tagal4
Member
I installed a new Bradford White natural gas water heater I got at a plumbing supply store at the end of last summer, and ever since then I have had problems with air in my hot water lines that keeps getting worse no matter what I do to try to bleed it out. I have tried letting the faucets run for minutes on end - both hot and cold taps and just the hot taps by themselves until the water stream coming out the faucets looked better, which didn't accomplish anything but waste water. I have tried opening the drain valve on the bottom of the water heater and letting the water drain while it fills from the top for minutes on end (until the water stream coming out looked better) to try to force the air pockets out, which once again just wasted water. Finally I tried opening the safety valve on the side of the water heater momentarily because I watched a video of a guy doing that to remove air, but this didn't accomplish anything either except make a mess in my basement.
The water heater I replaced (which I got from the local Ace Hardware) never had this problem when I got it new many years ago: I can't remember having to do much of anything to bleed the air out of the water lines after I installed it, so I'm thinking something must be wrong with the one I just got. it's as if it's literally putting air in my hot water somehow as it heats my water and expels it. This problem just keeps getting worse and worse to the point when I open a hot water tap somewhere in my small house now the faucet spits and carries on violently before any water comes out, and then when it comes out it is a very uneven weak spray-like stream. When I shut off the hot water tap and turn on a cold one the stream returns to normal.
This is getting very frustrating so I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter.
The water heater I replaced (which I got from the local Ace Hardware) never had this problem when I got it new many years ago: I can't remember having to do much of anything to bleed the air out of the water lines after I installed it, so I'm thinking something must be wrong with the one I just got. it's as if it's literally putting air in my hot water somehow as it heats my water and expels it. This problem just keeps getting worse and worse to the point when I open a hot water tap somewhere in my small house now the faucet spits and carries on violently before any water comes out, and then when it comes out it is a very uneven weak spray-like stream. When I shut off the hot water tap and turn on a cold one the stream returns to normal.
This is getting very frustrating so I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter.