Air pressure regulator howls

[Bellaireroad]

I just got a Parker air pressure regulator hooked up today and it howls and you can feel vibration when you put your hand on it... this occurs only with flow through the regulator. Inlet pressure is 175 and regulator set to 110. Regulator is good 250 psi. This is a new old stock item off eBay. Any thoughts?


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[Citation]

My father has a similar issue with his regulator. 80 gal tank that shuts off at 175psi. 3/4" regulator providing air to the shop. Some tools use just the right amount of air to cause a resonance. My first thought was to change the air pressure. He's got it set to 120psi but the air system has down stream regulators so I don't see any issue with bumping the pressure up to 130 or so. The regulator in his system is there because the original plumping was used with a compressor that cut off at something like 150 psi (I think it was a 2 stage Champion). Really I don't think the extra pressure should be an issue but it made Dad happy.

If just changing the pressure doesn't do it I've wondered about adding a resonance chamber just after the regulator. Something like a short, large diameter section of pipe that might keep the vibrations under control.

 

[Bellaireroad]

That might work, but my regulator is first off the 80 gallon tank, and the tank serves as a nice echo chamber


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[Citation]

My father's is set up the same way. You could try moving the regulator further down the system. The fundamental issue is you have a oscillating/resonating system. The answer is to figure out what things act as springs (air under pressure, the metal spring that works the regulator, the plates in the regulator) and, in our case, guess the one that is the spring that causes the issue.

Now that you mention where the valve is, perhaps putting the valve a bit further down the line might help.

 

[lilredex]

What size is that regulator? Regulators usually chatter when asked to operate at a very minimal load and the inner valve is right next to the seat. Could be it is oversized for your small loads.

 

[Bellaireroad]

My father's is set up the same way. You could try moving the regulator further down the system. The fundamental issue is you have a oscillating/resonating system. The answer is to figure out what things act as springs (air under pressure, the metal spring that works the regulator, the plates in the regulator) and, in our case, guess the one that is the spring that causes the issue.

Now that you mention where the valve is, perhaps putting the valve a bit further down the line might help.

Thanks, I have a 6 foot whip between it and the regulator

Here is the reply I got from Parker engineering...in case someone else notices this

"This is not a failure but could cause the regulator to wear out sooner than you'd like. This is called horning. It is caused by the air flow resonating in your system at a certain frequency that is causing the poppet within the regulator to vibrate. Turning the pressure up or down a ways could confirm this, but doing say may not be feasible for your application.

One thing you can try (temporary) is to attached 5ft long (or longer) hose between your supply and inlet of the regulator to create a buffer to stabilize the air coming into the regulator and see if that works. If so, for a long term fix, you can use a piece of larger pipe that would bush up the pipe, then bush down to the regulator.

All you are trying to do is change the natural resonance caused by the air flow. "


Thank you for contacting Parker Pneumatic Division Applications Engineering.



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[Citation]

Thanks, I have a 6 foot whip between it and the regulator

Here is the reply I got from Parker engineering...in case someone else notices this

"This is not a failure but could cause the regulator to wear out sooner than you'd like. This is called horning. It is caused by the air flow resonating in your system at a certain frequency that is causing the poppet within the regulator to vibrate. Turning the pressure up or down a ways could confirm this, but doing say may not be feasible for your application.

One thing you can try (temporary) is to attached 5ft long (or longer) hose between your supply and inlet of the regulator to create a buffer to stabilize the air coming into the regulator and see if that works. If so, for a long term fix, you can use a piece of larger pipe that would bush up the pipe, then bush down to the regulator.

All you are trying to do is change the natural resonance caused by the air flow. "


Thank you for contacting Parker Pneumatic Division Applications Engineering.



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Thanks for the follow up! I'll mention it to my father.