Explosive water at faucets.

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Firm Foundation

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A customer has unpredictable explosive water at faucets. It has even broken mollies loose from a shower support rod with the rattling. The customer reports that the problem is worse in the morning. It seems to be hot and cold water. It can happen at random times as well. It seems that there are air pockets in the supply lines. This house is belt and suspenders plumbing... 3/4" homeruns going everywhere (not a bonus in my opinion) and dozens of valves, each with a numeric aluminum tag. The boiler has 15 zone pumps but we don't need to go there. Here is what I've done so far:

1) Isolated the water softeners (2 of them) from the system. No help.
2) Drained and refilled the system. Temporary relief only.
3) I've listened at the well head to the pump cycle to determine if the pitless adapter has a bad seal. The well is 565' deep with the pump set at 300'. 80 gpm listed under the cover. It is 8 years old. There was a humming and dripping sound when the pump was running and an odd gurgling sound when it stopped. I do not know how to interpret these sounds.
4) Today I removed the vacuum relief valve above the water heaters (2 of them) on the cold supply and capped it. I do not yet know if this will be successful.
5) I intend to remove the three (yes three) check valves between the poly from the well and the pressure tank as a next step if the vacuum relief is not the problem.
6) The pressure tank cuts in at 45 pound and out at 50. I plan to check this and tank pressure with a reliable gage but have not done it yet.
7) There is a fourth valve on the well line before the pressure tank that is box-shaped with two knurled knobs on it. I am not sure what the function of this device is.

I am not a plumber, but a carpenter/remodeler and handyman. I have been asked to solve the problem for this neighbor since two plumbers have already tried and failed.

Any other ideas?

Thank you.
 

Reach4

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The air volume control on the pressure tank may have gone bad, or the old pressure tank with an AVC was replaced with a tank with no AVC, and the other changes needed to work with a precharge tank was not done.

The mystery thing could be the snifter, although a sniffer is usually simpler like a Schrader valve. Maybe that is a micronizer.
 

Terry

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You you put a pressure gage on the system to determine the static water pressure?
Often, when water heats, it creates more pressure in the lines. Sitting overnight could be a factor there. The two vacuum valves on the incoming cold to the water heaters should be fine.
With a well system you normally have an expansion tank that aborbs some in the increased volume of the heated water, though the vacuum valves cut off access that direction. Only allowing water in the water heater, but not excess pressure back.
 

Firm Foundation

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I think that I solved the problem today. That box-shaped valve that I could not identify was sucking air whenever the well pump turned on. It looks like there must have been some kind of iron or sulfer removal system installed at one point. The house had been abandoned and some pipes froze that had not been blown out. These were repaired (and presumably the air purging part of the iron system was removed) when the new owners moved in. I hope that the explosive water that has plagued them for 9 months is now past.
 

Valveman

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That box shape thing is a micronizer, and it is suppose to suck air when the pump is on. The air injection is to get rid of iron or sulfur. There should be an air volume control about half way up the tank that lets out the excess air. Sounds like you need a new air volume control.
 
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