Guys, I have the strangest problem. First off, I am very technically inclined, and plumbing is not new to me at all.
Here's my strange problem. I open the hot water tap anywhere in the house and no water comes out, not cold water, no water at all. Then suddenly, I will hear a loud bang from the pipes and there ya go, hot water. This may happen several times a day. On one occasion, I could not get the bang to happen and therefore could not get the water to run. This was a good thing in my view because it's easier to troubleshoot a problem if it just quits as apposed to intermittantly working. I went to the basement to tear into this.
Opened the pressure relief on the heater, no water. Cut the line feeding the heater, lots of water pressure, reconnected. Cut the line out from the heater, no water. Attached a garden hose to the flush drain and fed in cold water from the sink, no water coming out! What the???? The heater is a rental, so I called Direct Energy where I rent it from and they say that it is not a problem with the heater, it's my plumbing! They say I have "gas in my pipes" and they will come and fix it for $99. This sounds to me like a load of BS. Anyway, after about 24 hours I got the bang and the water came back. This problem still happens everyday.
Anybody have any suggestions or advise? What would the guy mean by "gas in my pipes"? As far as I am concerned, if you push water into the heater you should get water out of the heater.
Any input would be appreciated.
Here's my strange problem. I open the hot water tap anywhere in the house and no water comes out, not cold water, no water at all. Then suddenly, I will hear a loud bang from the pipes and there ya go, hot water. This may happen several times a day. On one occasion, I could not get the bang to happen and therefore could not get the water to run. This was a good thing in my view because it's easier to troubleshoot a problem if it just quits as apposed to intermittantly working. I went to the basement to tear into this.
Opened the pressure relief on the heater, no water. Cut the line feeding the heater, lots of water pressure, reconnected. Cut the line out from the heater, no water. Attached a garden hose to the flush drain and fed in cold water from the sink, no water coming out! What the???? The heater is a rental, so I called Direct Energy where I rent it from and they say that it is not a problem with the heater, it's my plumbing! They say I have "gas in my pipes" and they will come and fix it for $99. This sounds to me like a load of BS. Anyway, after about 24 hours I got the bang and the water came back. This problem still happens everyday.
Anybody have any suggestions or advise? What would the guy mean by "gas in my pipes"? As far as I am concerned, if you push water into the heater you should get water out of the heater.
Any input would be appreciated.