Very Loud Sound When Shower Is Being Used

[webmonk]

Okay, I have searched A LOT for an answer to this sound. Problem is that people have a hard time putting a name to sounds and so when someone says their shower was "whistling", "squealing" or even "roaring" I may not classify mine the same way. Despite that I've tried a lot of the things I've found regarding any sound a shower makes to try and resolve my particular issue.

My Sound Problem:

Where - This only happens on the second floor
House Type - two story house with a basement
Pressure Tank - yes, in the basement
Water Pressure - 50psi (reading on the tank and with a hydrant gauge)
When - It generally occurs within a minute or two of the shower starting
How Long - It typically runs for ten to forty seconds
How Often - Nearly every time a shower is taken... once it even happened twice in the same shower​

What Has Been Done:

• First thing I did was to remove the shower head and clean out debris in the filter - Didn't fix the problem
• Second thing was to get a repair kit for the faucet valve - Didn't fix the problem
• Third thing was to soak the shower head in vinegar - Didn't fix the problem

You can listen to the sound here:

WAV - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1addMBI7cyCDWOfHqni_4uo2Rp2UBrnhL
MP3 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yl-le1cPBOZZOKWFgN7wUPWnqpttyURW​

Note that the first sound you hear is when the water is diverted to the shower, keep listening. The other sound is the one I'm speaking of. I cropped out maybe 80 seconds between the two sounds.

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Geofd]

just to rule out the shower head change i can't see how much flow is actually coming out of the head i have experienced when the shower head is putting out to much water it can be loud not saying its the whole problem just change to rule it out

 

[TomFOhio]

Check your toilet fill valve when the noise is accuring.

 

[Jeff Handy]

There is a whale in your basement, mating with a tugboat.

 

[Jeff Handy]

If your house is old, with galvanized pipes, they might be very narrow inside, and squealing.

 

[frodo]

brand name of valve and model number ?


remove handles, stems, cartridges

hold a rag over the open piping

have a friend turn the meter on, for 2 seconds then turn it off

see if anything has blown out of the piping

also

check the washer in the [stop] valve behind the toilet.
sometimes a washer gets loose and the water passing by, causes it to viberate

 

[webmonk]

Thanks for the advice so far. I will give the ideas a shot.

brand name of valve and model number?

Moen, single handle, posi-temp, not sure what the model is.

Check your toilet fill valve when the noise is accuring.

check the washer in the [stop] valve behind the toilet. sometimes a washer gets loose and the water passing by, causes it to viberate

I'm not sure it is the toilet though because the sound seems to originate from the wall where the shower plumbing is. The toilet is on the opposite wall.

If your house is old, with galvanized pipes, they might be very narrow inside, and squealing.

House is about twelve year old. All copper.

 

[frodo]

that valve has a built in stop valve, i think
pull the stop valve .. 12 years old, just replace em..it is time anyway

your hum sounds like a vibrating rubber washer/ o ring to me

have you run the shower with out the shower head?

 

[Jeff Handy]

Did you change the whole valve cartridge, or just repair the old cartridge?

Make sure the hot and cold valve stops are both fully open, if it has them.
They look like a screw slot at left and right side of the valve.

 

[webmonk]

I could have sworn I posted a follow-up but it is not here, so I'll try again.

I have also performed the following:

• Removed the tub faucet to inspect it and the shower diverter.
• I have a shower in the basement with the same hardware so I swapped the entire valves.
• Per a suggestion from another person I completely shut off the toilet shut-off valve.

None of these solved the problem. Loud, obnoxious sound lives on!

Short of knocking out the entire wall and replacing all the water pipes, I'm not sure what to do next.

 

[frodo]

Did you remove the shower head and verify that the sound is not coming from it?


does the valve have shut off valves built onto it?

 

[webmonk]

I hate to jump the gun after only two days, but it looks like the sound is gone. The initial sound when the shower is first turned on seems to have come from the shower diverter. When I replaced it with the one from the other bathroom, the sound stopped. The louder, deeper sound seems to have been caused by the shower head (whether the sound was being generated there or not). When I switched it with the one from the other bathroom that sound stopped as well. Peace and quiet! Now the million dollar question... will the other bathroom suffer from the same sounds? It is in the basement, where the original bathroom was on the second floor, so I'm hoping the pressure difference is enough of a factor to maybe, possibly keep it from happening. Not a big deal either way since that bathroom rarely gets used.

Thanks for all the advice and guidance.

 

[Geofd]

If both are wearing out and your just changing location it might come back only way to know is try if it does do what you did in the first bathroom