@dgclimatecontrol yes the wall fixings are mostly around the flexis I think the bottom one is actually on the pipework leaving the rear of the unit. The thing is I’ve had this noise even when the flexis were in a horizontal position. I do wonder if these primary pro flexis are too rigid so not removing enough vibration.

This is what mine looks like, seems to have less insulation than yours, and going up the wall about 8 meters, and another 6 to 8 meters or so inside the loft and back down into the boiler cupboard. I have no idea if they used any braces at all. Looks to me like it is just straight pipe not secured to the wall at all, just held inside that trunking.

Posted by: @drei

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This is what mine looks like, seems to have less insulation than yours, and going up the wall about 8 meters, and another 6 to 8 meters or so inside the loft and back down into the boiler cupboard. I have no idea if they used any braces at all. Looks to me like it is just straight pipe not secured to the wall at all, just held inside that trunking.

I reckon the curved pipes may be the flexis, good idea to have them curved not perfectly straight I suspect.

@jamespa can you take a pic of the primaries inside the loft especially how they are clipped and if the copper pipes touch the wooden trusses. This would give me an idea if the way mine are clipped is normal for internal sections.

@adamk

Its a bit complex: My 28mm primaries run for about 1.2m outside then pass through a wall into the utility room where they run for about 2m in a void behind the skirting board.  They then turn through 90deg to run vertically up a 100mm deep wall void behind plasterboard.  From there they execute another 90deg turn to pass through a wall into the garage.  After running about 2m in the garage they join the original 2*22mm pipework which feed and previously fed the upstairs and downstairs. 

The picture attached is in the garage and you are looking at clamps on pipe wrapped in about 5mm neoprene (or similar) isolating the pipe thermally and physically from the clamps.  The clamps attach to the rafters.

In the Utility room behind the wall its the same clamp insulation and isolation arrangement, clamps attached to a solid brick wall.  Behind the skirting board its a bit variable because of the tight clearances; they are insulated along the whole length but I think are unsupported as the space is pretty tight and the insulation fills it.

Once the 28mm primaries divide inside the garage they pass downstairs and upstairs through holes drilled through the joists.  I think this is the first point where the copper pipes are in direct contact with woodwork, some 7m or so beyond the ASHP.

Hope that helps

Update:

installer contacted Vaillant to have them come out to it as a warranty call, but Vaillant are saying I might have to pay £98 if they think it’s fine. So I’ve refused the call. This is because Vaillant are not admitting they have an issue with the 7kw units and I can ill afford to just throw £98 in the toilet.

so I’ve started discussing the problem with a group on open energy monitor which was started by Urban Plumbers Simon, who has stopped specifying the 7kw units apparently. They’re some in that thread that have really noisy external units that also generate the same noise I have internally.

i think @editor might want to cover this in a yt episode and or get Vaillants view. Some are saying they are not going ahead with an install, others are waiting for the new version, which if I’d known I think I would have done, and people that have had a new compressor fitted still have noise. I think if these units are under a year they should be swapping the whole unit not butchering the compressor out and in.

@adamk

As a matter of interest have you done anything yet about your flexis and has it made any difference?  I remember you saying that you could still feel significant vibration on the house side of the flexis and that absolutely should not be the case and, if it is the case, its an installation problem not a heat pump problem.  Your pictures show a clear defect in the way they are fixed and, until that is resolved and the result assessed, I wouldn't want to pay Vaillant to come round either.  Given your internal pipefixing arrangements I would also want to see that the primaries were very rigidly attached to the wall with before entering the house, so that the flexis were forced to absorb the vibration because the pipework beyond was solidly anchored.  If the pipework beyond the flexis can move then they wont do their job!

Have you offered to send Vaillant a recording, if they are willing to accept that might allow them to make a better determination of which component is causing the noise?

The best help in these 'edge' circumstances almost always involves an element of self-help or at least self-investigation.   This applies to all fields not just heating.

@adamk not all 7kW Vaillants have a noise issue. Ours is fine. We hear nothing inside and although I stood outside last winter waiting for an issue whilst de-icing I got cold and bored and no recording. So your £98 would be at risk. 
If you can share a recording and pictures of your installation issues with Valliant then they might be able to help steer some diagnosis 

@jamespa this is what the pipe work looks like after they moved the flexis to a vertcle position to comply with the primary pro requirement for them to be in a straight position and not bent. But I’ve have the flexis in various positions and even ones with built in 90s before and same issue.

here is the noisy 7kw compressor group on open energy monitor.

and here’s what one Vaillant engineers fix was apparently.

I’ve thought about a recording but they would likely need a very good set of speakers to pick up the low frequency noise inside the house. Here is a spectrum analyser where you can see the peak around 90hz.

@adamk I have seen the openenergymonitor thread, in fact I may even have posted on it about mine.   

I still think your flexi arrangements are wrong, fundamentally you seem to have constrained the flexi rather than letting it hang free, which obviously it needs to do if its to absorb vibration.  I cant tell exactly where the flexi ends, but it looks like there are more clamps (3?) on the flexi than on the pipe (1?) after and there appears to be at least one clamp right on the pump end of the flexi or possibly between the end and the heat pump.  This is all wrong.  Unless the flexi can vibrate with the heat pump and the pipes on the far side are well constrained, it cant possibly do its job.  The fact you tell us you can feel vibration on the house side would seem to confirm this is happening.  I fear your plumber may think that flexis for heat pumps serve the same purpose as flexis for taps, namely to make the plumbing easier.  They do, but this isn't their primary purpose!   Of course I have no idea whether changing it will make a difference.

Here is a video of mine at its worst, ie during recovery from defrost when its negative temperatures outside, compressor noise clearly audible.  It does this for about 10min once per hour in the stated weather.  Just audible inside but quieter than the fridge, attenuated if set to low noise mode, noise air bound not carried by the pipework so far as I can tell.   Vaillant reckon this is normal.  Perhaps you could compare to yours. 

If your installer isn't cooperating, you cant take a recording, and don't wish to pay Vaillant to come out, then your options are limited amounting, so far as I can see, to accept it or try to diagnose and fix yourself.  Have you maybe reached the point where you need to make this decision?

@jamespa the flexis have been in a horizontal position before and still did it. The most I can do is maybe arrange the clamps in a better arrangement as I’m guessing they just reused the original positions that previously held the solid pipes before the isolation valves.

i can make a recording but unless you’ve got a sub or large speakers I doubt it will emulate what I can hear. The external inverter noise is audible on a recording, but again some older people probably wouldn’t be able to hear it due to the frequency being above there hearing range.

i think as the installer is blaming Vaillants compressor and the plumber says he’s attended other heat pumps with pipes fixed like he’s done that I’ll get little help that side. So I might just make an almighty stink on the net that Vaillant 7kw units are noisy and see how that goes.

Put your post code on this thread amd ask for someone with same Vailant HP to let ypu go round and listen to theirs, and photograph the pipework and supports from their HP.

This will give you the confidence to ask Vailant to come round and assess the noise.

Os it worth £98 for the peace of mind that nothing more can be done.

another idea, check the fault logs, and call back the installer to fix the fault. That worked for me as the installer found faults I wasn't reporting.

last thought is to slacken or remove the clamps you think are wrong, and test if the noise goes away.

You can then call out the fitter and say what youve found