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TKM TKM is offline
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Default Water Hammer - But not your typical kind


"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 8:38 am, "MLD" wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

...





I know about water hammer - the loud noise associated with a rapidly
closing valve causing the water to slam inside pipes causing them to
bang.
I also know most of the solutions - arrestors, expansion tanks, securing
pipes, draining the pipes, etc.


The water hammer I'm experiencing is different.


- Instead of a single loud bang, I get a rapid fire dull
thump-thump-thump almost like the rat-a-tat-tat-tat of a machine gun.
- They happen when just about any faucet, toilet, shower, appliance,
etc.
is turned ON or OFF.
- When a device is turned ON, I'll get 4 or 5 rapid thumps lasting a
second or two.
- When a device is turned OFF (even slowly turning off a faucet) I'll
get
anywhere from 20 to 50 rapid thumps lasting 3 - 7 seconds.
- It happens with both hot and cold water, single valve devices or dual
faucet fixtures.
- It happens 85% - 90% percent of the time.
- I have drained the system and refilled it. I thought it helped,
because
it didn't happen for a few hours, then it started again. It may have
just
been the 15% - 20% of the times when it doesn't happen.


Anybody heard of this type of water hammer?


My guess----You might be getting more than one bang because something is
really loose and has plenty of room to move around. The fact that it
happens with either hot or cold suggests that it might be near the
location
where the water first comes into the house. This brings to mind this
thought, do you have any pressure regulating valves in the house? Poor
valve response resulting in several shutting and opening cycles could
cause
this symptom. As we all know, water hammer can be a very destructive
force.
MLD- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -




Yes, there is a pressure regulating valve shortly after the meter. The
water enters the house, immediatley enters the meter and then into a
T. One side goes to a pipe that feeds the 2 outside hose bibs and the
other goes to the house. The regulator valavle is right after the T,
on the house side.

Now that you mentioned this, I haven't tested for the hammer using the
outside hoses bibs. I'm not sure what it will tell me one way or the
other, but it'll be one more piece of data.

I've had the water hammer problem that you describe and also experienced a
very loud shrieking noise as the toilet tanks in the house reached full.
The shrieking noise could be heard outside the house with the doors and
windows closed. The problem did indeed turn out to be the pressure
regulating valve on the incoming water line. Adjusting the pressur valve
slightly up or slightly down did the trick for a while; but replacing the
valve was the ultimate solution. My incoming pressure is very high and,
apparently, the valve had a lot of work to do and so simply wore out.

TKM