Hot water tank drained - now whole house filter clogs easily - DIY Chatroom

bgalizio · 03-28-2009, 09:28 AM

I drained my hot water tank one week ago. Since then, I've had to replace my whole home filter twice due to the filter being clogged. We have well water. I have also noticed the hot water coming out of sinks, etc. sounds like it has air in it.

Any help?

DangerMouse · 03-28-2009, 10:56 AM

open all faucets to remove air, then turn them off.
keep changing filter until it stays clean. you likely stirred up some gunk it needs to clear out.

DM

majakdragon · 03-28-2009, 11:25 AM

I don't know why draining the water heater would cause this, unless you drained it and then refiiled it without flushing out the deposits from the bottom of the tank. By not flushing before refilling the tank, you just broke up the existing scale and allowed it to enter your hot water piping. This should not have clogged the cold water lines or whole house filter though, only the hot water piping.

Plumber101 · 03-28-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgalizio

I drained my hot water tank one week ago. Since then, I've had to replace my whole home filter twice due to the filter being clogged. We have well water. I have also noticed the hot water coming out of sinks, etc. sounds like it has air in it.

Any help?

Are you getting hot water out of the cold side?

If you are look at the pressure gauge and see what the pressure is. Depending on the pressure switch you have..most common 30-50 of 40-60 switch you should have a reading of either 40 or 50 psi. Most wells are set up with the 30-50. Where the pump turn on at 30psi "Cut in" and turns off at 50psi "Cut out"

If you get hot/warm water out of the cold you could have the stages in the well pump out where the system is not building up pressure like it should. Making the pump run and warming the water around the pump and being pumped out when you turn on the water but noticing it on the cold side more than the hot side.

Have you noticed a higher electric bill?

I'm just taking a stab at this because I don't fully understand your post " I have also noticed the hot water coming out of sinks, etc. sounds like it has air in it."

kenmac · 03-28-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgalizio

I drained my hot water tank one week ago. Since then, I've had to replace my whole home filter twice due to the filter being clogged.

This doean't make sense . Usually whole house filter is installed b-4 the w.h. I don't see how draining w.h. has anything to do with clogged filter.. The trash / gunk must be comming from the well

bgalizio · 03-30-2009, 07:11 PM

Our whole house filter is before the well. It seems all too coincidental that I am having to replace the filter every three days or so since I drained the hot water tank, though.

It seems like our hot water is lower pressure than the cold. The hot water also has had some particulates in it when we first turn on a faucet. The "air" issue was solved by running the hot faucets for a short time. No pressure gauge around the water filter. The cold water comes out cold and the hot comes out hot.

Any other information I can provide?

bgalizio · 03-31-2009, 09:31 AM

Update: it looks like the whole house filter is being clogged by rust in the water. We used to get 3 weeks or so on a filter, now it's 3 days. Not sure why it's clogging earlier after flushing the water heater, as the filter is before the heater.

The previous owners installed the water softener after the filter. So, it's the well > pressure tank > filter > softener. Should we change the order of anything to help the iron problem?

DangerMouse · 03-31-2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgalizio

The "air" issue was solved by running the hot faucets for a short time.

glad that worked... try this now, remove filter, open the bathtub faucet (and others) and run full blast for 10 minutes or so (you want the pump to kick in after drawing out the pressure tank) to try to bring out as much rust as possible. clean and replace filter, run water again for a few, and then check rust collecting on filter once more. it should be gone, or at least way less.

DM

DangerMouse · 03-31-2009, 10:09 AM

oops, remove the screens from the faucets first to allow more flow.

DM

AllanJ · 03-31-2009, 11:10 AM

When refilling the hot water tank you may have stirred up sediment in the pipes upstream, for example between the well and the pump.

micromind · 03-31-2009, 10:10 PM

I would agree with AllanJ here. Re-filling the hot water tank is the first time in quite a while that there has been high flow for a long time in the well to tank line.

If you do as DM says, it'll likely get most of the loose stuff out of the lines. Do this only on the cold lines, you don't want the loose particles in the hot water tank.

You might be surprised at how icky the water is at first.

Rob

DangerMouse · 04-01-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by micromind

you don't want the loose particles in the hot water tank.

thanks rob, i forgot to mention that.

DM

bgalizio · 04-01-2009, 09:07 AM

Last night I flushed the pressure tank, allowing the pump to run for 10+ minutes straight. Changed the filter too. Hopefully that will help.

Thanks for all the help thus far. This is a great forum.

DangerMouse · 04-01-2009, 10:14 AM

good job. keep us posted!

DM

bgalizio · 04-04-2009, 04:40 PM

Filter is clogged again. Time to call a well guy...