MarylandDave
New Member
Hi- Wanted to start by thanking everyone for the helpful advice over the years. I have been reading this forum for a while, but finally registered to ask a question.
I am a pretty skilled DIYer, and am trying to help an elderly neighbor. He asked me in desperation, as he has tried a couple of fixes and spent some dough, but isn't getting his problem fixed.
The water pipes in the street were dug up recently and replaced. After the work was done, he started getting a vibration in his house anytime the water runs - one small faucet won't start the noise, but the tub or a toilet flush will get it going. I can feel the rattle in the copper pipes. It is definitely not water hammer - the noise continues only while the water is running. He had no work done inside his house before this started.
He started by calling a plumber, who replaced his pressure regulator. That didn't help. The same plumber came back and replaced the expansion tank, saying the old one was bad. That also didn't solve the problem.
At my suggestion he called the local water company, I was hoping they would change out the meter (his meter is inside his house) or check it for an obstruction, but that person simply turned the water pressure down to 25 psi and left. Of course, the system makes no noise at 25 psi, but it barely functions either.
I set the pressure back to 50 psi, and checked the expansion tank was also reading 50 psi (I measured the expansion pressure with the water off and pressure relieved). He has water, but also the maddening rattles.
As a distraction, the new expansion tank is mounted horizontally, but its instructions say it is for vertical mounting only. But the noise started before the expansion tank was switched out, so not thinking too much about that. But perhaps the old one failed around the time of the outdoor pipe work and this new one isn't doing what it should?
Would love your thoughts and suggestions...
I am a pretty skilled DIYer, and am trying to help an elderly neighbor. He asked me in desperation, as he has tried a couple of fixes and spent some dough, but isn't getting his problem fixed.
The water pipes in the street were dug up recently and replaced. After the work was done, he started getting a vibration in his house anytime the water runs - one small faucet won't start the noise, but the tub or a toilet flush will get it going. I can feel the rattle in the copper pipes. It is definitely not water hammer - the noise continues only while the water is running. He had no work done inside his house before this started.
He started by calling a plumber, who replaced his pressure regulator. That didn't help. The same plumber came back and replaced the expansion tank, saying the old one was bad. That also didn't solve the problem.
At my suggestion he called the local water company, I was hoping they would change out the meter (his meter is inside his house) or check it for an obstruction, but that person simply turned the water pressure down to 25 psi and left. Of course, the system makes no noise at 25 psi, but it barely functions either.
I set the pressure back to 50 psi, and checked the expansion tank was also reading 50 psi (I measured the expansion pressure with the water off and pressure relieved). He has water, but also the maddening rattles.
As a distraction, the new expansion tank is mounted horizontally, but its instructions say it is for vertical mounting only. But the noise started before the expansion tank was switched out, so not thinking too much about that. But perhaps the old one failed around the time of the outdoor pipe work and this new one isn't doing what it should?
Would love your thoughts and suggestions...
