How To Fix Water Hammer Steam Heat
Open a faucet on the top floor of your home.
How to fix water hammer steam heat. Water hammer in steam distribution lines usually occurs when first supplying the steam. Check the ph of the water with ph paper. Watch the video for a simple solution that should make it stop. 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 the ph gets to 11 the water will start to prime and foam and carry over into the system causing water hammer.
Dead men often added vinegar to steam heating systems to lower the ph and lessen the priming and surging. What is steam hammer or water hammer. 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. Check the ph of the water with ph paper.
A good ph for a steam system ranges between seven and nine. This slug of condensate can travel at the same speed as the steam. Dead men often added vinegar to steam heating systems to lower the ph and lessen the priming and surging. 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. A good ph for a steam system ranges between seven and nine.
Shut off the main water valve open the highest faucet in your home and drain water from the lowest faucet usually in the. Open the highest faucet and drain water from the lowest faucet in your home. Then turn on a sink or valve on the lowest floor of your home either the basement or the ground floor. We divide water hammer or banging pipe noises in buildings into two categories. 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. If the ph gets to 11 the water will start to prime and foam and carry over into the system causing water hammer. Heat loss from the steam transport piping causes condensate to form and the velocity of the steam flowing over the condensate causes ripples in the water.