Advice needed regarding surestop swich

[richie51]

I moved into my new home last year and had a new stopcock installed last Oct to replace the broken one that was in the spare bedroom. It wasn't a traditional stopcock, it was one of those red plastic dial ones. The plumber fitted a surestop in the airing cupboard. Last winter I heard loud banging in the pipework, but this stopped during the Summer. I haven't heard a sound for about 4 months, then a week ago as the temperature dropped the banging returned. The strange this I hear it in the early hours which is several hours after I've switched everything off. The only thing left switched on during the night is this surestop. I'm trying to remember what the plumber said, but I think he might have said it was easier to fit a surestop in the airing cupboard in the bathroom by the hot water tank as this is near the front of the bungalow,so nearer to the road where the main supply is. The kitchen is at the back of the property so maybe he thought it was more difficult to install a traditional one under the kitchen sink. I chatted to a plumber recently who said he'd had to remove a few surestops he'd installed as they can cause hammering. I did read up on them on the internet and it said the newer ones had eliminated this problem.Mine was only fitted less than a year ago, though I guess it could have been older stock. Has anyone experienced problems with surestops? Any advice as to what I might do next would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[Phil]

I went mad fitting them about 10 years ago as I thought they were the Bee's bo77ocks but now I cringe when I see them. Plastic rubbish.

 

[Rob Foster]

Disconnect sure stop and see if hammer goes away but the way they operate does leave this a possibility

 

[hammers4spanner]

Get removed god awfull things.

 

[richie51]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will call another plumber and replace the surestop with a traditional one. My plumbing knowledge is limited though so in the meantime how do I disconnect the surestop safely. If I leave it switched off overnight will this stop any banging pipework while I'm trying to sleep.Or is there anything else I could do while I'm waiting for a plumber to replace it. Thanks.

 

[Rob Foster]

Try leaving a tap running a little somewhere out of the way

 

[rpm]

Try leaving a tap running a little somewhere out of the way

Not so good if you're on a water meter though.

 

[richie51]

Thanks Rob. Someone else said about leaving a tap running on the slowest trickle overnight. This did stop the banging which I presume must be hammer. I don't want to do this every night though because I am on a meter and the problem will still be there. I didn't leave a tap running last night and I did get woken at 5.40am by loud hammering noise. It's odd as I've noticed it seems to be around the same time every morning 5.40, whether I've had central heating on or not.

 

[Ric2013]

I suspect Rob was making the running tap suggestion as a means of diagnosing the problem, not as a solution, but better leave him to explain?

 

[richie51]

Yes definitely only a diagnosis. It did work the one night I left the kitchen tap on a slow trickle, so I'm not sure if this means I have water hammer. I've also noticed that about 5 minutes after running water I hear a clang of pipes.I didn't leave the tap on last night and was woken by loud hammering noise at 5.40am. I've noticed over the last week it is always about this time. Why 5.40am? One plumber did ask about shared ownership of supply pipes. I did suspect this as I have nothing turned on during the night except the surestop. I am in a detached home so I didn't think I had shared ownership of plumbing. I might have to buy a copy of deeds to find out. What do you recommend?Thanks.