Radiator clicking noise! It drives us mad. It never stops. Comes and goes, any way to fix it?

15 comments

1. If you’re living in an apartment, contact building maintenance.

2. you have to release air which is stuck inside. there should be a little valve just open it until the sound is gone. then close.

3. Just remove the thermostat and see if it helps.

4. Thats 100% air in the system, it needs to be “ilmattu” properly and it needs to be done from the highest point where the pipes go, maybe your ilmanpoistin has some issues too.

5. Could be just thermal expansion of the mountings or structures inside the radiator. It is quite typical for water filled radiators.

6. It seems that the floating floor and skirtings are too tight and touching the radiator’s pipe. Different materials with different dilation rates touching tight + temperature changes will mean friction sounds.

   Usually the floor should be installed leaving a 1 cm gap from walls and pipes, and gaps covered with flashings or skirtings, letting each element to move independently.

   Try talking with the house manager (isännöitsijä).

7. Sounds like someone is tapping on that thing.

   According to quick googling, the thermostat might make noise if it is installed to wrong dirention towards the flow.

8. This is from thermal expansion/contraction. As the pipes heat up and cool down they shrink and grow minutely. If anything is tight against the pipe at that time, it will cause friction and this type of “tapping” noise.

   My suggestion is start by removing that little skirting board that is pressed tight up against the pipe. If that stops the tapping, then just carve out a little space for the pipe and reinstall.

   I had the same problem coming from a wall in our house, drove me insane. But if I kicked the area the tapping would stop for a few minutes (probably the vibration of the kick eased the tension of the friction, until it started cooling down or heating up again). One night when I was a bit drunk, and was trying to fall asleep the tapping was going full blast, I got up and in a blind rage just gave it a good old kick. Put my foot through the wall.

   Wellp, after that I had to replace the panel anyhow, so I decided to find out exactly WHERE the sound came from. Turned out it was a nail that was pressing up against the pipe, I just bent it back a little, and no more tapping.

   Also got the wall fixed good as new.

9. Summer will fix it

10. I have had similar issue. In my case it was thermal expansion. When heating – expanding – no room for expansion and wood was cracking. So I just made some room for the pipe in the floor and it was gone

11. “it never stops. It comes and goes”

12. Did you try to bleed the air out from the air valve?

13. Maybe heat from that transformer is messing with the thermostat.

14. I have had the same kind of problem. The clicking noise is different for me but sometimes it just clicks for some time and then it stops. Once I got angry and grabbed and sligthly kicked the pipe and it has been quiet since then. I don’t recommend trying to fix it yourself but just give it a slight knock and see if it does anything 😀

15. Put your hand against the pipe or radiator when you hear the sound. Is there vibration or movement?

    If there is movement or vibration then the problem is more likely to be from thermal expansion. If not the prolem could be from the heating system in the boiler room like others described.