Non-motoring > Water hum Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Ambo Replies: 4
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New Mon 13 Aug 18 10:14 
 Water hum - Ambo
I expect we all know about water hammer. Does anyone know what causes water hum and how to cure it permanently?

Some of the plumbing in my house dates from its erection in the1930s but a new bathroom and cloakroom were installed 3 years ago. Pairs of lever-type taps were installed for the bath and both wash hand basins,

Recently an occasional unexplained steady, low-pitched hum has appeared in both rooms. The bathroom basin hot tap has developed a dribble and I found that opening and closing this tap (but no other) effects a temporary cure.

What with arthritic fingers I can't open up the tap although all of these taps have service taps so don't need the system draining to get at them. I am trying to get a fix on the problem before calling in a plumber so any hints welcome.
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New Mon 13 Aug 18 10:23 
 Water hum - devonite
Sometimes caused by the speed of the flow through the pipe, can be cured by fitting an orifice plate in the line to reduce the diameter and speed of the flow. You can usually reduce the pipe diameter up to about 25% without really noticing any significant loss of flow volume at the tap, or try turning your stop-cock down quarter of a turn.
Last edited by: devonite on Mon 13 Aug 18 at 10:24
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New Mon 13 Aug 18 10:28 
 Water hum - Zero
When the hum returns, get a screwdriver stick the blade not he pipe next the tap and stick your ear on the handle. Move it up and down the pipe. That will tell you if the whistle is at the tap or somewhere else in the pipe.
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New Mon 13 Aug 18 13:04 
 Water hum - Mapmaker
I have occasional hum on my hot water. It arises if I let just a little out of the tap, and is cured by turning the tap on full for five or ten seconds.

I find it difficult to understand. Adding additional support to a long and otherwise unsupported pipe has made a big improvement though it still does it occasionally. But for it to vibrate, the energy has to be coming from somewhere; I used to think that it was because the heating element was on. But it has been known to do it even when the heating element is off.
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New Mon 13 Aug 18 13:21 
 Water hum - Old Navy
Another source of a hum or droning noise can be the boiler, this can be transmitted through the pipes and be difficult to track down. The DIY sheds sell boiler silencing additive which is added to the heating circuit, this heats the hot water with the heating water via a heat exchanger in the (combi) boiler so can occur when only hot water is used.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 13 Aug 18 at 13:25
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