Ask Me Help Desk - Vibrating pipes

I recently had a problem with an extremely loud, machine gun type sound in my water pipes whenever someone turned on the hot water too quickly. I would also hear a loud bang noise when any toilet was flushed, when the water would stop flowing in. At first it was fairly random when it would happen but as time went on it became more and more evident, to the point where I was finally able to track it down to the cause.

The culprit was an automatic shutoff valve that I had installed on the supply side of my water heater about a year and a half ago. The valve was a solenoid shutoff valve with a rubber flapper inside that would seal off the supply when actuated. For some reason it became defective and would attempt to shutoff the supply and then open to allow flow again, only it did this very rapidly in succession, which gave off the sound of a machine gun in my pipes, and I'm not exaggerating about the sound of a machine gun... it was that loud.

When I called the manufacture I was told that they had experienced this problem with this type valve and had since gone to a motorized ball valve. They were extremely nice and shipped me a new shutoff assembly for free, which has corrected the problem completely. It also corrected the banging problem I would hear whenever a toilet was flushed... that really surprised me. I thought for sure the two problems were unrelated.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this experience in the hopes of helping someone else who maybe experiencing the same problem. If you are and you have one of these valves installed, remove it and see if your problem goes away.

Cheers... Randy

Thanks for sharing Randy, My personal feelings are that the 95$ spent on a auto cold water shut off valve would be better spent taking the wife out for dinner and a show, (that's why we installed heater pans with a outside drain line) I guess if you're really worried that your heater will burst a weld in the boiler and after dumping 40 gallons of water out before the automatic shut off kicks in so that you won't have the hassle of more then 40 gallons to mop up a automatic shut off valve would tend to ease your mind.
Since most water heater leaks are not catastrophic are are easily handled by the heater pan I think a auto cold water shut off is redundant. Sorry Randy, You're my first reply this morning and I feel chatty. Just for my own information, what drove you to install the valve in the first place?
Cheers, Tom

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what drove you to install the valve in the first place?

Well, a few years ago I had an old WH that developed a small hole in the bottom and began leaking water. Unfortunately, it happened during the night so by morning our finished basement floor was flooded. Not a big deal as the floor and walls were old and I was planning on remodeling anyway, which I am in the process of doing now.

Part of my current remodel job involved relocating the WH to the other side of the wall where it had been located. The new location was our new office area, and I built a closet to house the WH. Remembering what happened before I decided to install as many safeguards as possible so as to reduce any damage to our office floor and surroundings as much as possible.

Yes, I did pit it in a pan with a pipe to a drain, and I know that a major catastrophic failure will probably still cause damage, but I figured $90.00 was cheap insurance for the minor failures. It also has a high pitched alarm that goes off when water is detected by the sensor, so hopefully that by itself would help to draw our attention to it so we can address it.

Heck, if nothing else, if I should happen to be away on vacation and there was a major failure, I may have forty gallons of water on my floor, but at least my water bill won't be affected.(that would be the silver lining... lol)

Thanks again Randy,
" I just wanted to share this experience in the hopes of helping someone else who maybe experiencing the same problem. If you are and you have one of these valves installed, remove it and see if your problem goes away."

"I know that a major catastrophic failure will probably still cause damage, but I figured $90.00 was cheap insurance for the minor failures."
I live in a area where we have a lot of winter visters. After a faulty angle stop let go and flooded a condo to the point of where it wasa running out the front door, ($27,000 worth of damage) I advise anyone who will listen,
" THE BEST AND CHEAPEST INSURANCE YOU CAN HAVE WHEN YOU GO NORTH IS TO SHUT THE WATER OFF AT THE HOUSE SHUT OFF".
By the way when you had your leak did you have a heater pan installed? Regards, And thanks again. Tom

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THE BEST AND CHEAPEST INSURANCE YOU CAN HAVE WHEN YOU GO NORTH IS TO SHUT THE WATER OFF AT THE HOUSE SHUT OFF

Something so simple yet something that has never even occurred to me. But, I was kind of thinking along the same lines... ought to count for something. Lol Good tip, Tom... thanks.

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By the way when you had your leak did you have a heater pan installed?

Nope, the WH just sat there the way it was when I bought the place.
Did you know that hindsight is the only exact science known to man?