Dripping noise while heat is on - PVC concentric vent
#10
Once last year my mom, staying at our new house, mentioned that she heard a dripping noise when the heat came on. I narrowed it down to one pipe in the basement, which would have been used for a condensate drain.

Well, I heard it last night, and I found it to be no coincidence that last night was the coldest of the year. From the bedroom (which is of course right over the pipe in question), it sounds like a steady drip depending on what phase of the heat cycle the furnace is on.

From outside, it sounds more like a ticking or clicking and it's coming from the PVC concentric vent. Searching this morning shows that it's quite common, so that's my problem to fix now.

The house was built in 2014 and has a high-efficiency gas furnace (it's a "green" home, which mostly means that our washing machine takes forever to not wash clothing). Instead of lubricating the sheathing, re-caulking where the pipe comes through the siding, or anything like that, I'm going straight to the pipe.

Now, I've read that they are usually attached with screws so the vent can be removed for cleaning. I can certainly try tightening (or adding) screws. I can also try cement.

Has anybody had this problem before? How did you fix it?
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#11
newer heaters do have condensate pipes, just like air conditioners do-- so you may have a single pipe coming from the AC coil and heater,heading outside, or maybe 2 separate pipes?
Past that, i'm not sure what you're describing-- is the drip happening inside the pipe, or is something dripping outside the pipe--if so, where is it dripping to?
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#12
There are two separate pipes up to the wall, but just by the exit there is an elbow with a concentric vent. This is where they split and where the intake and exhaust pipes meet. Outside of that, there is a cap (a conical cap that directs exhaust out and pulls fresh air in from the other side). This is what I hear clicking. It only sounds like a drip inside because it's traveling through the pipe, but outside it sounds like PVC-on-PVC friction.

I know that one option would be to put another hole in the siding and use two separate pipes, but I'm not at that point yet.

It sounds like dripping inside, but I am pretty certain it's not.
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#13
FS7 said:


but outside it sounds like PVC-on-PVC friction.







It's the PVC expanding and contracting as it warms and cools. You'll have to do some investigation to see where the noise is coming from.
Mark

I'm no expert, unlike everybody else here - Busdrver


Nah...I like you, young feller...You remind me of my son... Timberwolf 03/27/12

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#14
FS7 said:


There are two separate pipes up to the wall, but just by the exit there is an elbow with a concentric vent. This is where they split and where the intake and exhaust pipes meet. Outside of that, there is a cap (a conical cap that directs exhaust out and pulls fresh air in from the other side). This is what I hear clicking. It only sounds like a drip inside because it's traveling through the pipe, but outside it sounds like PVC-on-PVC friction.

I know that one option would be to put another hole in the siding and use two separate pipes, but I'm not at that point yet.

It sounds like dripping inside, but I am pretty certain it's not.





Before you start changing any pipe arrangements, read the installation manual or get professional help. There is a right way and dangerous way to mess with the installation on vent piping.

You have two surfaces rubbing- isolate that.
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#15
daddo said:


[blockquote]FS7 said:


There are two separate pipes up to the wall, but just by the exit there is an elbow with a concentric vent. This is where they split and where the intake and exhaust pipes meet. Outside of that, there is a cap (a conical cap that directs exhaust out and pulls fresh air in from the other side). This is what I hear clicking. It only sounds like a drip inside because it's traveling through the pipe, but outside it sounds like PVC-on-PVC friction.

I know that one option would be to put another hole in the siding and use two separate pipes, but I'm not at that point yet.

It sounds like dripping inside, but I am pretty certain it's not.





Before you start changing any pipe arrangements, read the installation manual or get professional help. There is a right way and dangerous way to mess with the installation on vent piping.

You have two surfaces rubbing- isolate that.


[/blockquote]

I checked it out when I got home.

The rain cap was not secured in any way. Every installation manual that I have read said that it should either be cemented or screwed in, not just press fit in (which allows for the expansion I heard).

I cleaned all excess off the 3" outer pipe, minimizing the contact between the cap's fins and that pipe, and I used two stainless screws to secure the cap to the 2" inner pipe. Time will tell if this works, but it's plenty cold this week so it will get some work.
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#16
Pretty bad when the HO has to go behind the installer and fix things.
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#17
Do not glue the parts of the concentric vent together. A couple screws. If it frosts inside or gets a critter nest in it, you will not be able to clear it.
Blackhat

Bad experiences come from poor decisions. So do good stories. 


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#18
blackhat said:


Do not glue the parts of the concentric vent together. A couple screws. If it frosts inside or gets a critter nest in it, you will not be able to clear it.




Yeah, that's what I figured. Cementing it like that would be going nuclear, and that was a last resort. The screws seemed to work just fine last night.

As for this being standard practice to fix things the builders didn't do properly, it sure is in my experience. It's been 15 months and I've fixed probably 30 things or more...to be fair the builder would have done all of them, but I didn't feel like waiting. Off the top of my head...

1) Incorrectly wired switches (wrong switch in a double gang box) in multiple places.
2) Fireplace power outlet (for the blower) was not connected. That was fun, wiring an outlet with 4 inches of vertical clearance.
3) 75% of the screws on the handrails were stripped out...I found this out when I thought I would remove them to fix the extremely sloppy caulk job they did on the returns.
4) One faucet cartridge was broken and one was installed backwards (how is that even possible)?
5) One pipe union for the furnace (propane) was un-doped and finger-tight only. Lovely propane smell I had.
6) One fill valve didn't work.
7) No high loop in the dishwasher discharge line, leading to a clog of eggshells and bacon grease.

I could go on and on. People don't take pride in their work at all. It doesn't even matter what you spend, the attention to detail is not there at all. Fundamentally the house is sound, but a lot of the cosmetic and detail work is poor. They try to do too much, which works I guess because some people just don't care. My wife said it was all "fine" while I said it wasn't.
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