About speedball1 Expertise About me: My Plumbing Expertise: I retired from plumbing after a lifetime in the trade. all phases from service and upkeep to construction, both residential and commercial. I am qualified to do anything in plumbing from fixing a leaky faucet to drafting a set of plans for a commercial shopping center and supervising the construction. My last five years were spent as a trouble shooter for a large plumbing company. I took on all my companys complaints. I have been a expert on the plumbing page at Askme.com. In a field of 200 experts my rating was number one. You may also find me at Answerway.com and AskMe Help Desk.com. This is fun for me and if I can help anybody out that`s iceing on the cake. Degrees & Certifications: As for degrees, I don`t have any. Just a Journeymans ticket, but hey! How about fifty years experience?
Experience Life Experience? Hmmmmmmm! Ran away at 15 and joined a carnival, Navy at 17 Merchant marine at 19 I've had a hellava life.
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Followup To
Question - It would be awfully difficult for me to watch the float ball in a Moen ball less valve. Want a third stab?
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Followup To
Question -
My plumbing has recently starting making a howling sound when the water from pretty much any faucet in my house is turned off. This howling sounds just like a dog or wolf howling and lasts anywhere from 3 - 5 seconds, sometimes it doesn't happen but more and more it is each and everytime the water is shut off or the tiolet stops running - both hot or cold. I can feel the cold water pipe under the tiolet vibrating when the howling starts. You can hear it throughout the house but it is very loud in the main bath. I just replaced both the fill valve and flapper - the fill valve is a Moen ballless valve. I also recently just put an inline whole house water filter just past the meter. Any ideas as to how to get rid of this problem that is dogging me?
Answer -
Hi Derrick,
This happened in a new house some years ago. Only at night and in the early morning. They thought the house was haunted and were about to move out. I caught it in the powder room toilet. It would vibrate and the pipes in the wall would pick it up and carry it all over the house. : The problem is caused by the ballcock trying to fill while water is seeping out of the tank. The sound you hear is the washer vibrating against the seat of the ballcock. First check ther linkage between the flapper and the flush lever. It should have 1/4" of play when your tank is filled. Next feel the flat side of your flapper. Does it have wavey edges? Do your hands come away black? Replace it if it does. And last check the seat itself. Any nicks or rough spots? If so click on back. There are replacement seats that glue right over the old one and are easy to replace. One of the above should take care of your howling. Hope this helps and thank you for rating my reply. Tom
I am not really sure that this is the answer to my problem. As I stated in my original question I just changed the flapper as well as the rubber seat beneath the flapper assembly (it's a one piece tiolet). Also, I have pressed down on the flapper when the howling occurs, if it was a small leak in the flapper then the downward pressure should make a better seal and stop the leak and howling - it doesn't.
Answer -
Good morning Derrick,
"Also, I have pressed down on the flapper when the howling occurs"
What you should have done is to pull up gently on the ballcock float and see if the noise stops. It wasn't the flapper that generated the sound in my service call, it was the ballcock. Howling is caused by only one thing. Vibration caused by the water rushing past a obstruction. It could be a loose washer in a faucet or a pebble that got sucked into your system and is vibrating against a seat. I want you to do this. Take the lid off the toilet in the main bath. Now have someone turn on and then quickly close the cold water faucet while you watch the float ball in the tank. Did the float ball bob up and down? If so you have just caught the culprit. get back to me with the results. regards, Tom
Answer You don't have to have a float ball to know if the ballcock kicks on when you change the pressure in the cold water by opening and closing a valve. OK, so you don't have a float rod to lift up but you have a shutoff valve under the tank. When the howling starts close the shutoff to the tank if the howling stops then the ballcock's the culprit. Or you can shut the water off and open up the ballcock and flush out the supply line and check the innards for any trash or crud. The one thing you must do is to localize the source of the problem. Until you have a place to start you can't begin to repair it. regards, Tom
