Washing Machine water hammer

[Philip74]

Hi all,

I have a brand new Samsung washing machine which is highly energy efficient (a++ I believe). One of the features of this is that when on rinse cycle it repeatedly but only briefly allows cold water in via the solenoid (?) valves. This is resulting in water hammer coming from various locations around the house.
I'm not a plumber but from what I've read the pressure in the cold water feed is making the pipes reverberate whenever the valve is shut.

What's the best way to deal with this before one of the joints somewhere gives way and soaks the whole house?

I understand I can get a plumber to fit a water hammer 'shock arrestor' somewhere near the machine, however, I wonder if that's necessary. Can't I just adjust the flow of cold water into the machine via the valve tap where the rubber tube into the machine is attached to?

To make things more confusing, when I first plumbed it in, this didn't happen. The builder then moved the machine to the other side of the room where it started happening. i wonder if this dislodged a part of the fitting which attached to the machine (e.g. some sort of filter which slows the flow of water into the machine), although may that doesn't exist and it just makes a noise now and not before because it's attached to a different part of the piping....

Confusing thread I'm sure....hope someone can offer some advice.

 

[Duran]

Hi there, thinking simple but did the builder clip the pipework?

~ Post 1 of 75 useful posts ~

 

[Philip74]

Hi there, thinking simple but did the builder clip the pipework?

~ Post 1 of 75 useful posts ~

The builder didn't actually alter any pipework. It may be that if I clipped various bits of pipework this issue would be resolved but that would require exposing a lot of pipework, much of which is behind walls etc.

 

[townfanjon]

You can buy a simple shock arrester which would not be hard to fit , there is a slim brass one available that the hose fastens straight to it.
I do think Duran is right you may find the pipe isn't clipped, what am I talking about !!! Builder , clip, nah I don't think the 2 go together. It won't be clipped lol

 

[Philip74]

I've solved the issue by half closing the mini stop valve on the cold water pipe. I unscrewed the cold water inlet to check the pressure and it was like a fire hose, little wonder the pipes shuddered every time the solenoid valve on the washing machine shut. The pressure is now more like a typical bathroom tap.
However, I now wonder if it's safe to have the mini stop valve half shut on a permanent basis? May sound like a stupid question but not being a plumber I really don't know but I'm guessing it's okay...