Pressure reducer tapping sound

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Stephen Vitale

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hello all. Got a plumbing question. Looked over the Internet and never was able to find the exact answer. Figured I would throw it out here to see what everyone thought.

I am trying to solve a tapping sound issue coming from the pressure regulator in my parents house. I tried to solve it last year when I visited with no luck. It isn't necessarily a problem at this time, but I am afraid it is an indication something else is going on.

The sound is only present when the water is not runing. It isn't loud. It is a tapping sound, random frequency. It is not a hammer after a faucet is closed. It is coming from the pressure regulator. I can feel the regulator slightly vibrating when I hear the tapping sound. But holding the regulator doesn't have a noticeable effect on the noise.

The regulator is plumbed in a way it can serviced easily, with shutoff valves on both sides. That's how I know the tapping sound is from the regulator; I close the valve and it stops. Again, this all happens while the water is not flowing. Opening the hot water valve to a trickle also makes the sound stop.

There is not an expansion tank on the cold water line. Nor is there one of those valves that let excess water pressure escape to the outside.

I checked the pressure last year when I was here and it was ok, both before and after the regulator. I can go measure again and give values if need be

I am speculating something is going on somewhere else in the system causing the tapping sound in the regulator

I was thinking of either taking apart the regulator to clean it or just replacing it but it seemed like it was working ok.

I have a feeling the only solution would be an expansion tank addition, but the house and plumbing is close to 50 years old and the tapping sound is recent. It didn't need the tank 50 years ago but it needs one now?

I haven't been able to replicate the tapping sound yet but it seems related to the hot water heater.

I will also see if I can record it and post the audio here.

2 plumbers looked at it and couldn't figure it out. Both said they could replace the regulator, but none said it would get rid of the tapping sound.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thank you all and happy holidays
 

Terry

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The normal fix is to replace parts in the PRV, or replace it.
Since most of us like fixing things in one trip, we use the PRV on the truck as the replacement.
 

Reach4

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If you do not have a pressure tank, you need one.
There is not an expansion tank on the cold water line. Nor is there one of those valves that let excess water pressure escape to the outside.

If you have a PRV, you need an expansion tank.
 

Stephen Vitale

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Thanks guys. So I measured the pressures the other day. Line pressure from the street varied from approx 78 psi and would jump to approx 110 psi at night. I took video of the pressure guage needle jumping around at night, coinciding with the "sound". Can I upload the video here?

The pressure after the regulator was 60 psi.

So I ended up sweating a T before the hot water heater and adding a tank. 2.1 gal. No more tapping sound so far. I adjusted the regulator to 50 psi and set the tank pressure to 50 psi as well.

So now my plan is to measure the tank psi and post regulator psi in a few days to see if they changed.

If the regulated psi stays at 50, am I safe to assume the regulator is ok and doesn't need to be changed?

Thank you again for your help

Rgds, Steve
 

Reach4

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You can upload the video to Youtube or other video site, and put a link here.

It sound to me that your cure is effective. A real test would be if the pressure can stay low enough during several heating cycles of the hot water heater with no use of water. That could take a long time. You could get a gauge with a tattletale (lazy hand) that remembers the max. However the ones I have had seem to jump due to vibration, so that could give a false alarm. I am thinking you should do a few more pressure checks, and if your noise does not come back, celebrate your success.
 
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