Hello,
I live in a condo that was built around 1992. Unfortunaltely, when I bought the condo I did not realize that the water pipes banged when abruptly shuting off the water (from sink or flush one of toilets). The water heater is on the third floor (3 level condo, not including underground private garage). Is there way to fix this without removing sections of walls?
TIA J
You can try replacing your pressure reducer. A defective one is a common cause of banging pipes in condos. If you don't know what it is you should call a plumber.
Sounds like you need an air bumper instaled, get a plumber to look it over
Another thing to try... turn off the water at the street (turn your hot water heater to pilot while your doing this to be safe). Go around and open all your water valves, and flush all the toilets... turn the washing machine on to warm 'fill' for a few seconds too. If you have any outside hose valves, open them as well. Go back and close all the valves, turn on the water (and hot water heater). There will be a few minutes of air hissing and spitting when you start using water again...
Many plumbing systems have air chambers to absorb water hammer shock, and sometimes they become water logged. Your goal in this procedure is to temporarily drain as much water as possible out of your system, allowing these chambers to refill... really just some short vertical sections of capped pipe with air trapped within. (crude but effective hydraulic accumulators...)
I need to do mine every 2 or 3 years...
Good Luck!
Erik
you stole my answer!
Someone will point out though that it is a water heater ;)
Wayne
There are several things that will cause this.
Short of tearing open walls to re-strap the pipes, there is not much you can do for this aspect of banging pipes. Make sure the pressure is not too high. Add shock dampers in several locations. Also called "air hammer" devices. Check your local plumbing supplier. I think Arrow Head makes several versions. There is also one called "ShokTrol". They are a bit spendy ($75) but work well Good Luck
I saw this on Google: How you fix this is easy. You can either buy an anti-hammer kit at a do it yourself store or an even easier way is to solder a "T" on the pipe that has it's end capped and is facing upwards.
This typically will prevent the hammering because it presents a space for the turubulent water to shoot up into. It only has to be about a foot long. Pat
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