Weird noise. What does "water hammer" sound like?

[BlueSkyHigh]

For the past several weeks, I have been experiencing a very strange sound in my home. At time, I've even "felt" the sound in my feet. I can best liken the sound to that of a foghorn that comes on abruptly and then tapers off into silence. Low frequency pulsating at about 30 or 40 hz. The sound comes and goes at random time without any water running in the house.

Is this possibly a water hammer?

 

[Twowaxhack]

Might not be your plumbing.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Might not be your plumbing.

I tend to agree.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Could it be your HVAC system ?

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Could it be your HVAC system ?

It hasn’t been running for the past week or so due to the cold snap we’ve been experiencing. I have an audio recording that I may try and upload.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Hard to hear so turn up the volume.
View attachment Noisy.mp4

 

[chinarus]

Had a ancient HVAC heat pump system that would vibrate the line set at times turning on or switching to defrost.
Line set was touch a ceiling joist and cause a a very distinct sound.

 

[Ludington]

Hard to hear so turn up the volume.
View attachment 45316

Good one .. Mr. blue!

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

It's going to have to remain a mystery until something breaks outright. We have new neighbors in an adjacent townhome but who knows. The family does not speak English and, sadly, I don't speak their language.

 

[Jim Jensen]

you can use a smartphone to talk to someone in another language, if you figure out what they speak.....

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

If they spoke Ukrainian or Russian, I’d be covered. My daughter, my shy daughter, speaks excellent Spanish but likes her father to “suffer”.

 

[Ludington]

If they spoke Ukrainian or Russian, I’d be covered. My daughter, my shy daughter, speaks excellent Spanish but likes her father to “suffer”.

Don't they all, just wait until teenage...

 

[TomFOhio]

Could be a toilet leaking through and the fill valve filling slowly and shutting off. They will make a noise sometimes.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Since the new townhome owners moved in the noise seems to now happen only once in a couple of days. Who knows.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to continue troubleshooting my issue:

I had my better half turn the water on and off while watering the garden and was in the equipment room listening. I put my hand on the PRV and noticed that the valve vibrated in a motorboating fog horn sort of noise. Is the vibration due to the PRV possibly going bad? I think I'll adjust it a measured number of sixths-of-a-turn and see if the noise changes or goes away.

Thoughts?

 

[Rossando]

What's your pressure after the valve and before the valve?

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Pressures are unknown. The good news is that the sound is now gone and the slight drop in pressure, as evidenced by a reduction in perceived flow rate from the kitchen faucet immediately after turning the water on, is also gone.

I'll probably invest in a water pressure gauge that connects to an outside hose bib just to make sure the pressure is not wacky.