B
Bob Stapleton
I would imagine that there have been previous threads that have mentioned this problem but I wanted to start afresh.
My problem is regular, mid-frequency drone in the cold water feed, which materialises when the cold tap in the kitchen is opened. It also happens when the upstairs toilet is flushed & the basin hot water tap is opened. It doesn't seem to occur with the same regularity when other taps are opened; some taps won't induce the drone at all!
As a background, the cold feed into the house is black plastic, reverting to 15mm copper in the kitchen. There is a mixture of copper & plastic piping in the property but this has been the situation for a significant time before the droning appeared. The local water pressure varies dramatically, & has caused problems with leaks, etc., in the past. A previous owner had a PRV fitted to the incoming main &, initially, this was thought to be the source of the oscillations. A new PRV was fitted but the drone continues. I have set the PRV at an almost infinite number of pressure settings, from nearly 6 bar down to 1.5 bar. Although the frequency & intensity of the drone lessens as the pressure is reduced, it's still there. Currently, the PRV is set to 3.5 bar.
The kitchen taps are 1/4 turn mixer; all other taps are screw-down stops. I have a nearly new combi boiler for the hot water.
The only other thing that might possibly have some bearing is that I had to have a section of the mains feed pipe replaced, due to an underground leak, from the street cock to just inside the house. The contractors weren't able to locate the leak, so fed a length of smaller bore pipe along inside the existing plastic pipe, & terminated this to the original pipe at each end. However, that was over 18 months ago & the drone is recent, no more than 4 months.
Hope someone can help?
My problem is regular, mid-frequency drone in the cold water feed, which materialises when the cold tap in the kitchen is opened. It also happens when the upstairs toilet is flushed & the basin hot water tap is opened. It doesn't seem to occur with the same regularity when other taps are opened; some taps won't induce the drone at all!
As a background, the cold feed into the house is black plastic, reverting to 15mm copper in the kitchen. There is a mixture of copper & plastic piping in the property but this has been the situation for a significant time before the droning appeared. The local water pressure varies dramatically, & has caused problems with leaks, etc., in the past. A previous owner had a PRV fitted to the incoming main &, initially, this was thought to be the source of the oscillations. A new PRV was fitted but the drone continues. I have set the PRV at an almost infinite number of pressure settings, from nearly 6 bar down to 1.5 bar. Although the frequency & intensity of the drone lessens as the pressure is reduced, it's still there. Currently, the PRV is set to 3.5 bar.
The kitchen taps are 1/4 turn mixer; all other taps are screw-down stops. I have a nearly new combi boiler for the hot water.
The only other thing that might possibly have some bearing is that I had to have a section of the mains feed pipe replaced, due to an underground leak, from the street cock to just inside the house. The contractors weren't able to locate the leak, so fed a length of smaller bore pipe along inside the existing plastic pipe, & terminated this to the original pipe at each end. However, that was over 18 months ago & the drone is recent, no more than 4 months.
Hope someone can help?
