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| Joined: | Sat Sep 11th, 2004 |
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Hydrogen is mentioned in a bit of heater manufacturer's literature. Any problem really is a matter of dose. If your kitchen faucet belched forth big orange flames every morning, it would be different than attempting to ignite a bit of gas mixed up with water. I do think that once you have less conductive water and the anode has had a chance to plate out some bare steel, the reaction will slow and gassing will shrink as a problem. You could put in aluminum anode/s, but understand they also produce volumes of gooey corrosion byproduct that sit as a blanket on the bottom of the heater, helping it to overheat and rumble.
Water, under pressure can hold gas. When it is no longer under pressure, the gas comes out of solution. This is bad if the water is in your blood and you are a diver coming up too fast from too deep. That's the bends. Open a soda bottle... same thing. Plain old water coming from the tap goes through depressurization as it leaves the spout. Air from a well system or gas from an active anode shows up this way. I see it simply as evidence that we're completely surrounded by physics. No need for excitement on this one. Now it your heater were hot, bulging and leaking steam at the joints, that would be exciting physics!
Yours, Larry