why does my water heater spit air?

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Pumper Hinkle - 20 Jul 2005 20:47 GMT

When running cold water, everything OK.

When running hot or warm water, faucets all spit out some air. Gets
better as more water is run.

Seems I read something about this a while back but can't recall the cause
and solution now. Age, ya know.

Ralph

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SteveB - 20 Jul 2005 20:59 GMT

> When running cold water, everything OK.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Ralph

The cause might be age. Not yours, but the water heater's.

Or, it is getting air in there someway. Maybe it is pumping a little air in
there from the tank. Maybe it is sucking back when you have the pump off,
and leave a valve open a bit. Does it do it after you've had the pump off?

Mine does it all the time. I just turn on the hot water slightly, and wait
till it quits spitting and sputtering. Unless you really are losing a lot
of water somewhere, I'd not worry about it. You might want to look under
and around for any wet spots, and watch for little puddles where you park.
(A good idea to look under and around every once in a while, and check
connections for tightness.)

Steve

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Pumper Hinkle - 20 Jul 2005 22:42 GMT

I had this once before, in a camper where the water heater was located very
close to the kitchen sink. Even with the pump left on, or even plugged
into shore water, if one wasn't careful and cranked the hot water faucet on
rapidly, one got a blast of hot water, propelled by air, in the face. It
was as if gas was building up inside the water heater.

Got rid of the camper before I learned the solution.

And this current spitting of air only happens with the hot water.

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ninebal310@aol.com - 20 Jul 2005 22:42 GMT

If the tank is too hot, it could be boiling the water. Just another
thing to check.

Hank <~~~~tries to cover all the bases

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Pumper Hinkle - 20 Jul 2005 23:12 GMT

At this point, it happens with a cold tank too. I.e. pump is on, water
heater is off. Logically, with the tank pressurized there should be no
air getting in. It would seem that something inside the tank is
generating air (gas).

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birch999@hotmail.com - 21 Jul 2005 00:48 GMT

>When running cold water, everything OK.
>
>When running hot or warm water, faucets all spit out some air.

"Air" is merely a normal product of electrolysis, ranging anywhere from
separated hydrogen and oxygen to much more prolific H2S (hydrogen
sulfide) arising from water with higher sulfuric content.

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