mcola
New Member
My house is about 9 years old, and in the last couple years, I have started hearing noises in the wall of one of my showers. Its on the second floor of my house, which is also where the plumber installed home made air chambers. The sounds in this wall typically occur when any hot water valve anywhere in the house in opened and then closed quickly. It sounds like rumbling in the wall, and I wonder if its the valve itself, because I made a small hole behind the baseboard and made sure the pipes are stable. I've tried draining and refilling the system to try and re-charge the chambers, but it didn't make a difference. The other reason why I wonder if its the valve itself, is because there is a specific position that I can turn the valve lever to, that will always cause violent water hammer. Maybe I should mention this is a pressure balance valve. So my question is, could it be the valve that needs to be replaced. Also, how do I get the pressure balance unit out of the valve body. I removed the handle, etc, and the retaining ring, but I can't get the balancing unti out. I tried so hard once before, that I broke the front face off it, and then pushed it back into the valve body, verified it still sealed and gave up. The noise is getting so frequent its time I try and resolve this once and for all. I've considered adding store bought water hammer arresters and decided not to, just in case its the valve that is the problem. Remember that any hot water valve in the house 2400 ft2 causes only this showers valve to act up. Lastly, its an American Standard Hampton Shower valve.
Any help would be appreciated.
Any help would be appreciated.
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