Technological help...please?

[astrologica]

I have a problem that I hope someone on here may be able to help with. It is driving me practically insane...and I have to solve it soon!

We have developed the most annoying pulsating hum in our house. I can hear it very clearly. My OH can't hear it because he is very hard of hearing. It's not there all the time...it seems to come and go. It is centred on our sitting room, and seems to change its location in the room. Sometimes it's strongest near the door, another time it is strongest in the centre of the room. It began about a month ago, and  I have given it much thought  and the only thing that has changed in the house is the Sky box. We did have a white one, but they sent us a black one which has been installed. When I sat down to type this post it was humming away nicely, but now it has stopped. 

Has anyone on here ever experienced an unexplained 'hum', or has anyone got any suggestions as to what it could be?

[astrologica]

Have been busy today, so didn't get time to ring Sky....But........there has been no humming today, or this evening up until now. I'm baffled. I hope it's gone for good.

[fallen-archie]

Any sign of a hum today?

[1956glyn]

Groans in our home today when i told Glyn what i would like for Christmas !   🙂

Shirl

[astrologica]

Update on the 'hum'. A Sky engineer came and checked everything out and it's all ok. He didn't hear the hum, because he came during the day, and the hum only happens in the evenings. He didn't think it was anything to do with Sky. I have been making a point of listening for it, and I haven't heard it at all in the daytime. It seems to be during the evenings between about 8pm and 10pm. I am going to have to turn the TV off during those hours for a few days and try and pin it down to specific times.  If it happens at the same time each evening then my money is on the Smart meters. I haven't seen any of my neighbours to ask if they have Smart meters, So it's a bit more investigating to pin the times down. Any developments I will report back!

[astrologica]

Would that be a fish tank....or a smart meter?😄

[mikes*corvettes]

A report on Watchdog tonight was about people complaining about SKY boxes making a humming noise.

[astrologica]

That's interesting MC...I missed that. I will watch it on catchup. The Sky **bleep**pie said everything was OK....maybe they have been told to say that.

[1956glyn]

Already got both ha ha

[astrologica]

MC...I just watched the Watchdog programme and there was nothing on there about Sky boxes humming😕. There were folks complaining about the new Sky Q service...but no humming. I'm wondering....are the programmes different for the different regions? 

[mikes*corvettes]

Astrologica, 9.50min into the programme the blond lady reporter reads out a statement from SKY.

"SKY apologises for the interference with WiFi and the technical buzz and that engineers are working to correct the problems."

[astrologica]

Thanks MC....I'll take another look at that. I wouldn't describe what I hear as a 'buzz'....it's a hum..a pulsating hum. Strangely, I haven't heard it this evening.  Strange.

[astrologica]

An update on the "hum". It has been humming quite a bit lately, and seems to happen in the daytime now, as well as the evenings. I do have an idea though. I have been narrowing down the times that it starts and stops. There is no specific pattern to the times, but I have noted that it usually stops when I turn the central heating off. It doesn't stop immediately, but within 2-5 minutes of the heating going off. This leads me to think that it is the central heating pump. Two points though........why does it hum for a little while after I turn the heating off and not stop immediately? And...why can I only hear the hum at a specific place in the whole of the house? I can only hear it in the sitting room, and then only when I stand in a specific place. Move two feet and it can't be heard. I can go to any other room in the house, and it can't be heard. It is really weird.....and it's driving me nuts! Does anyone think I may be on the right track? And can anyone explain those two queries?...Please?

[jd.linklater]

Just a thought, perhaps the radiator in the sitting room needs bleeding. It may hum until the water stops circulating which  may not happen immediately when you switch off.

[suzieseaside]

There are reports of people saying that their pump still runs for a bit after the boiler is turned off

Perhaps there is resonance in a pipe that is close to where you hear it?

Have you listened to the pump inside your boiler cupbord when you hear the sound?

To confirm that the source is definitely from inside your house maybe turn of the mains fuse switch for a moment when you are hearing the hum?

[suzieseaside]

 Maybe it's the solenoid valve at fault? I think this would make a hum although I'm no heating engineer!

I think if you establish that the sound is definitely within your house, and not from a neighbour (are you terraced or semi, rather than detached?), then it might be worth getting a central heating engineer in. It might save the system developing a more expensive fault.

[astrologica]

The radiators have been bled JD....I have been on my knees with my ear glued to the rad when the hum is humming, and it's definitely not that,

[astrologica]

I did wonder if there is a water pipe running between the boiler and the upstairs rads over where I hear the hum. I suppose a plumber could tell me that? When I listen to the boiler close up, all I hear is the normal boiler sound...no pump running. I haven't tried switching the power off yet...I have more or less discounted an outside source as it is so centralised in my sitting room. I think a visit from a plumber may be required....

[astrologica]

Suzie...what does a solenoid valve do, and where would that be located?

[1956glyn]

There are water pipes to every radiator in your home

If i were you, i would get a reputable plumber in to check your system out.

[cee-dee]

For "hum" read "resonate". Mechanical resonance means vibration but "in tune" with something.

So, an intermittent vibration of some sort could emanate from many sources and as I said much earlier in the thread, a process of elimination is needed.

If you've eliminated the sky box and are now looking at your central heating, you need someone else to switch the heating off and listen to the pump (which doesn't always stop running as soon as the heating goes off). There should be a switch to cut power to the boiler (and hence the pump) so use that and as soon as the pump stops running, get whoever switched it off for you to shout out while you listen in the room where you hear the "hum".

It's possible that sludge may have accumulated in one spot and, daft as it sounds a loose spot of solder could "vibrate"/resonate and make a noise. A flush of the system might cure it.