What is it about a shower head that makes one louder than another?

[Jeff7]

I got a new showerhead to replace the ancient, corroded piece of junk that was in the apartment here. The new one has a much better, more even spray, but it sounds like I strapped a small jet engine to the pipe. It's seriously loud, to the point that it's easily audible in every room here - livingroom/kitchen, and both bedrooms. Might anyone be able to suggest a good kind of showerhead to buy? I really just want a basic one that puts out a fine, even spray of water, without causing hearing loss.

This one is a $5 special at K-mart, so that might explain the noise; problem is, the more expensive ones are all fancy with extra features I really don't want or need. Those extra features also tend to add complexity, which just means that there's more that will break.

I'm really just curious as to how a simple showerhead could generate so much noise.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Probably the components inside? A good showerhead will have higher quality seals and washers; better quality rubber, which I think would dampen sound more easily than, say, plastic washers that might be in the cheaper models. Otherwise... I have no idea.

 

[spidey07]

It's air.

You need to spend 50 bucks plus for a nice showerhead.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: spidey07
It's air.

You need to spend 50 bucks plus for a nice showerhead.

:Q:Q:Q


Doesn't all this nice technology of ours afford us things at reasonable prices yet? Geeez.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: spidey07
It's air.

You need to spend 50 bucks plus for a nice showerhead.

:Q:Q:Q


Doesn't all this nice technology of ours afford us things at reasonable prices yet? Geeez.

Technology can't overcome cheap materials.

 

[Minerva]

Cheaper heads won't have the precision machinework needed for better aerator performance. Check your tap pressure too. If it's over 80 psig you can experience singing pipes. I don't mind the sound although sometimes it changes downward like a whistle of an incoming bomb. That's funny but some people freak out. :Q

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: Minerva
Cheaper heads won't have the precision machinework needed for better aerator performance. Check your tap pressure too. If it's over 80 psig you can experience singing pipes. I don't mind the sound although sometimes it changes downward like a whistle of an incoming bomb. That's funny but some people freak out. :Q

We have hella water pressure at my house too, so the pipes and fixtures make some noise - I'd rather have sweet water pressure vs. quiet pipes anyday though. The world's ocean levels fall several inches every time I take a shower.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Technology can't overcome cheap materials.

Technology can make expensive materials cheap.
Or at least cheaper.

Originally posted by: Minerva
Cheaper heads won't have the precision machinework needed for better aerator performance. Check your tap pressure too. If it's over 80 psig you can experience singing pipes. I don't mind the sound although sometimes it changes downward like a whistle of an incoming bomb. That's funny but some people freak out. :Q

Let's assume that I'm in a campus apartment that is probably older than 20 years, I can't check much of anything in the place, maintenance assumes the students to be a bunch of drunks that cause damage intentionally, and the entire place has had little maintenance in its lifetime? Last year the ventilation system stank of mildew. This year, it smelled like it was burning off a few pounds of dust when the heat kicked in - after I repaired the thermostat, which maintenance said was working, nevermind that there was a broken solder joint easily visible. Now that the heat is on, it comes out of the vent at 140F - that's not a guess, I used my IR thermometer to get that temp. It kicks on, blasts the room with heat, then shuts down again.


Singing pipes - that sounds like the right word for it. It's got a high-frequency whine to it, similar to a jet engine at low power.
The noise is such that one of the guys here is worried that it will wake him up in the morning, and I have no idea how it might sound next door and upstairs.

This is also one of those funky dorm-style adjuster things (don't know what they're called, mind's coming up blank) - the knob turns halfway, which turns the water to full pressure, and then it starts adjusting the temperature. So unless I want showers that are just barely above freezing, it gets full pressure.
I look forward to next semester, when I move off campus, into a privately-owned apartment, with normal plumbing, which is hopefully not as old as I am.


Maybe this weekend I'll take the showerhead apart, and strive for the Homer Simpson level of quality, namely when he turned the toaster into a time machine:
"There, better than new."

 

[compman25]

I have a Speakman brand shower head I bought around 1995, it was around $100. It has went with me thru 6 houses and 3 states. It is solid brass and not a low flow POS.

 

[DaTT]

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: Minerva
Cheaper heads won't have the precision machinework needed for better aerator performance. Check your tap pressure too. If it's over 80 psig you can experience singing pipes. I don't mind the sound although sometimes it changes downward like a whistle of an incoming bomb. That's funny but some people freak out. :Q

We have hella water pressure at my house too, so the pipes and fixtures make some noise - I'd rather have sweet water pressure vs. quiet pipes anyday though. The world's ocean levels fall several inches every time I take a shower.

People still use that word? :shocked:

 

[Minerva]

Originally posted by: DaTT

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: Minerva
Cheaper heads won't have the precision machinework needed for better aerator performance. Check your tap pressure too. If it's over 80 psig you can experience singing pipes. I don't mind the sound although sometimes it changes downward like a whistle of an incoming bomb. That's funny but some people freak out. :Q

We have hella water pressure at my house too, so the pipes and fixtures make some noise - I'd rather have sweet water pressure vs. quiet pipes anyday though. The world's ocean levels fall several inches every time I take a shower.

People still use that word? :shocked:

I thought it was lights used on redneck offroad trucks.

If you want a quiet shower, take the head off the pipe. I bet they complain about the water slapping the tub then.