Thread: Hot Water Pressure Problems

Poor bastard. Every sucker is looking, but no-one has any ideas.

I have lots of ideas.


But first, your problem.

Can you eliminate, washers from taps, elements from filters, by-pass stuff to isolate the problem.

But I reckon the non return is also limiting your pressure.

NO, don't thank me, I have been no help whatsoever, but you did get excited when you saw it was me who had replied. Admit it.

Outback, you are a gem. Now farq off & leave the poor bugger alone.

I agree in as far as that what ever is causing the restriction is also causing the hammer BUT... in may not be where the niose is appearing to come from. You have to keep looking.

I also haven't been too much help either BUT... if you offer us enough, (beer, wine, BBQ steak, money, etc) you could have the ever-so-helpful Outback & my good self (& half a dozen other kind souls) come & stay at your place til (we help) you figure it out.

There's always one in every crowd as they say.

Lucky me, I got two

Failing any better ideas I'll rip the lot apart and inspect the guts of each device in turn. Sounds like a Saturday morning job while the women of the house are at tennis & not complaining of having no water

Darryl,

1) Get Ceramic washer taps on all taps - pricey but ferking good. - you'll never look back.
2) get hammer arestors from the local plumbing suppliers - the type that you pump in air with a bike pump are the best. install 2 or three of these under a few sinks, in the pipework (where you can pump more air in as needed - ie acces) and you should be right.

dont deform the shaft of the washer - thats bullsheet. use arrestors on either side of the non return valve, i reckon the supplier uses that story to all the "non plumbers" who lob into his shop - ive NEVER seen that little trick work.... I was once told to strengthen the spring in the return valve so it would stop the hammer - that dont work either 0 it just loosens the pipes more as more energy is stored and released quickly (see below paragraph)

hammer is caused by the momentum in the water (water has mass right ?) coming to a sudden stop when you turn the water tap of and the energy in the water stored by momentum and mains pressure has nowhere to go so it moves the pipes (Newtons 3rd law - the conservation of momentum states every action must have an equal and opposite reaction) thus when the water stops moving the energy built up must be released, ergo, the momentum is released by a energy wave in the water bouncing the pipes - points of weakness like where the lousy plumber didnt use enough attachments in the walls can and do move - short of tearing down your walls and putting in more anchors you cant fix it - just compensate with arrestors which absorb the energy (they are "in line" attachments - sorta like series rather than parrallel as in electrical ccts.) thats why cement walled houses have bang in the floor and rthe ceilings and gyprock have it in the walls (thats where the pipes that CAN move are!

Here endeth the lesson

That should help you.

cheers

Thanks Zed.

Slightly off track though It's not hammer in the way you're thinking - it's kind of like a constant vibration from around the area of the non-return valve. It sounds like the problem the plumbing supplies guy was pointing to - the washer inside the non-return valve vibrating back and forth.

I'm not a fan of half-arsed solutions - we've just bought the place and we're planning to live there for years, so I'd like to fix it right. So should I just replace the non-return valve and be done with it (hopefully)?

So should I just replace the non-return valve and be done with it (hopefully)?

That would be a good start