help me figure out this noise
 

I live in an apartment. The apartment has natural gas appliances. The
natural gas furnace lives in a little locked closet above the stairway
going up to the second floor. I am pretty sure the natural gas water
heater is in there too (I hear a loud click every once and awhile that I
assume is the water heater).

Now for the strange part. When I am in my bedroom at night I sometimes
hear a strange noise. This noise happens randomly (although last night
it seemed more frequent) in 5-10 second intervals. It sounds like
pressure is being released (it sounds like when you let air out of a
ballon with that whiny sort of noise).

Now I am thinking about calling the maintenance people but the noise is
so random and I am not sure what it is that I am afraid that they might
think I am crazy or something.

In the last two weeks the noise has only been happening while I have
been going to sleep (about 12:00) but I never noticed it during the
mornings. Last night the noise seemed to be occuring throughout the
night. I woke up a few times last night and heard this funny whiny
noise. I also noticed the noise last summer but it seemed to go away
during the winter and then it started coming back as we came into
spring. I think the noise is coming from the attic (not sure what would
be in the attic making this kind of noise) but since the noise randomly
occurs and only happens for 5-10 seconds, I never have enough time to
figure out where its coming from.

Any thoughts of things I should look for? I might call the maintenance
folks but it would be good if I had better info for them.

According to Michael Dauria :

Now for the strange part. When I am in my bedroom at night I sometimes
hear a strange noise. This noise happens randomly (although last night
it seemed more frequent) in 5-10 second intervals. It sounds like
pressure is being released (it sounds like when you let air out of a
ballon with that whiny sort of noise).

Water heaters sometimes make this sort of noise. It usually means
some sort of deposit/hot spot on the inside of the casing is causing
localized fairly intense water bubbling. Especially calcium deposits
on the bottom impeding heat flow.

Your first course of action is to get the HWT flushed.

It's easy to do yourself, but talk to the super first.

One other thing to check - is there any water dripping from the HWT?
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Michael Dauria wrote:

I live in an apartment. The apartment has natural gas appliances. The
natural gas furnace lives in a little locked closet above the stairway
going up to the second floor. I am pretty sure the natural gas water
heater is in there too (I hear a loud click every once and awhile that I
assume is the water heater).

Now for the strange part. When I am in my bedroom at night I sometimes
hear a strange noise. This noise happens randomly (although last night
it seemed more frequent) in 5-10 second intervals. It sounds like
pressure is being released (it sounds like when you let air out of a
ballon with that whiny sort of noise).
SNIP

My prime suspect would be the water heater.

The fact that it happens (only?) late at night
could mean that city water pressure jumps up then.

Find out from maintenance where the heater discharges
to when the relief valve opens. Might be to an indoor
drain or even to the outside. Monitor that for signs
of water being discharged. If it *is*, you have some
leverage to work with.

Jim

Mice having sex?

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Michael Dauria" wrote in message
...
I live in an apartment. The apartment has natural gas appliances. The
natural gas furnace lives in a little locked closet above the stairway
going up to the second floor. I am pretty sure the natural gas water
heater is in there too (I hear a loud click every once and awhile that I
assume is the water heater).

Now for the strange part. When I am in my bedroom at night I sometimes
hear a strange noise. This noise happens randomly (although last night
it seemed more frequent) in 5-10 second intervals. It sounds like
pressure is being released (it sounds like when you let air out of a
ballon with that whiny sort of noise).

Now I am thinking about calling the maintenance people but the noise is
so random and I am not sure what it is that I am afraid that they might
think I am crazy or something.

In the last two weeks the noise has only been happening while I have
been going to sleep (about 12:00) but I never noticed it during the
mornings. Last night the noise seemed to be occuring throughout the
night. I woke up a few times last night and heard this funny whiny
noise. I also noticed the noise last summer but it seemed to go away
during the winter and then it started coming back as we came into
spring. I think the noise is coming from the attic (not sure what would
be in the attic making this kind of noise) but since the noise randomly
occurs and only happens for 5-10 seconds, I never have enough time to
figure out where its coming from.

Any thoughts of things I should look for? I might call the maintenance
folks but it would be good if I had better info for them.