Fire came out of my water faucet in my camp trailer

[VegasScotty]

Went camping last weekend, last time I used my 2010 KZ was in July, 3.5 months ago. After that trip I drained all the water, including hot water tank, and left the low point drain open.

On this trip I plugged into city water at a NV state park. I could hear it gurgling as it filled the hot water tank so I opened the hot water faucet to relieve some pressure. When I did this the water pushed out in spurts, which is about normal as the air is displaced from the hot water tank.

Ok, so now here is what's weird. I turned down the hot water faucet to allow less water/air pressure to escape and to keep the water from splashing out on the kitchen counter due to the pressure. At one point, after say less than a minute of having connected to city water, a gas (as in gaseous looking vapor) came out of the water faucet.

I laughed and presuming it was water vapor told my wife it looked like fog. She said it looked like gas and me being the smart ass grabbed a lighter and imagine my surprise when it caught on fire!

I stared at my wife who was big eyed and it instantly occurred to me that the flame had gone INSIDE the faucet and I quickly opened up the hot water faucet all the way and the sudden blast of water pushed a ball of fire about the size of a my thumb out of the end of the faucet.

No, I'm not making this up.

I've never heard of/seen anything like this. Any thoughts? If I hadn't turned up the water flow and pushed out the flame would it have gone into my hot water tank and exploded, killing me and my wife?

More details:
- Propane was turned off for 3 months.
- No smell, no odor when I lit the vapor.
- Later the hot water did not have any smell either.
- The low-point drain was open the whole 3 months since last use.
- The anode rod is perhaps 3/4 used up, it's about 1 year old.
- I flushed the tank 1 year ago when installing the anode rod

[winnietrey]

Was that NV state park using a well? Apparently, naturally occurring methane gas buildup, from seepage is quite common. That would be my guess.

[VegasScotty]

Harvey51 wrote:
No danger of blowing the tank - no source of ignition in it.
If natural gas coming out the faucet, the lighter will ignite a flame.
If a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis there will be a terrific POP as it is an explosive mixture.
This is standard junior high science, which used to be demonstrated to all students before we became overly safety conscious.
Leave the door open when testing.

A couple of people have mentioned they didn't feel it would/could exploded the hot water tank, so that's a relief.

When it lit, there was no "pop" that I noticed, so I wonder if that means it was a little natural gas in the water supply. I didn't happen again. (not that I was trying to light it! but I didn't notice the 'fog' or gaseous vapor coming out.)

Oh well. I think SoundGuy and Gary were the most correct.... don't light strange vapors in a camp trailer. 🙂

(thanks for the laugh bigred!)

[Boon_Docker]

^ Nope!

[westend]

Boon Docker wrote:

westend wrote:


In current shale oil developments where fracking takes place like the Bakken reserve in ND, there is nearly a mile of solid rock and soil between the fracking level and the aquifer.

They get earthquakes instead of contaminated aquifers. 😉

You may wish to read this study: USGS seismicity myths and facts

[Boon_Docker]

westend wrote:


In current shale oil developments where fracking takes place like the Bakken reserve in ND, there is nearly a mile of solid rock and soil between the fracking level and the aquifer.

They get earthquakes instead of contaminated aquifers. 😉

[westend]

leeper wrote:
Fracking for oil will cause gas to get into the water supply. It also gets into creeks. That is why folks are against oil shale fracking. It also causes gas to come out of the ground. Has there been any oil fracking in the area of the campground?

Really, even if the end of that drill pipe is 5000 ft under grade? Folks need to get their science right before making comments on new technologies.

Part of the reason fracking gets a bad rap is because of Eastern gas and oil wells that exist closer to the surface or are intermingled in the aquifer level. Problems in Eastern PA and NY were the start of this. The other part is how we like to label things and pass rumor along.

In current shale oil developments where fracking takes place like the Bakken reserve in ND, there is nearly a mile of solid rock and soil between the fracking level and the aquifer.

[Harvey51]

No danger of blowing the tank - no source of ignition in it.
If natural gas coming out the faucet, the lighter will ignite a flame.
If a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis there will be a terrific POP as it is an explosive mixture.
This is standard junior high science, which used to be demonstrated to all students before we became overly safety conscious.
Leave the door open when testing.

[DiskDoctr]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Gonna be a lot more fracking now. Might as well get used to fire coming out of your faucet.

Why is that?

[DiskDoctr]

Lynnmor wrote:
Still more bad advice!

From the Suburban website:

Why does water drip from my water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve?
You may experience water weeping or dripping from your water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve when your water heater is operating. Water weeping or dripping does not mean that the P&T valve is defective. As water is heated, it expands. The water system in a recreational vehicle is a closed system and does not allow for the expansion of heated water. When the pressure of the water system exceeds the relieving point of the P&T valve, the valve will relieve the excess pressure.

One way to reduce the frequency of this occurrence is to maintain an air pocket at the top of the water heater tank. This air pocket will form in the tank by design - however, it will be reduced over time by the everyday use of your water heater. To replenish this air pocket:

Turn off the water heater.
Turn off the cold water supply line.
Open a faucet in the RV.
Pull out the handle of the pressure relief (P&T) valve and allow water to flow from the valve until it stops.
Release the handle on the P&T valve - it should snap closed.
Close the faucet and turn on the cold water supply. As the tank fills, the air pocket will develop. Repeat this procedure as often as needed to reduce the frequency of the weeping P&T valve. If the weeping persists after following this procedure, you may elect to have your dealer install an expansion or accumulator tank in the cold water line between the tank and check valve to relieve the pressure caused by thermal expansion.

Do you put air into your hot water tank at home?

We use our hot water tank as a hot water tank and added an expansion tank to use as an expansion tank. The hot water tanks are very small to begin with, why would anyone want to reduce their capacity by draining out some of the water?

Oh yeah, because the cheap design of many campers omit the pressure tank.

Add a pressure tank. Use your DHW heater as a DHW heater. Be happy with longer lasting pressure AND hot water 😉

[CavemanCharlie]

leeper wrote:
Fracking for oil will cause gas to get into the water supply. It also gets into creeks. That is why folks are against oil shale fracking. It also causes gas to come out of the ground. Has there been any oil fracking in the area of the campground?

Gonna be a lot more fracking now. Might as well get used to fire coming out of your faucet.

[leeper]

Fracking for oil will cause gas to get into the water supply. It also gets into creeks. That is why folks are against oil shale fracking. It also causes gas to come out of the ground. Has there been any oil fracking in the area of the campground?

[GaryWT]

Lynnmor wrote:
Still more bad advice!

From the Suburban website:

Why does water drip from my water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve?
You may experience water weeping or dripping from your water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve when your water heater is operating. Water weeping or dripping does not mean that the P&T valve is defective. As water is heated, it expands. The water system in a recreational vehicle is a closed system and does not allow for the expansion of heated water. When the pressure of the water system exceeds the relieving point of the P&T valve, the valve will relieve the excess pressure.

One way to reduce the frequency of this occurrence is to maintain an air pocket at the top of the water heater tank. This air pocket will form in the tank by design - however, it will be reduced over time by the everyday use of your water heater. To replenish this air pocket:

Turn off the water heater.
Turn off the cold water supply line.
Open a faucet in the RV.
Pull out the handle of the pressure relief (P&T) valve and allow water to flow from the valve until it stops.
Release the handle on the P&T valve - it should snap closed.
Close the faucet and turn on the cold water supply. As the tank fills, the air pocket will develop. Repeat this procedure as often as needed to reduce the frequency of the weeping P&T valve. If the weeping persists after following this procedure, you may elect to have your dealer install an expansion or accumulator tank in the cold water line between the tank and check valve to relieve the pressure caused by thermal expansion.

First off I do not have a Suburban heater and second, no where does it say dipping water is an issue. Actually, once it drips and you let the water cool, you would have an air pocket anyway.

[Lynnmor]

Still more bad advice!

From the Suburban website:

Why does water drip from my water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve?
You may experience water weeping or dripping from your water heater's pressure and temperature (P&T) relief valve when your water heater is operating. Water weeping or dripping does not mean that the P&T valve is defective. As water is heated, it expands. The water system in a recreational vehicle is a closed system and does not allow for the expansion of heated water. When the pressure of the water system exceeds the relieving point of the P&T valve, the valve will relieve the excess pressure.

One way to reduce the frequency of this occurrence is to maintain an air pocket at the top of the water heater tank. This air pocket will form in the tank by design - however, it will be reduced over time by the everyday use of your water heater. To replenish this air pocket:

Turn off the water heater.
Turn off the cold water supply line.
Open a faucet in the RV.
Pull out the handle of the pressure relief (P&T) valve and allow water to flow from the valve until it stops.
Release the handle on the P&T valve - it should snap closed.
Close the faucet and turn on the cold water supply. As the tank fills, the air pocket will develop. Repeat this procedure as often as needed to reduce the frequency of the weeping P&T valve. If the weeping persists after following this procedure, you may elect to have your dealer install an expansion or accumulator tank in the cold water line between the tank and check valve to relieve the pressure caused by thermal expansion.

[just_me]

Lynnmor wrote:

GaryWT wrote:
As someone stated, lighting this unknown vapor inside your trailer is not a good thing.

I always pull the pressure relief valve on the tank to fill it and then I know for sure it is full before turning it on.

Never heard of this before but sure is interesting.

This is incorrect, never open the T&P valve to fill, doing so will eliminate the air pocket that you want. The water pump will short cycle if there is no air and the valve may drip as there is no room for expansion.

I have always opened my pressure valve to expedite the fill of the water heater. If I don't it will spit until all the air is eliminated in the hot water tank. My cold water enters at the bottom, and the hot water exits at the top. So there is no chance for an air pocket anyway you look at it. It eliminates it by its self, if I don't help it out.
You can do it your way, this is my way.