Thumping Kitchen Sink Sprayer

Feb 27, 2004 5 Replies

Our kitchen sink has a spray hose. Some months back, I replaced the head as the old one was clogged with sediment from our hard water. Since I've replaced the head, there is a regular thumping noise whenever I run the water through the faucet. I can feel the hose move when there's a thump. The flow through the faucet is steady, however.



The spray hose itself works fine. When you turn it on, there's one thump but then it flows steadily and quietly.



I can't figure out what might be causing this. I could understand one thump; something in the new head springs back when the pressure in the pipes is lowered as the water flows out the faucet then reaches an equilibrium point to match the new internal water pressure. From the intensity of the thump, it seems as though the flow through the faucet would be interrupted each time a thump is triggered but it isn't.



Hydraulic hammers are usually triggered when the water stops flowing, not when it starts, so I ruled that out.



Maybe the original owner of the house was very attached to that spray head and is haunting the sink since I replaced it.



It's not a major problem and it would probably be solved if I bought a new spray head for the hose but it's driving me crazy trying to figure out why it's happening. Does anyone have a logical explanation?



Paul


The thump actually occurs in the "diverter" valve which is located in the base of the spout. Some brand designs can become quite sensitive as the diverter ages. It's an easily replaceable part but you'll need to find the faucet # or take the old part in to match up.

It doesn't sound like the spray wand is contributing in this case, but it is possible.

Jim

Thanks, Jim; I never knew there was a diverter valve down there. As the old head went bad, we stopped using it so we didn't notice anything going wrong with the diverter valve. Once it could spray again, we used it frequently, leading to the rapid demise of the diverter valve and the thumping noise.

pli

Going for the larger HP machine with a free cart for only another $200 seems a no brainer. What you should probably do is think about another manufacturer. I haven't been overly impressed with Troybuilt products for a while now. Have you looked into John Deere or Husqvaurna? They will be more expensive, but probably not over the long run.

Hell - why not get a Caterpillar faucet! LOL

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