New water heater and new problem???

[Brockman1]

Hope someone can give me some advice on this issue. I had a new water heater installed and ever since when we use any water in the house anywhere the pipes rattle after the spout is turned off. Why is this happening since it did not do this before installation. How can I fix it without calling back the repairman? Thanks in advance....

[kingsotall]

Just on the hot side¿

[master plumber mark]

pipes usually rattel becasue they are loose somewhere and
are doing a water hammer sort of thing...

the man probably did not notice that their was a gap
in the lines after the new heater went in


all you should have to do is get some pipe clamps or some wire and nails and simply secure the pipes down better around the water heater....

odds are that is all it is....

[Brockman1]

it actually sounds like the pipes in the walls are rattling and that wasn't the case before hand. Could I have air in the pipes? Both hot and cold rattle after water is turned off. Even the little bit of water used to fill the ice machine back after dumping causes the pipes to rattle. Any thoughts?

[jadnashua]

What's your water pressure? Are the supply valves to the house and WH fully open?

It sounds like somewhere the pipes aren't clamped down well. The plumber may have removed or loosened one or more to get the new WH installed, then failed to replace or tighten them. Just like when you take your foot off the accellerator in your car it doesn't immediately stop, the water, once moving tries to keep going. It's sort of like hitting a brick wall when a valve is turned off quickly..the water tries to keep going, and can't through the now closed valve, so the pipe moves to disipate the energy. You need to either clamp the lines so they can't jump and bang into things, or install hammer arrestors. The whole thing gets worse if the pressure is high...it's like hitting a wall at 60mph verses 1mph.

[Redwood]

Check for a loose washer on the valve you used to turn off the water to the water heater when it was changed...