Squealing pipes??

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Does anyone know why water pipes would trumpet in various tones anytime the washer is run or toilets are flushed? Water pressure maybe?

Any ideas on a self-help kind of fix? Freaking plumber's fees will just eat us alive out here.

It's so bad that I can't run the clothes washer at night; it will wake the neighbors -and we live in houses, not an apartment complex! (Dem are some noisy freaking pipes)

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[Dumpster 0]

"Hydraulic turbulence" is the 50-dollar word we use around the shop - You just have to change the conditions a little.

Start your washer, when it gets to squealin' like a stuck pig, adjust one (or both) of the water supply valves until it stops. Problem solved. Let us know how it works.

Easy Does It

[billvon 3,132]

>Does anyone know why water pipes would trumpet in various tones
> anytime the washer is run or toilets are flushed? Water pressure
> maybe?

There are a lot of reasons. One common one is a loose washer in a main shutoff valve; it behaves like a reed in a saxophone and vibrates. If you get a "thud" when you turn off a faucet or the toilet tank stops filling, that's a water hammer; that can cause damage to valve washers/Orings and cause the problem as well. You can get air gap things that prevent water hammers (and new O-rings and washers) at any home-improvement store.

The main shutoff valve is, unfortunately, somewhat hard to work on. If you ever get a plumber in, have him replace it with a ball valve. They last forever and don't have this problem.

[SeaKev 0]

Pick up the phone and call me, or suffer in not so silence.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

Pick up the phone and call me, or suffer in not so silence.

I will as soon as Chevy comes back on the line here...you will absolutely NOT believe this shit when I call you!!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[skymama 37]

I had a similar noise like that in my kitchen every time I turned off the sink. It turns out that someone left the hose spigot open on the wall outside and the noise I was hearing was the pressure build-up in the hose. I didn't realize it was open because the hose has a sprayer on the end of it, so it seemed like it was off since no water was coming out. I felt like such a dork when the guy told me what it was!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[ACMESkydiver 0]

That sounds like when I called the plumber to let him know that under the sink was now leaking after we paid whatever dollars for him to come out and fix the garbage disposal.

Turned out the sprayer hose just needed a twist to be tightened; it had nothing to do with the disposal he had fixed the day before. He tightened it and rolled his eyes and left.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.