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Pulsating banging noise.....only once in awhile....?

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faithfulfrank

Advanced Member

Posts: 58

Location: USA

1

Sunday, May 17th 2009, 6:23am

Pulsating banging noise.....only once in awhile....?

Hello again all.
Today, around the time that my last zone turned off during watering, I got this pulsating, banging noise just faster then about one bang per second...not as fast as a jackhammer, but it was loud and constant. all four of my zone valves were shaking. This also affected the water inside the house, as the water to the ice maker (the 3/8" line there is just a plastic tube) was shaking, hitting the back wall making a noise like it was possessed.

I went out to my zone valves, turned the ball valve slowly off then back on and everything stopped and all was well.

This has only happened twice in the past few weeks, and it has not happened at all most of the times the sprinkler was on. The only other time this happened, I do not know if the sprinklers were even on, but they might have been.

I'm not even sure if this was a sprinkler system problem, since the only other time this happened, I got it to stop by turning off the ice maker line then turning it back on. This time after doing that, I heard the banging outside by the zone valves, so I went out there and got it to stop by turning the main sprinkler ball valve off then back on.

Could you suggest any explanations or suggestions? Have you ever run into this before?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Frank D.
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"

hi.todd

Supreme Member

Posts: 417

Location: Houston, Texas

2

Sunday, May 17th 2009, 3:10pm

Is the point of connection for the sprinkler system made at the water meter or at the hose bib at the kitchen?

If it is made at the hose bib at the kitchen, you may need to change the point of connection.

Good Luck.

:thumbsup:
:thumbup: :thumbsup:

faithfulfrank

Advanced Member

Posts: 58

Location: USA

3

Sunday, May 17th 2009, 4:32pm

Thank you.
the split for the sprinkler system is underground right past the meter before it comes into the house.

thanks, Frank D.
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"

mrfixit

Moderator

Posts: 1,510

Location: USA

4

Monday, May 18th 2009, 3:09am

Valve

Hi Frank, I've seen this happen three times in 15 years.

One time it was the controller clicking on and off the solenoid but there wasn't a rocking motion. You could hear it in the kitchen. I don't believe that's your problem.

One time it was a rather cheap valve with some rocking and she had me replace all the valves and that fixed the problem.

One time with the exact same valves you have. There were four valves side by side and they rocked back and forth and would not stop. I assumed there was a problem with one of the valves. I couldn't tell which one for they were all doing the same thing. It didn't matter which valve I turned on and off to start the rocking. I could have rebuilt one at a time to see what would happen but the home owner decided to just put in four new valves. We went with something that shuts off slower and that cured the problem. Installing one new valve of the same kind might have solved the problem. Not sure. So I don't have a specific fix for you. In an earlier post you stated that you installed an old valve. I was wondering if you put the newer valve back in?

Let's go under the assumption it's a valve. If you can create the rocking by manually turning on and off different valves I'd try this. Wish I'd thought of this back then. Turn the flow control off on one valve and see what happens. Then open it up and try the next one. I'm thinking the valve can't create the rocking motion with the flow control off not allowing water to pass. Maybe you can pinpoint which valve it is.

Good luck!

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

5

Monday, May 18th 2009, 6:44am

Are the flow controls throttled down? More reliable operation that way. (throttle down until you hear the flow being restricted, then back away half a turn or so)

faithfulfrank

Advanced Member

Posts: 58

Location: USA

6

Monday, May 18th 2009, 6:47am

Thanks MrFixit!

I did replace the old valve back to the new one, so they are all the new valves that were put in less then a year and a half ago. I cannot seem to replicate this...since it only does it once in awhile. It did stop once I turned off, then turned back on the water supply.

I've manually turned on each valve many times but without this happening. I'm hoping this happens again so I can try turning on/off the different valves one at a time to see if that changes anything.

What complicates things is that I'm only down here a couple of times a year. Some months the house is empty, then some months, (mostly the snowbird months) it is rented out. I'm thinking that this is a more recent thing because I've never had a tenant mention this happening.

I have about a week and a half left here this time....we'll se if it happens again. Thanks!!

Frank D.
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"

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