and are not that expensive.

Originally Posted by Cobra Cook

The motor mounts start to sag ususlly from being old but most times from over oiling. Only a few drops a year is needed. When that happens the motor and pump couplings get out of allignment which causes the coulping to wear more, can cause the chirping noise and will usually fail again in a short period of time. The motor mounts can be replaced easily and are not that expensive.

I replaced the whole unit. Motor, mounts, coupling, impeller, everything.

Homeowners - Residential HVAC Products - Series 100 pump - Bell & Gossett world leader in supplying the Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry.

Great, glad to hear the little bird went away. Just remember to only oil once a year with a couple drops of light machine oil and it should last for many years again

Sometimes they are not stored in the best of conditions and a light surface rust will form in the bearings/shafts. Usually once it starts running for a day it self cleans and doesn't create a problem again. Sometimes if not used all summer they also can make a little chirp till they work themselves back in. But I'd say your good for the long haul.

The chirp you were hearing at start and stop was the seal or bearing. It happens often on new units that are tight until they seat. The bearing assemblies are the first thing to fail on those circs.

Hey John, I hope you did use all of the oil that came with the bearing assy. That is very important to use the exact amount marked on the tube for each end of the motor and the bearing assy.

Originally Posted by Cobra Cook

Hey John, I hope you did use all of the oil that came with the bearing assy. That is very important to use the exact amount marked on the tube for each end of the motor and the bearing assy.

The instructions said to "fill" the bearing assembly, and the oil tube that came with the unit was marked to show how much to use. The instructions also said to use 12 drops at each end of the motor, which is what I did, but quite a bit of oil was left over. I assume that is for future lubrication. There were multiple warnings about over-oiling as that can damage the mounts and lead to premature coupling failure.

Good job, you should have no more problems

Well, I thought the noise had stopped, but it continues as before. I think the best name for it is a brief "squeal". It's no better, or worse.
But it's getting on my nerves!
I emailed customer support at B&G a while back, but never heard anything back. Guess I should try calling them.
I asked about it in an online HVAC forum, which apparently resulted in my getting kicked off because I had the temerity to install the thing myself instead of paying a pro.
I actually did call my plumber, but when I didn't hear back from him, and the house was starting to get a tad chilly, I looked at the unit and thought, Hey! I can do this!

John did you fill the bearing assy? yoou should not have had any oil left over. the tube should have had a mark for each end of the motor and the reas was bot the bearing assy. which takes a lot more

wow that was messy sorry for the spelling. John the tube should have had 3 marks ,two for the motor and the last for the bearing assy, which takes a lot more. there should not have been any left over at all. hold the tube upside down when you add so you add just to the right mark for each.

Originally Posted by Cobra Cook

wow that was messy sorry for the spelling. John the tube should have had 3 marks ,two for the motor and the last for the bearing assy, which takes a lot more. there should not have been any left over at all. hold the tube upside down when you add so you add just to the right mark for each.

Yes, I put the full amount, according to the tube marking, into the bearing assembly. It was quite a bit. The printed instructions said to put just 12 drops in each end of the motor when first installing it, which I tried my best to do. About a week ago I added a few more drops on each end to see if that would help, but no change.
There is a good bit of oil left in the tube, so maybe I'll re-read the instructions for nth time.