Bilge hive mind plumbing advice

[Jim Mahan]

Our shower has recently begun making a loud vibrating noise sometimes. It sometimes goes away after it starts, when the supply valve is turned to cold only and it gets worse when the hot is turned back on. It seems to be related to the mechanical switch in the tub spout, which is pulled up for shower and down to fill the tub. Sometimes the noise can be made to stop by jiggling that switch.

What can I do to fix it, other than call a plumber?

[bluedog225]

The tub spouts are pretty easily replaceable. Or soak it in vinegar to remove calcium. Or adjust the pressure to your house at the main valve by shutting it some. My toilet sometimes groans. Then it goes away.

I can put up with a lot before calling a plumber.

[Nicholas Carey]

Sounds like water hammer to me.

Air in the line somewhere?

[WI-Tom]

Sounds like water hammer to me.

Air in the line somewhere?

My thought too. Which is useless, as I have no idea how to fix it, nor any inclination to try.

Good luck!

Tom

[hawkeye54]

There are little 'chambers' which can be installed on the water line to contain the air bubble and silence the 'hammer' - check with your local plumber or 'big-box' store.



Rick

[bluedog225]

Stop showering.

[Nicholas Carey]

My thought too. Which is useless, as I have no idea how to fix it, nor any inclination to try.

One way to [try to] fix water hammer is to close the main water valve, then open all the faucets and valves in the house, and drain down the entire system, leaving all the faucets/valves open (except the main water valve).

Then turn the water back on and let the water displace the air in the system. Then, start closing faucets and valves one at a time, working from lowest to highest.

[Too Little Time]

One way to [try to] fix water hammer is to close the main water valve, then open all the faucets and valves in the house, and drain down the entire system, leaving all the faucets/valves open (except the main water valve).

Then turn the water back on and let the water displace the air in the system. Then, start closing faucets and valves one at a time, working from lowest to highest.

I agree.

[Catalina 22]

I don't think we have a correct answer yet. Water hammer is just the slam that happens when the water shuts off fast. That is why they are usually near the washing machine.

How old is the shower valve? The cartridge for a late model diverter valve is usually under 20 bucks. Easy DIY project.

[bluedog225]

Is it only when showering? Then it’s the spout.

[Jim Bow]

We had a house wide squeaky noise everytime my wife turned her water hose on and off. A youtuber suggested turning off the watersupply and then open every faucet till all flow stops. Then turn the supply back on, then close each faucet.

It worked for a week.

[Canoeyawl]

Might just be a loose washer vibrating, replace the washer, valve or cartridges. Or a "balance valve" gone haywire depending on your specific shower valve.
Whatever it is don't let it continue... the vibration is hard on your plumbing and may get "interesting" usually in the middle of the night, or when you are away for the weekend.

[Jim Mahan]

Thank, all. That's prolly enough to go on. I'll get on it today.

[Breakaway]

Might be calcium buildup on the diverter valvecausing it not to close or open fully, or very easily. Take apart that lever and valve, clean and reassemble.

Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[WszystekPoTrochu]

When shower gives you lemons, make a lemonade



typical casues are too low water pressure and/or partly stuck valve
will often be caused by limescale buildup

[skuthorp]

Gypsy music for water pipes and fiddle….. I love it!

[Jim Mahan]

Might be calcium buildup on the diverter valvecausing it not to close or open fully, or very easily. Take apart that lever and valve, clean and reassemble.

Going past the b'room on my way back from getting my second cuppa joe, just now, I felt with my finger up inside the spout to get a sense of the diverter valve and I can tell it's crusty with scale.

Looking at diagrams of bathtub spout diverters, my takeaways include that:

when I install or replace such fixtures, I should somewhere note the brand name since for aesthetic reasons the companies don't include it on the actual hardware, and the parts and assemblies are not the same across brands;

that my OS on the desktop computater, Linux mint with foxfire, doesn't know what to do with a png file extension;

that google wants me inspite of using duckduckgo;

that some helpful images include ones with a dot ru internet file extension, which I gather is the extension denoting a Russian source, so I'm thinking the help comes with special subversion cookies.

I thought I'd post a diagram that I thought would be helpful for anyone following the thread, but I'm suspicious of some of the sources. And in case it needs to be more explicitly stated once again, as indicated by my OP title, the WBF Bilge, all hive-mindey, is likely the best source for the widest possible helpful info. I suppose that were I stranded on an island with wifi and needed to do emergency brain surgery, I could find out how to do it, and which scapels and cranium openers are best.

And now, after looking at hundreds of diagrams and useless photos, useless because they don't show the structural details and I already know what it looks like on the outside, duh, it's coming back to me how the thing goes together out of the box. It's been at least fifteen years since I installed the shower plumbing after we had the b'room remodeled, the tub-shower enclosure tiled.

[Canoeyawl]

What you wrote:

that google wants me inspite of using duckduckgo;

And what I read:

that google wants me to use duck tape...

[George Jung]

Both good options.

[bluedog225]

Are we talking about this thing?

if yes, it unscrews (lefty loosy).

Take to home depot and get one that matches the pipe length coming out of the wall. Aka one that is the same where it attaches.

tefllon tape/ replace

Or soak the existing in vinegar and salt for a few days. May hurt the finish. If you care.

A206B1DF-ABB7-47E7-BC6B-C9446E95F324.jpeg

[Figment]

There are little 'chambers' which can be installed on the water line to contain the air bubble and silence the 'hammer' - check with your local plumber or 'big-box' store.



Rick

This. Somewhere very near your main water inlet there is an expansion tank (a thing that looks like an upside-down propane tank above the pipe). In that tank is a pocket of air (or sometimes a rubber diaphragm) which absorbs the shock of water hammers, and it has failed. just replace the whole thing, easy fix.

If you want to test the theory, there is probably a rubber air fitting (like on a basketball) near the top. Stick an air needle in there, if it hasn't failed you should get only air. If it has failed that air will very quickly turn to water.