I have a Pfister Clarify F-529 that is about 7 years old. It started to make loud hollow vibration noises about 6 months ago. As soon as I engage the handle, which turns on the cold water in the neutral position, the faucet makes that noise and is constant. Same with filtered water position. It becomes quiet when I switch to hot water. I can’t pinpoint where the noise originates, as the vibration is felt on the countertop and even behind the walls. I am in an apartment building. I’ve had two opposing opinions from the building’s handymen - one says it’s the PRV and one says it’s the faucet. I’ve had a cartridge change, spray head change and water filter change. The reason why I mentioned the latter two is that, when I had my contractor who installed this look at it and changed the cartridge, the noise didn’t stop but upon replacing the filters, the noise stopped…only to return the next day. Then he removed the spray head, and the noise stopped too. So Pfister sent me a replacement spray head…unfortunately that didn’t fix it. Seems like we still haven’t identified the root cause. Today I looked under the sink while the cold water was running, and I saw the wall cap loosely hanging on the HOT water pipe shaking, That suggests the pipe is vibrating. Does any of this make sense to you plumbing experts? Why would the hot water pipe shake when cold water is flowing? Is the pipe making the noise, or is something wrong with the faucet that causes the pipe to vibrate?

Are the angle stops under the sink 1/4 turn or multi-turn? A bad washer in a multi-turn could cause a vibration.

They are multi-turn. How can I test for this possibility?

Partially closing the offending valve will often eliminate or at least mitigate the hammering noise.

OR opening it FULLY so it backseats and stops the stem from vibrating.

The building handymen came because of noise complaint. They said the cause is the bad PRV. After months of struggling with this I had to eliminate this variable. The noise stopped after it was replaced. I cannot believe it!

Thought I would share the update, and thank you all for offering ideas.



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A 'failed' pressure reducing (regulating) valve allowing excessive pressure will 'bring to light' any 'loose' parts in a water supply system. Said parts often being difficult to actually locate.

Glad your issue was simply solved by the appropriate personnel.