Forum Discussion

Mondegreen's avatar
Mondegreen
Explorer
Mar 31, 2015

Air in hot water lines

I have a Crossroads 5th wheel, 2013. I winterized it in November and recently flushed out the antifreeze. After clearing all the lines of the pink stuff, 2 things happened. One, when using the pump to draw from the storage tank, the pump is surging so much that the vibrations caused me to shut that down. When I hooked to "city water", the cold water is normal, but hot water comes out very clouded with air. I can fill a glass with water and the air will dissipate in about a minute. We took a trip and the same thing is happening. We were gone 2 days. I plan to change out my pump, but that should have nothing to do with the air in the hot water line when on "city water". Anybody have a clue please?
  • Mondegreen's avatar
    Mondegreen
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2015
    Thanks for replies. I had a little water in the holding tank, the water heater was working fine for 2 days on my trip, except for the cloudy hot water which really was just a nuisance. After reading all the comments, I filled my holding tank up. Then I ran the system on the pump. The air was gone. Went back on "city water" and also, no air. Fixed itself. I had previously checked and double checked to be sure there was water in the water heater. So unless there was no air cushion as was suggested, I cannot say exactly why it cleared up. I am amazed at all the good info that was offered. Thanks.
  • RustyJC's avatar
    RustyJC
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2015
    ford truck guy wrote:
    When I fill my HW tank for the first time after flushing, I open my HOt Water Heater purge valve located at the top of the heater ... It will push out most of the air before allowing the water to flow out...once it's all water and no air , I go inside and turn the hot water spigot on and keep it on until it's water only..


    By design, RV water heaters should have an air cushion at the top of the tank for the simple reason that air is compressible and water is not. When a tank of cold water is heated, it will expand. If no air cushion is present to absorb the expansion, the heated water will push its way out the pressure relief valve, which will tend to have a continuous drip of hot water whenever the burner/heating element is on. If you have actually bled all of the air out of the top of the tank, you might want to consider restoring the air cushion.

    Rusty
  • ford_truck_guy's avatar
    ford_truck_guy
    Nomad
    Mar 31, 2015
    When I fill my HW tank for the first time after flushing, I open my HOt Water Heater purge valve located at the top of the heater ... It will push out most of the air before allowing the water to flow out...once it's all water and no air , I go inside and turn the hot water spigot on and keep it on until it's water only..
    It just sounds like you have air in the system
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2015
    That sounds like you have not flushed your water lines enough yet.There's still "pink" in there somewhere. The "pink" will make it foam, and once all the air escapes, yes, the glass is only half full.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Mar 31, 2015
    If there's air in the HW tank, I would think he'd be getting sputtering water or no water at all.. just air.
  • Veebyes's avatar
    Veebyes
    Explorer II
    Mar 31, 2015
    You drained the water heater also? If so it will take some time/use for all of the air to purge itself out of the system. No biggie.

    Pump hammer is also air passing through it. Again it should self fix with use. Plenty of water in tank I hope?
  • golf_bears's avatar
    golf_bears
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2015
    Yes, your hot water tank is full of air. Just keep running the hot water until you clear all the air out. Also, sounds like the hot water tank may have some crud in it. If so you'll need to flush the tank out also.

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