Vibrating Water Pipe

chib

Hoping that someone here may be able to shed some light on a problem we have. This happened for months last year and stopped for a while - now it's back.

We live in a 1950's semi-detached house that shares a water main with our neighbour - when running water sometimes we notice a drop in pressure which I guess happens when they run water at the same time.

At random points in the day our water pipe starts vibrating and it's a noise heard from every area in the house. If I turn on a kitchen tap (Water saving) the noise remains but a bath tap stops the noise. Sometimes we let the bath tap run for 15 minutes and when stopping it the noise comes back straight away.

This happens sometimes in the middle of the night at random times and wakes us up.

Any ideas what this could be and how we would rectify it?

Crinkmeister

It's water hammer. It is basically a shock wave within the pipework which occurs when something is turned off rapidly. The most common culprit is a solenoid valve on a washing machine or dishwasher. It can be made worse by cistern or water tank valves that don't shut off properly - the hammer can cause them to vibrate which causes more shock waves. The solution is not always simple, I'm afraid. I'd start by checking all your cistern and tank valves - replacing if necessary. Does your neighbour experience banging at the same time?

Ectophile

I've had the effect before on a mains pressure pipe to a toilet cistern. As the tank filled and the valve started to shut off, the pipe vibrated loudly.

I found that if I grabbed hold of the pipe, it stopped vibrating.

My fix was to fit several pipe clips along the length of the vibrating pipe. Once it was clamped firmly enough, the vibration stopped.

G_M

Is it on mains water eg usually the kitchen cold, or is it from water from an attic tank?

I had this some years ago caused by the ballcock in the attic tank bouncing on the water's surface, opening and closing the refill valve. The more it bounced, the more the valve switched on/off, resulting in spurts of refill water which caused waves which made the ball bounce more......

I fitted a yogurt pot which has sorted the problem.

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/noisypipes.htm


http://www.access-irrigation.co.uk/news/2016/02/water-hammer-its-causes-and-solutions

chib

Yeah it's water mains, the vibration can be felt on all cold water pipes. The length that runs upstairs to the combi is what vibrates the most - very annoying.

The neighbours aren't very friendly either and don't talk to us (Never have since we bought the place) which doesn't help.

Jonesya

One thing you could consider is fitting a rester - they're supposed to stop water hammer. I was considering one myself for the water hammer, or rather periodic bangs, from dishwasher washer and washing machine.

Has anyone tried these, do they work?

This sort of thing:
http://www.toolstation.com/m/part.html?p=64117