Water HammerIs there a man sitting in your pipesystem, with a wooping great water hammer? Read the two questions below and decide which best describes your problem.
If the answer's yes. You've hit the jackpot. I'm going to show you how to get rid of your noisey companion forever. Before we start, you may want to find out
Getting rid of the the noise.You need to turn the water supply to your home off.You can do this, by locating your water toby/buffalo box.This contains a water shut off valve and can be found just outside your boundry. Some homes, have an additional isolation valve in the basement where the water enters the building. (easy access) Once you locate the shut off valve, turn clockwise until you feel the valve tighten. Go to the tap that creates the water hammer and turn on to check water has shut off. Side note: Most water hammer occurs on basin taps so this is what is illustrated below. The workings are the same so just apply the photos to your tap.
Undo the tap indicator (usually red or blue cap)This some times unscrews or can be popped off with a fine screwdriver. Take of tap handle. Undo tap cover. If this is chrome, tape up with masking tap to prevent damage from your multi grips.
Once you have taken off the dome, you will see the top assembly. (This consists of the thread and washer part of tap. Unscrew (anticlockwise) the top assembly. 
Prise the tap jumper away from spindle and lay flat against an anvil or hard section on conrete. Hit the stem of the jumper with a hammer to slightly flatten out. This will firm up the connection between the jumper and the threaded spindle. If the jumper is loose this can add to the water hammer problem.
Replace the washer (this next step is critical) The washer must be a fibre washer. Not a rubber washer. Sorry to repeat, but make sure, you get a fibre washer. This is the key to your success. Well done:) Now place the jumper back into the spindle. Wind back up into cover assembly (this is the tap open position) This saves wrecking the washer when you screw the top assembly back into tap body.
At this stage you can simply screw tap top assembly into body. 1. Put cover dome and tap handle back on. 2.Screw up indicator. 3. Turn water back on. 4. Test and celebrate..... Congratulations:) you've just saved yourself a fortune. If you want to
give your tap a total over haul and get it working like new, click here.
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