Silent toilet fill valves

[rogerzilla]

These are becoming very common.  They use water pressure to positively close the valve (by employing pressure acting on a large area to overcome pressure acting on a small area).  They also cause horrendous water hammer due to the abruptness of the shut-off.  As the stupid builder who did my kitchen used inaccessible plastic pushfit fittings against my express instructions, this is not good.

I have tried flow restrictors in the valve shank with varying success - the spiral type is enough to tame a Fluidmaster valve but not a Viva Skylo valve, which still clunks loudly.  But a Fluidmaster won't fit in the upstairs cistern.

I think I'll have to revert to hissing ball valves with a hinged arm.  They are noisy and slow but they close extremely gently.

[neilrj]

Or fit one of these if you can access somewhere on the leg:-
https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-vessel-shock-arrestor-1-1-2-bsp/905fa

[Phil21]

I tried one of those Fluidmaster things once, it was pants. In the end I got a valve that had a small polythene bag in which the water would run down. It muffles the sound a lot and water tends to run down the walls of the bag rather than splashing. Worked well, fewer moving parts, and was cheaper.

[rogerzilla]

Or fit one of these if you can access somewhere on the leg:-
https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-vessel-shock-arrestor-1-1-2-bsp/905fa

I think they mean 1/2" BSP! That would be a faff.  You could make one with a tee, a bit of vertical pipe, and three* valves, but it wouldn't be pretty.

*you need 3 valves so you can periodically drain it - the trapped air eventually gets sucked away by the water flow, then it no longer absorbs the pressure wave.  The middle valve is a drain valve.

[Kim]

T to the toilet, isolator valve below, and flush?

[Diver300]

Can you turn the isolator valve to nearly off?

[aidan.f]

I tried various isolators near off to stop hammer but also reduced flow to a dribble!  We now have a pressure regulator, everything in the house sits at 3 bar* incoming IIRC is about 6-7 no hammer with good flow rates.

*There is knoobe to set outgoing pressure as desired.

[Kim]

The rot set in when we stopped feeding toilets with stored water from a tank in the loft.  Would solve all manner of problems.

[rogerzilla]

Can you turn the isolator valve to nearly off?

Yes, but it's insufferably noisy.  Quarter turn ball valves are not meant for throttling flow, and you get a lot of cavitation.

[perpetual dan]

I’m watching this with interest as our pipes have become very bangy. This happened after a whole-house pressure reducer that had died and reduced the flow to a dribble was removed rather than replaced. I like the nice strong shower, but the washing machine makes too much of a racket to go on over night now.

[Von Broad]

It's not always the case, but so often it's the pipework having not been secured properly that causes the problem.
I've fitted a fair few [mostly Fluidmaster] 'modern' inlet valves onto mains pressure feeds and can't ever recall any subsequent issues.
But the old fashioned ball valves are fine - been using one in the flat here for the past 25yrs. They are cheap and easily serviced. Main thing with bottom entry valves is to make sure any flex is eliminated with the adjustable screw at the top of the unit.

[rafletcher]

Can you turn the isolator valve to nearly off?

Yes, but it's insufferably noisy.  Quarter turn ball valves are not meant for throttling flow, and you get a lot of cavitation.

Fit a needle valve.

[rogerzilla]

Can you turn the isolator valve to nearly off?

Yes, but it's insufferably noisy.  Quarter turn ball valves are not meant for throttling flow, and you get a lot of cavitation.

Fit a needle valve.

I didn't realise they existed for home plumbing, but it turns out they do!

[Von Broad]

Fit a needle valve.

Interesting. I'm not familiar with these.
Can't say I can recall seeing one in the many houses I've worked in either.

[rogerzilla]

They're a variation on a normal T-handled stop tap (which is really a globe valve in engineering speak) using something pointy to fill the valve seat instead of clamping a washer onto it .  So they reduce water flow in a progressive way without introducing excessive turbulence.

[aidan.f]

Wot's wrong with my pressure reducer? big advantage over restrictions is flow rate  is then regulated, if you turn on two or more taps it opens up.

[Von Broad]

Wot's wrong with my pressure reducer?

Nothing at all - good option.
I know what they are too - installed a few over the years.
It all depends on access I guess, and what's the easiest route to take [that's my recumbent brain coming into play here].

[rogerzilla]

I ordered a standard valve.  The fricking shank is too short to meet the pipework.  What a piece of shite.