Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Plumbing => Topic started by: hrc200x on January 24, 2018, 08:41:45 AM

Title: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: hrc200x on January 24, 2018, 08:41:45 AM
Had a new well drilled, right after it was all hooked up and when the new well water got into the water heater there is always air built up that has to purge from the faucets every time I use the hot water. I live alone so the demand for hot water isn't much, dishes and shower. Called the well driller and he figured its because of the different makeup the new water has and its interacting with the water heater or the anode rod. I tried calling Sears tech help, after talking with two hard to understand customer service representatives and getting disconnected when they were trying to forward my call to the water heater tech help I gave up with calling. The owners manual says to get anode rod part number 9001453 if your water smells like rotten eggs, which mine does not, sears, amazon, and walmart all have that anode rod. It also mentions air in the hot water faucets from hydrogen gas but says thats typically after the system sits unused for a couple weeks, mine happens after a day. The parts diagram shows the anode rod and calls it the primary rod, will there be a separate hole this replacement rod will go in, or do I pull out the old one and put the new in this ones hole? I don't see any other openings or fittings ontop of the heater, there are 3 clear plugs equally spaced around the edge of the heater but they appear to be where spray foam was installed through. If I do buy the replacement rod am guessing will have clearance issues to the ceiling, hoping I can cut down the rod if need be?

Water heater does have a side arm heater on it being heated by a outside wood boiler, with my low usage of hot water am guessing water temps are up to 150 in the water heater, but it worked fine with the old well and this same water heater.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: wreckit87 on January 24, 2018, 10:52:55 AM
It doesn't act up with cold water? The anode rod shouldn't have any effect on pressure buildup, and replacement is typically only necessary if the water smalls like sulfur, as was mentioned. Could you pull the rod and see what's left of it? There are some who cut them down and some that throw them away altogether. Sounds to me like you're pulling air from a piping leak in the well somewhere, but that would also spit with cold water usage. How old is the water heater?
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: hrc200x on January 24, 2018, 12:27:20 PM
Doesn't act up with cold water. Water heater is 3 years old. I should be able to pull the rod and see how it looks this weekend. Seems like it needs time to build air up, like a 1/2 day or day, which makes me think its how the water is reacting with the anode.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: mlappin on January 24, 2018, 04:58:28 PM
While I’ve never heard of an anode rod causing your issue I suppose its entirely possible. Pull the old one, put a pipe plug in then see what happens. A lot of water heaters are glass lined so really can’t see that being the problem.

We did have an issue with both, the pump had a crack in the housing where the build in check was, would leak down over night enough and suck a little air, first thing in the morning you’d get air out of both. Got to take the ice maker clear apart as if it made another batch of cubes and it got a shot of air it splashed every where and froze the internals up eventually.

Icemakers suck to work on btw, least LG ones do, have that crap really tucked away inside the door and it all has to go back in just so or forget it.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: hrc200x on January 24, 2018, 06:14:49 PM
I could probably close the valve that supplies the water heater and that would isolate it if it was draining back through the pump. Also if it was draining back it would loose pressure on the gauge right?
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: mlappin on January 24, 2018, 07:19:57 PM
Not necessarily, we have a check in the basement then another one on the pump itself. Tried changing the check in the basement but it couldn’t hold a 100 foot of water from trying to drain back down.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: hrc200x on June 01, 2018, 06:32:57 AM
Update on this issue:

I pulled the anode rod out and the bare support wire was exposed at the top for maybe a inch. The well driller said the issue is probably different minerals in the new water. I replaced the old rod with part # 9003944005, which was the the replacement for the original ( old one was maybe 36" long, new one 16"), still same issue. Called well driller back, he said there should be a anode rode out there that is made of something different to help this, he had recalled someone having this issue in the past, they tried a different rod and didn't hear back from them so assumed it worked. I looked in the water heater owners manual and it says to order anode part # 9001453 if the water is smelly which it is not. Everything I read on 9001453 is that its aluminum/zinc. Sears, where I bought the water heater doesn't seem like they can help, I asked them to tell me every different anode rod available for this heater and they only came up with the original replacement part number, then I said what about 9001453 for smelly water, their reply was if it says that one should fit then it should, don't they have a list of all anodes available for their appliances.

Never has air built up on cold side. On the hot side there is more air the longer it has time to heat with out use.

Outdoor boiler is shut down for the season and this issue is still happening using electric.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: mlappin on June 01, 2018, 04:35:42 PM
Ha, and people wonder why Sears is going the way of full service gas stations.

If it was me, I’d pull the anode, replace with a pipe plug and see what happens. We pulled our anode over 15 years ago, water heater is fine.
Title: Re: Drilled new well, now faucets purge air everytime hot water is used
Post by: Pointblank on June 01, 2018, 08:06:52 PM
As others have mentioned, I'd give the pipe plug a try first. They dont cost much and should point you in the right direction. If it clears up the problem, then you know for sure its the anode.