How To Fix Water Hammer Steam Heat
Check the ph of the water with ph paper.
How to fix water hammer steam heat. This relieves the pressure in the pipes and drains the water. If the ph gets to 11 the water will start to prime and foam and carry over into the system causing water hammer. Shut off the main water valve open the highest faucet in your home and drain water from the lowest faucet usually in the. This slug of condensate can travel at the same speed as the steam. Watch the video for a simple solution that should make it stop.
Then turn on a sink or valve on the lowest floor of your home either the basement or the ground floor. Water hammer in steam distribution lines usually occurs when first supplying the steam. Dead men often added vinegar to steam heating systems to lower the ph and lessen the priming and surging. Turbulence builds up until the water forms a solid mass or slug filling the pipe. Does your process heating experience a repetitive knocking sound or a loud bang steam hammer occurs when un condensed steam forms bubbles and when these bubbles contact a pipe wall or the side of a tank they collapse and the moving fluid produces a concussive sound.
A good ph for a steam system ranges between seven and nine. Check the ph of the water with ph paper. What is steam hammer or water hammer. To fix the issue homeowners need to drain their plumbing system. If the ph gets to 11 the water will start to prime and foam and carry over into the system causing water hammer.
The previously mentioned method of operating valves slowly may help if the water hammer is caused by high speed condensate slamming into piping etc but will not be effective if the water hammer is caused by the sudden condensation of steam. If your pipes make a banging noise when you turn off the flow of water you have water hammer. Water hammer in the plumbing system and banging pipes in hot water or steam heating system. In this article starting just below we describe water hammer and hydrostatic shock in house plumbing systems typically water supply piping but also in irrigation systems. Dead men often added vinegar to steam heating systems to lower the ph and lessen the priming and surging.
We divide water hammer or banging pipe noises in buildings into two categories. What is water hammer in steam systems. Open the highest faucet and drain water from the lowest faucet in your home.